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John E. Quinn
President & Chief Executive Officer
John E. Quinn is President and Chief Executive Officer of Excel Polymers LLC, the world’s largest merchant compounder of thermosetting elastomers, headquartered in Solon, Ohio.
Prior to being President and CEO of Excel Polymer, he was a Group Vice President of the PolyOne Corporation, the predecessor company to Excel Polymers, from 2000 to 2004. He was President of M. A. Hanna’s Rubber Compounding business from 1998 – 2000.
Prior to joining the world of elastomers, he spent his career in the plastics industry. Starting with DuPont Engineering Plastics business in 1969 in Wilmington, Delaware, he later joined Nypro, Inc. of Clinton, Massachusetts in 1974. Nypro is a leading plastic injection molder and contract manufacturer. John was President of Nypro’s Spectrum Division.
In 1983, Mr. Quinn joined GE Plastics in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. While at GE, he held various marketing positions, was President of GE Plastics of Canada, and was General Manager of the Noryl resins business. While at GE, he led several initiatives, including Workout, Six Sigma and Value Selling.
Mr. Quinn has a bachelor’s degree in plastics technology from the University of Massachusetts and a master’s degree in business administration from Northeastern University in Boston.
Mr. Quinn is a director of the Lake/Geauga Educational Assistance Foundation, which assists graduating high school seniors to gain access to scholarships and financial aid.
Michael Garratt
Vice-President & General Manager - Industrial & Consumer
Michael Garratt, Vice-President and General Manager of the Industrial & Consumer Group, has profit and loss responsibility for the business unit.
Prior to joining Excel Polymers in 2005, he held positions as the Commercial Manager- Europe, Middle East and Africa for DuPont Dow Elastomers SA and the Managing Director for DuPont Dow Elastomers GmbH. Before joining DuPont Dow as a founding member in Market Development in 1996, Mr. Garratt spent 6 years in engineering plastic sales and elastomer marketing at the Dow Chemical Company.
Mr. Garratt has an undergraduate degree in Applied Chemistry from McMaster University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Toronto.
James E. Staargaard
Vice-President & General Manager - Transportation
Jim Staargaard is the Vice-President and General Manager of Excel Polymers’ Transportation business. He is responsible for the profit and loss aspects of the Transportation business unit. Prior to joining Excel, Mr. Staargaard spent 16 years at the General Electric Company in their Advanced Materials and Plastics businesses.
Most recently, he was the Global Product Manager for the ABS/ASA business in the automotive market for GE Advanced Materials. Mr. Staargaard began his career as a Sales Representative in the Silicones and Urethanes Intermediates Division of the Union Carbide Corporation.
Mr. Staargaard received his Bachelor of Science in Polymer Sciences from Penn State University and his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Michigan.
Marc Pignataro
General Manager - Performance Additives
Marc Pignataro is the General Manager of Excel Polymers’ Performance Additives business. He is responsible for the profit and loss aspects of the Performance Additives business unit.
Prior to joining Excel Polymers, he was with the Ferro Corporation for 2 years and BFGoodrich Chemicals for 10 years. During his career, Mr. Pignataro has held positions in engineering, manufacturing, sales, market development, marketing, and product management.
Mr. Pignataro has an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University and his Masters in Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace College.
Glenn Thurman
Director - Tire & Toll
Glenn Thurman is Director and General Manager of Excel Polymers’ Tire and Toll Business. He directs all commercial functions of the business unit and has profit and loss responsibility as well. In addition to this role he manages commercial sales development for the Netherlands based recycler, Rubber Resources, on behalf of Excel, in its role as the North American Sales Agent for Natural and Butyl reclaimed polymers and powders.
Mr. Thurman is a 42 year veteran of Excel and its predecessor companies. In that time span, he served in a wide variety of management roles. At the former Colonial Rubber Works, he served in key roles as Operations Manager of Plastics Compounding, General Manager of Rubber Compounding, and Executive Vice President. Under MA Hanna Glenn served as Vice President of Operations and later as Director of National Accounts for PolyOne Elastomers before assuming his current responsibilities.
Stephen W. Chase
General Manager - Rolls Business
Stephen W. Chase is the General Manager of the Rolls Business of Excel Polymers LLC. The Rolls business, commonly referred as Chase Elastomer has been the global leader in rubber roller compounds for the last 25 years.
Steve’s career has been dedicated to the entities owned today by Excel Polymers since 1995. Prior to being the General Manager, Steve led the sales organization for the rolls business as the Sales and Marketing Manager. Mr. Chase began his career at the Chase Elastomer business as a purchasing agent, then regional account manager positions in the rolls business as well as sales positions in the custom mix business.
Steve also has committed the last 7 years to the roller industry serving as the Suppliers Representative for the Rubber Roller Group. An organization specifically dedicated to the growth and development of the rubber roller industry.
Steve has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Abilene Christian University.
John Breitenstein
Vice-President & General Manager Asia/Pacific
John Breitenstein is the Vice-President and General Manager of EXLP Global’s Asia/Pacific businesses. Mr. Breitenstein is President of the newly formed joint venture with Mitsui Corporation. He is responsible for profit, loss and operations within the region.
