Varied and demanding. So many facets and different plans. This is how the last year of Community Relations can be described. We spoke to Pablo Martellotta, CORE Corporate Manager.

To talk about what we do at Community Relations, we first have to talk about sustainability and the Triple Impact approach. In the words of Pablo Martellotta, CORE Corporate Manager, “It’s been a very varied year, highly demanding and with a great goal ahead of us: to consolidate sustainability. In 2023, we need to be clear about what it means to be sustainable, and what each one of us is doing to contribute to this from their area. What we’re doing is only a part. Sustainability at Tecpetrol has to cut across the company and is one of the main drivers for the next few years.”

Warming to the subject, Pablo explains, “We started with a communication strategy designed to create content about this subject so that everybody in Tecpetrol understands the tasks, objectives, and scope involved. We want to show what we do—and what we can do. We want our people who are making such an effort every day, wherever they’re working—whether it’s at a plant, in the field or in the offices—to understand that these efforts are going in a single direction: sustainability. We should all be immensely proud of the way we work.” 

This quest dovetails with the Triple Impact vision that goes beyond financial profitability, aimed at making a social, environmental and economic impact through the company’s main activity, in order to benefit all stakeholders and help care for the environment.

This is the mission of the Community Relations area at Tecpetrol, where the team is in charge of the company’s social management. Throughout 2022, the area deployed a broad range of activities in communities in different countries: from Comodoro Rivadavia and Catriel in Argentina, Reynosa in Mexico, to Puerto Gaitán and Puerto Triunfo in Colombia as well as Dureno and Pacayacu in Ecuador.

There are many successful examples of the work the area is carrying out to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and support the growth and development of the communities living near the company’s operations. For instance, initiatives such as the Technical Gene and After School programs, or events like TecnoAventura in the Neuquén Basin, which reached thousands of students and teachers from technical high schools in the region. There were training courses for students in robotics and construction and initiatives to equip technical classrooms with equipment and technology. Additionally, there were specific certification courses such as the one for work at height and the Puente work release program. And, of course, the annual Roberto Rocca scholarships program, which, as every year, offered over 250 students from Argentina and Mexico the opportunity to further their studies. Last, but not least, infrastructure works were carried out to upgrade classrooms and other school facilities in educational establishments in schools in the Neuquén Basin.

In addition to education, CORE has branched out into other areas that support community growth and well-being, such as the preventive medical campaign for children in Campo Durán and Algarroba, in Salta, and the donation of medical equipment to communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. It’s also contributed gastronomic equipment to the women running the PuraVida chocolate-making enterprise, also in Ecuador. Another great achievement was helping some of the activities carried out by the ProPymes program, such as the Soldando Comunidades initiative, to incorporate more diversity into their field of action.

In 2022, the area multiplied the initiatives carried out, which was not without difficulties. Sustainability is a serious and multi-faceted issue. Pablo explains that "All this would be impossible if we weren’t working closely with Human Resources and Supplier Management, as they are taking a path that complements what we are doing, such as inclusive communication programs, or the ProPymes program, including initiatives aimed at supporting diversity and working with a disability. There’s no doubt that a great 2023 lies before us, making the most of what was sown during the previous year.”