Delta County is blessed with natural resources both on the surface and below: the many family-owned farms, ranches, locally-owned businesses, and high-quality coal reserves – to name a few – make this community a wonderful place to live, work, and visit. Oxbow strives to enrich the community by providing jobs and supporting positive programs.
We are proud to be your neighbors.
Oxbow helps Needlerock clinic with funding
Written by Kami Collins
Mountain Valley News
October 10, 2012
For months, Jenny Mitchell has been counting pennies in an effort to achieve her dream of a health clinic in Crawford. It’s been an expensive venture.
She received two grants totaling $100,000 to purchase a lot on Elm Avenue, and to purchase and renovate an older mobile home for her clinic. Work began early this summer.
For much of the work, Mitchell relied on donated materials and labor, and, as the project went on, she watched her grant funds dwindle.
She was committed to getting the Needlerock Family Health Clinic set up this fall, and said she would move in and re-open the practice even if the building was not finished. Last week, however, representatives from Oxbow Mine presented Mitchell with a check for $5,000. The donation will allow Mitchell to finish the clinic.
Mitchell’s husband, a Department of Corrections work crew, and other volunteer labor have been hard at work finishing the building. The inside was gutted and redesigned by Mitchell. The outside has been finished with clay from the Mitchell home on Saddle Mountain. All electrical work had to be redone, to bring it up to medical electric code. Aron and Stacey Cegielski of Cegielski Electric donated all of their labor. A final inspection took place last week on that piece of the project. Next up, Mitchell and her husband will finish the walls. Other finish work, including flooring and painting, will finish up the clinic.
“I just hope we don’t run out of money,” she said.
“Well, we’re here to help with that,” said Steve Lewis, manager of human resources for Oxbow. He and Mike Ludlow, executive vice president of the mine, visited Mitchell and the clinic last week for the check presentation.
“This has got to be very exciting for you,” Lewis said, glancing around at the many improvements Mitchell and her husband have already made to the building. “We did not have a difficult time saying yes to this funding opportunity,” he added.
Mitchell was emotional when she was handed the check. “Thank you guys,” she said. “It’s nice to have local support.”
She currently serves between 700-800 patients a year. She said she expects that number to jump once the new clinic is open. She has a pool of volunteers ready to assist with office tasks, and she hopes to hire a nurse, too.
The clinic will be open Nov. 1, she said. Future plans include building a handicap access ramp to the clinic and an X-ray lab on the property.
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Hospital will purchase new equipment, thanks to Oxbow
Written by Kami Collins
Mountain Valley News
September 26, 2012
Representatives from Oxbow Mining gave the Delta County Memorial Hospital Foundation a check for $54,000 last week, bringing the mine’s yearly contributions to the local community to about $129,000.
Rob Thurman, senior financial analyst, and Mike Ludlow, executive vice president, presented the money to the foundation board on Tuesday. “We’re very pleased we can do this and help support the community,” Ludlow said.
“We admire and appreciate the dedication of all associated with the operation of this great hospital, and for the outstanding work they do for our community,” Thurman said.
The money will be used to purchase an infant security system, an infant resuscitation unit and a Holter monitor system and scanner for EKGs. “We’re very excited,” said Kathy Sramek, education manager for the hospital and foundation treasurer.
“We’re delighted with your gift,” said Rachel Oberheu, the director of the cardiopulmonary department, which will purchase the Holter system.
“All we can say is thank you so much,” said foundation board member Carol Wicburg.
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Ambulance gifted with donation from Oxbow
Written by Kami Collins
Mountain Valley News
September 12, 2012
Continuing the trend of generosity, staff from Oxbow Mining presented another organization with unsolicited funds simply to say thank you and to offer support. The North Fork Ambulance Association was gifted with $10,000 last week.
“We just want to support the work they do,” said Steve Weist, manager of special projects for Oxbow. “This service is something you don’t want to take advantage of, but you’re glad it’s there when you need it.”
“We appreciate all that they do, and the volunteer effort from the community,” Jens Lange, mine manager, added.
The board was very appreciative of the donation. “This is huge,” said board president Richard Kinser, glancing at all those zeros. “This is such a nice surprise. “Thank you.”
He said the money would most likely be used as matching funds to secure a grant to purchase a hands-free CPR device.
This latest donation brings Oxbow’s year-to-date charitable total to about $75,000, Weist said. The mine recently gave $20,000 to Delta County Public Libraries for projects in Paonia, Hotchkiss and Delta.