Prior to joining Excel, he was President/Managing Director of DuPont Dow Elastomers’ Asia business. Mr. Breitenstein also served in a Global Elastomers Business Director role as well as Director of Strategic Planning position while employed by E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company. In his nine years in the Pacific Rim, John was able to significantly grow DDE's Asia/Pacific revenues and profitability. Additionally, he was able to build a very competitive organization while contributing to the turnaround of the company's global elastomer business.
Mr. Breitenstein has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology.
Victor W. March
Chief Financial Officer
Vic March is the CFO for Excel Polymers. He has overall responsibility for the Company’s accounting, financial reporting, financial planning, credit and treasury functions. Prior to fulfilling this role, he held a variety of financial positions with Excel predecessor companies, PolyOne Corporation, The Geon Company and The BFGoodrich Company.
These positions included Director of Finance for Excel’s direct predecessor, PolyOne’s Elastomers and Performance Additives divison as well as Director of Finance of PolyOne’s Engineered Materials and PolyOne’s Enginerered Materials businesses.
Prior to that, Mr. March, held Business Controller, Operations Controller and Plant Controller roles for Geon and BFGoodrich. He began his career in 1981 as a cost accountant with BFGoodrich.
Mr. March graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree from Bowling Green State University.
Rikki Lamba
Vice President - Technology
Rikki Lamba is the Vice President of Technology for Excel Polymers. Mr. Lamba joined Excel in 2007. He is responsible for leading our highly valued team in the development of products and service designs that will allow Excel and our customers to create differentiable value.
Mr. Lamba has over 20 years of experience in technology and marketing. Prior to joining Excel he was Vice President, Carbon Black Technology at Columbian Chemicals Company where he was responsible for leading technology activities. Prior to this most recent position, Mr. Lamba’s tenure with Columbian Chemical Company included roles as Director, Global Marketing (Tire Segment) and Product Scientist (Rubber Carbon Blacks). Prior to Columbian Chemicals Company, he was with Haliburton Energy Services in Houston, Texas, as a Principal Scientist and Group Leader, Elastomer Development Laboratory. Haliburton is a leader in the oil and gas industry. Rikki also worked as rubber chemist at Lathia Rubber in India, developing compounds for rubber rolls.
Mr. Lamba earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry from the University of Bombay, Bombay, India. He received a Graduateship from the Plastic and Rubber Institute of London and an Associateship of the London School of Polymer Technology from Polytechnic of North London. Rikki also earned his doctorate in Polymer Science from the University of Akron.
Steven E. Strouse
Vice-President - Operations & Customer Satisfaction
Steven Strouse is Vice President Operations and Customer Satisfaction for Excel Polymers. He is responsible for all global operations including manufacturing, quality, customer service, engineering, and inventory management leading all components of the order fulfillment process. He also leads the company’s LEAN SIX SIGMA principle deployment to effectively support continuous improvement in all aspects of the business.
Mr. Strouse has over 30 years of operational experience. Prior to joining Excel Polymers, he held a variety of operations and supply chain management positions with increasing responsibilities for Rubbermaid Inc. where he was Vice-President, Operations/Supply Chain Management. His was responsible for multiple site plant operations of injection molded consumer products.
Mr. Strouse holds a BSBA from Ashland College and an Executive MBA from Ashland College.
Len McClearn
Vice-President - Sourcing
Len McClearn is the Vice President of Sourcing for Excel Polymers.
Based in Solon, Ohio, he is responsible for identifying, negotiating and developing suppliers, as well as providing direction and leadership to the company’s sourcing team.
McClearn will utilize his background to integrate technology with sourcing and quality management to commercialize innovative and value-added technology around the world.
McClearn has extensive experience in the rubber industry. Prior to joining Excel Polymers in February, 2008, he was Director of Purchasing at Gates Corporation’s Worldwide Fluid Power Division, where he played a key role as the commercial liaison between the Product Development and Business Unit groups. His background also includes executive positions with the Plumley Companies (Dana Corporation), Associated Rubber and Burton Rubber. In addition, McClearn is a past Chairman of the Southern Rubber Group.
Florian Kete
Vice President – Human Resources
Florian Kete is the Vice-President of Human Resources for Excel Polymers, LLC. He is responsible for attending to the Human Capital issues of the company thereby ensuring that the company has the right people in the right positions necessary to execute its strategy.
Prior to joining Excel, Mr. Kete was the Vice-President of Human Resources and Administration for FedEx Supply Chain Services. Before his tenure with FedEx, he was Director Human Resources at Invacare Corporation. Mr. Kete has deep understanding of Human Resources issues and business experience with organizations in the consumer, industrial and consulting sectors.
Mr. Kete has a Bachelors Degree from Cleveland State University, and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Brittany Corporation in Cleveland.
Joseph Vitale
Director – Financial Strategic Planning
Joseph Vitale is the Director of Financial Strategic Planning for Excel Polymers. Mr. Vitale joined Excel in 2007. He is responsible for chairing the Office of Strategy Management in conjunction with the company’s Balanced Scorecard process. He is responsible for coordinating the annual operating planning process and forecasting processes, as well as the preparation of the monthly financial reporting package.
Mr. Vitale has over 12 years of financial management experience in the manufacturing, consulting, and banking industries. Prior to joining Excel he was Manager, Investor Relations for Delphi Corporation. His other positions include Finance Director with Telution, Inc. and Sr. Consultant at Deloitte Consulting.
He has a Master of Business Administration in Finance from UCLA and a B.A. in Chemistry from Vanderbilt University. | 
