Living Our Values: A dynamic utilities duo
August 26, 2025
If you visit the outdoor basketball court at Ascend’s Chocolate Bayou, Texas site late any Thursday afternoon, you’ll likely see Nathan Rider and Chris Montevecchi hooping it up. Basketball is one of their favorite after-work activities, and the pair have played together enough to know each other’s strengths.
“I’m more of the outside shooter but Chris has the better moves,” laughs Nathan.
These two chemical engineers have a good game plan on the court, but inside the utilities unit of the massive acrylonitrile site is where they really shine. After just three years at Ascend, Nathan and Chris are already well known as a dynamic duo that represent the best of Ascend's core values as they solve problems together.
“Chris and Nathan are always customer-focused with a watchful eye on optimizing the site’s steam, air, water and waste systems,” says production manager Fred Lewis. “They constantly research new ideas and new ways to do things, all while keeping the current systems running at their peak capabilities.”
As engineers in the site’s utlities (ECU) area, Chris covers steam and air while Nathan maintains water and waste. They manage different resources and processes but have learned to rely on each other when tackling challenges.
“I have this valuable resource in Chris just across the hall,” Nathan says. “If I’m trying to run a simulation or solve a problem, it’s just easy to ask for his input, and I usually get a very technical response that melds right with what I’m trying to do.”
Solving problems is one of his favorite parts of the job, Chris says.
“Finding the right solution gives me a lot of pride. It feels good to be useful and make things in ECU a little bit better every day.”
Managing resources that make all other site processes possible is a big responsibility. Water and steam are key utilities that the entire site depends on to operate, and although both men have built a reputation for making things better every day, there’s another Ascend value that resonates with them the most.
“If there’s a loss of steam pressure, it’s all hands on deck,” Nathan says, as the team has mere minutes to react and make the adjustments needed to keep things running smoothly.
“Every situation seems to have different challenges to mitigate safely and quickly," says Chris. "So being agile all around is the perfect way to describe our team.”
The ECU area at CHB supplies the site with water, steam and other critical resources.
Chatting with this pair, it’s easy to notice the connection and respect between them. When talking about work, they complement each other’s thoughts with different viewpoints that lead in the same direction.
Fred says, “They are a dynamic duo who feed off each other's energy. Nathan and Chris are two of the most value-added people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, and they live each of Ascend’s values every day.”
This marks the first time Ascend is presenting the Living Our Values award, a new honor aimed at recognizing individuals or small teams who do just that.
“Nathan and Chris are a great example of why we established this new award,” said Phil McDivitt, president and CEO. “We wanted to give people a chance to nominate their colleagues who are doing great things and recognize them across the entire organization.”
“These two guys are the future of the engineering team here at Chocolate Bayou,” said Fred. “I’m thankful to have them on my team.”
Congratulations to Nathan and Chris – a pair of engineers whose commitment to living our values makes them a stabilizing force for their site and a valuable asset to Ascend.