Kansas City Soap Plant's
April 22, 2005, Day of Celebration
P&G Guests
AG Lafley, CEO
Keith Harrison, Global PS President
Colleen Jay, NA Home Care VP
Randy Potts, P&G Chemicals Director
Ian Edwards, P&G Chemicals VP
Luc Reynart, Global F&HC Engineering Director
Khalid Hajji, NA Home Care Director
Yannis Skoufalos, Home Care Global Manager
Aimee Lanter-Harney, P&G External Affairs
Pat Hayes, Government Relations
Scott Miller, National Government Relations
Stu Hagglund (Supply Chain)
Matt McGoff (Engineering)
Krishna Medepalli (Engineering)
Alejandro Aguirre (Purchasing)
Gerardo Scheufler (Logistics)
Therese Rose (NA Chemicals AD)
Andy Gardner (Chemicals)
Graeme Biggin (Chemicals)
State & Local Officials
Dennis Moore, US Senator
Joe Reardon, Mayor Elect of Kansas City, KS
Mike Gilstrap, District 1 Commissioner-at-Large
Chad Tenpenny, State Director for Pat Roberts
Kay Sharp, State Casework Director & Outreach Coordinator for Pat Roberts
Louis Ruiz, Kansas State Representative
Community Guests
Malvin Warrick, previous P&G KC Site Leader
Dave Smith, Boys & Girls Club President
Wendell Maddox, United Way President
Bob Banach, Metro Park President
Paul Scianna, AIM
Mike Kelley, AIM-Yellow Roadway
Kevin McDonald, Folgers HR Manager