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Oxbow Group gives Memorial Hall $25,000
Written by Kathy Browning
Delta County Independent
Wednesday, 18 July, 2012
King Robertson and Bob Sussman represented the Memorial Hall board at last Thursday’s Hotchkiss Town Council meeting.
They came to receive a large contribution for Memorial Hall from Oxbow Group which includes Oxbow Mining and Bear Ranch.
Robertson said they had been needing funds for new windows at Memorial Hall for several years. Old casement windows will be replaced. “This is a significant project for us,” Robertson said. “The benefit will be long lasting because of the energy savings.”
Mike Ludlow, Oxbow Mining executive vice president, and Rob Gill, Bear Ranch manager, presented the check.
“This is a special occasion. We are so grateful,” Robertson said.
Ludlow said, “We are here representing the 350 coal miners that are at Oxbow’s Elk Creek Mine and the Bear Ranch. We call it the Oxbow Group because Oxbow is a group of employees worldwide of about a thousand people right now. So Oxbow does operate worldwide. So what we do here in the valley is just part of it. We are pleased to make this donation to the valley. We think it is a very worthwhile cause. It falls right in with sustainability, energy savings that we are about. We produce energy at the coal mine, but it’s also part of the worldwide push to save energy and to use things wisely.
“I say that right now because coal is under a lot of pressure, as I’m thinking a lot of people know. It is really my belief, and Oxbow’s belief, that everything should be in balance. We can’t go all to one energy source — natural gas or renewables whether it be wind or solar. . . In order to be successful as a country, we have to balance things.”
Rob Gill said on behalf of himself and Bill Koch, that they use Memorial Hall and being part of the project means a lot to them. Gill commended Robertson, Dixie Luke and others who persevered to raise the funds needed.
Hotchkiss trustee Wendell Koontz congratulated Robertson and Sussman saying that the Town of Hotchkiss is a member of Memorial Hall and they were happy to facilitate the check ceremony.
Oxbow gives libraries $20,000 for capital projects
Written by Kami Collins, Mountain Valley News staff
Mountain Valley News
July 25, 2012
Library patrons in Delta, Hotchkiss and Paonia are $20,000 ahead thanks to three recent donations by Oxbow Mining. Each library in those communities received much-needed funding to complete capital projects that will make the libraries better for patrons.
“The libraries really serve a tremendous public need,” said Mike Ludlow, the executive vice president of Oxbow. “We are very happy to support them.”
The Paonia library received $5,000, which will be used for outdoor furniture for the front of the building, creating a front porch atmosphere said branch manager Myrna Westerman, and allowing for patrons to access Internet services while enjoying the outdoors. The furniture is not the only facelift the Paonia branch is getting; the Rotary Club plans to build a gazebo behind the library, and the Friends group is finishing landscaping on the property. Annette Choszczyk, the district library director, said the Paonia projects, including the purchase of the furniture, should be finished by the end of the year.
“We are happy to have the support,” Westerman said.
The Hotchkiss library also received $5,000, which will be used to purchase outdoor furniture and a shade umbrella, allowing library staff to offer more outdoor programs. “Since all of our libraries have WiFi access outside of the buildings, we want to provide a comfortable place in Hotchkiss for people to sit and access our Internet services,” Choszczyk says.
Oxbow gave the Delta library $10,000 to help with renovations there. The Colorado State Historical Fund gave the library a $153,000 grant to stabilize the foundation, repair the exterior walls and establish a dry zone around the building. The $10,000 will be used as part of the library’s cash match for that grant. Choszczyk said renovation work would begin shortly on the building. The building was originally constructed in the early 1900s thanks to a donation from Andrew Carnegie.
“We’re certainly not Carnegie,” said Rob Thurman, senior financial analyst for Oxbow as he presented the check to Lea Hart, Delta library manager. “We know how hard you guys work, and we appreciate all you do for the community.”
“We are really grateful for the donations,” Choszczyk said.
In the past three years, Oxbow Mining has donated over $300,000 to organizations in Delta County, Ludlow said. So far this year, the mine has given $75,000 to worthy projects and organizations, and Ludlow said he expects that number will cap at $100,000 by the end of the year. Monetary gifts are given to organizations predominantly in the North Fork, he said, but many Delta and Surface Creek entities also benefit.