A.G. LAFLEY'S REMARKS
AT THE KANSAS CITY SOAP PLANT'S
100-YEAR CELEBRATION
Thank you, Jaime. It's a delight to be here to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the P&G Soap Plant in Kansas City, KS. To underscore the significance of this milestone--to our knowledge, this is a milestone that only two other manufacturing facilities in the U.S. have ever met.
Here in Kansas City, P&G has a strong organization and an equally strong network of community partners, many of whom are with us today. Thank you for coming. We work hard to earn the trust of consumers, retailers, and stakeholders in this community every day.
As we celebrate today's milestone, I want to make three simple points:
1. As evidenced by our long history here, P&G is committed to Kansas City.
2. This commitment is reinforced by continued growth in the household care business.
3. P&G wants to improve the lives of consumers and the quality of life in the communities where P&G people
live and work.
I want to touch briefly on each of these points.
First, Our History and Support of Kansas City.
A century ago, P&G was a soap and candle company--the same businesses we'd been in since P&G was founded in 1837. In the early 1900's, we sold more than 30 different types of soap, but our biggest seller was Ivory. Ivory was developed by James Norris Gamble, the son of one of our founders. P&G's business was growing, fueled in part by full-color advertising in national magazines--an advertising innovation at the time.
To meet this increased demand, we determined that Kansas City would become home to the first P&G plant outside of Cincinnati. Like Cincinnati, Kansas City was a hub for the meat-packing industry, which provided fats for soap-making. Kansas City was also a rail and river hub in the country's expanding transportation system.
P&G purchased 23 acres along the banks of the river and began construction in 1904. Production began January 2, 1905. One hundred eighty employees supported four brands: Ivory, Lenox, Denver's Best, and White Water. They produced 80 cases per day. The annual output was 1,000,000 cases.
We expanded in 1917, 1927, and again in 1929 when we began producing detergents here. Dreft, the first synthetic household detergent, began production here in 1937. P&G developed Tide in 1946 and began production here in 1948. By 1950, it was the country's leading laundry brand and has remained so ever since.
At that time, this plant had 16 different production departments. They made P&G's most popular brands of soap and detergents as well as several grades of glycerine. In addition, the plant acted as a distribution point for P&G products shipped from other factories.
Over the years, P&G's Kansas City plant has continued to grow. Today, the plant sits on 62 acres and is home to 3 dishwashing detergent brands--Dawn, Ivory, and Joy. It also produces ingredients we use in some of our own products and sell to other companies.
This site ships an average of 50,000 cases of Dawn, 10,000 cases of Joy, and 6,500 cases if Ivory every day.
We continue to make direct contributions to the economic growth of Kansas City.
In the course of the plant's history, P&G has invested more than $330,000,000 to expand and update the plant. More than half of that investment has occurred i the last 3-4 years. We've changed nearly 90% of the site to expand production of chemicals, to create more flexible and efficient packing operations for our dish soaps, and to prepare for new brand expansion.
We contribute approximately $135,000,000 to the Kansas City economy in a typical year and pay more than $20,000,000 a year in taxes.
We employ more than 260 people in Kansas City and support employment and growth at suppliers, distributors, and other business partners in the region.
Clearly, we have a strong history and stake in this city.
Our Commitment is Reinforced by the Continued Growth and Importance of our Household
Care Business.
P&G's foundation business is household care. For generations, our company's performance has been led by the kinds of products produced at this plant. P&G sales grew eightfold in the 1970's and 1980's when virtually all of the company's business was in household categories. Our enthusiasm and expectations for these businesses have not diminished, and the business remains strong. In fact, the Kansas City plant is the global leader in light-duty liquid production.
One of P&G's growth strategies is to build existing core businesses into stronger global leaders. This strategy is part of our move toward a more balanced portfolio--a mix of steadily growing core household businesses with faster growing, higher margin health and beauty businesses. This balance will help us sustain strong revenue growth, absorb the inevitable short-term bumps in the road, and deliver predictable growth for shareholders.
It's important to our long-term success and vision that we keep our household businesses strong and growing. In P&G's 2003/2004 fiscal year, our Fabric & Home Care global business grew sales 10%. We continue to have strong momentum this year, fueled by a full pipeline of innovation.
The Third Point I Want to Make is That P&G is Committed to Improving Lives, Every Day,
in Kansas City.
We are committed to fulfilling P&G's purpose: To make the everyday lives of people--as consumers of P&G products, as employees and partners, as citizens of the communities where we live and work--a little better.
We will continue to focus on understanding the unique needs of consumers--and to provide products and services that genuinely improve their quality of life. Consumers tell us--every day--if we're meeting their needs, and fulfilling our purpose, when they buy and use our products.
We will also continue working hard to make a difference in our communities.
We are involved with El Centro, a support center for members of the Hispanic community.
We partner with Argentine Middle and Wyandotte High Schools. We've sponsored local teachers attending The Keystone Institute, an organization that helps teachers bring environmental issues to life in the classroom.
We also support educational programs such as Science Pioneers and an organization called "GROW" that encourages girls' interest in science and engineering.
This P&G plant provides support to several local neighborhood associations such as Central Avenue Betterment Association, Concerned Citizens of Armourdale, Argentine Community Awareness, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. We're involved with Azteca de Greater Kansas City, Urban League, Leadership 2020, The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Kansas City, Kansas, Chamber of Commerce.
In total, local charitable donations in the last several years have exceeded $200,000 annually.
Over and above monetary donations, plant employees donate time to local charitable and educational activities. The annual United Way Day of Caring, bi-annual blood drives, holiday gift baskets to families i need, and an annual coat drive sponsored by the Union are all good examples.
We are committed to continuing P&G's strong community involvement, and we are committed to growing in Kansas City.
It's an honor to be here alongside U.S. Representative Moore, Representative Ruiz, Mayor Reardon, Commissioner Gilstrap, Chad Tenpenney, Kay Sharp, our community leaders and business partners, and the men and women of P&G as we celebrate 100 years of growth--and a future of promise.
Thank you.
Pictures from the Celebration Day
Ed Hoffman tours a group of our guests through our KC Plant Historical Display. He points out the photos of building the plant in 1905, which was done with the help of horses and wagons.


Ed shows our visitors chronologies of each decade Keith Harrison, Global Product Supply President
with both world events and plant events.

Jaime Montoya, KC Plant Manager U.S. Representative Dennis Moore
[Click on individual pix below to enlarge.]