CW: How did you get your start in the specialty chemicals industry?

Davenport:  In the Spring of 1985, as I concluded my sophomore year at Eastern Michigan University, I interviewed for a summer internship with the Valspar Corporation. I moved to Baltimore, MD for the summer and immediately became immersed in the work of a coatings formulation lab where my focus was industrial metal coatings (mainly baking enamels). Valspar’s Baltimore-based factory was formerly a Conchemco facility that produced liquid industrial and coil coatings. That summer I assisted the chemists with formulating a clear acrylic baking enamel for table saws – I was hooked from day one! At the start of my junior year at EMU, I switched my major to Polymer & Coatings Technology from Chemistry. I was granted a second internship with Valspar in Fort Wayne, IN, where I would go on to accept a full-time position in coatings formulation following my graduation in 1987. Within a year at Valspar Fort Wayne, I was promoted to Quality Assurance Chemist responsible for scale-up/commercialization, improving production quality issues, introducing SPC/SQA to the operation and spearheading Quality Audits from customers. This broad experience served as a solid foundation in the coming decades, pursuing production and process excellence in specialty chemicals and end products.


Smith: You could say I was kind of “born into it.” My mother worked in the quality lab of a specialty chemical manufacturer. Newly married, my mother quit her job when she was pregnant with me. Later, she went back to work at Morton Chemical’s site. When I turned 16-years old, I was hired as summer help by Morton Chemical. I worked there during my summer and semester breaks in various capacities, from maintenance to technical, until I earned my Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Degree in Chemistry. When I graduated Morton hired me full-time as a Development Chemist, New Product Development, where I assisted with the scale-up from the research labs to full-scale production at Morton’s various plants, as well as troubleshooting quality control problems in existing processes.
CW: What unique skills do you bring to your new role as director at ChemQuest?

Davenport: Specialty chemicals, in particular paint and coatings, are central to my core skills in chemical business analytics evolving into my current third-party project management capabilities. I have been fortunate not only to have worked and lived in five countries but to have had the opportunity to grow in my past positions, contributing broadly to diverse corporate objectives, such as: forming new businesses; designing and building new factories; transferring production from one location to another; scaling up major operations and commercializing new products and technologies; consolidating operations following mergers/acquisitions, and optimizing multinational operations’ performance. 
Smith: I have worked for both major Specialty Chemical producers and smaller Privately Equity held companies.  I have been involved in the design and construction of new manufacturing facilities, in product line rationalization/consolidation, in site rationalization/consolidation, being “first in” on new acquisitions, product processing improvements and office support processing improvements.  My roles have been both technical and management in new site construction, technical in existing processing improvement, department management, group management, site management, multi-site management as well as executive roles in companies that are both domestic and global.  I managed a multidiscipline team which resulted in consolidation and improvements in order processing, sourcing, inventory management, quality, warehousing, production processing, obtaining required certifications and customer response.  My experience has been in both complex reaction chemistry as well as in formulations and I have an appreciation for the subtleties associated with change, a key attribute for change management success.  

My approach is to gain buy-in from the involved personnel, get a feel for their culture and ensure that they are part of the solution.  When I’ve concluded any project, it is imperative that, with my departure, the company has an engaged workforce ready to continue to propagate the desired results.

CW: What will be your primary responsibilities in this role?

Davenport: I am delighted to be focusing on some of the key aspects of my chemicals business experience for ChemQuest clients. Performing due diligence on behalf of clients will be one key focus. This could involve reviewing performance metrics, plant audits, environmental permit reviews, process safety reviews, supply-chain efficiency reviews, cost comparisons, conceptual design recommendations, and transfer/movement/consolidation of operations and laboratories. I would stress that clients should ask about my experience in expanding production capacity through additional shifts, consolidating/transfer operations or new infrastructure. Some clients could be seeking to relocate to avoid operational disruptions for various reasons. Some clients could be focused on “reshoring” either their supply chain – or their production (or both) – for increased stability.

Smith: In this role with ChemQuest, we strive to provide clients with whatever is needed in the operations arena. Our service model ranges from offering support with a specific processing problem to the complexities associated with an acquisition and rightsizing a business, and everything in between. Leveraging our collective chemical industry experience as well as a number of specific tools that ChemQuest has developed to the approach, we work closely with our clients to ensure they understand the process and have a solid platform to move forward.

We strive to exceed expectations by providing contingency plans and alternatives to the client. Because the road to success is not straight: adapting and responding to changes in the business, market and the overall economy, is central to ChemQuest’s methodology.

CW:. What are your goals in achieving continued success for ChemQuest?

Davenport: Partnering with ChemQuest enables me to give back to the industry that has supported my decades-long career by sharing my breadth of experience. I am passionate about contributing to ChemQuest’s growth by effectively serving clients to ensure their sustainable profitability.  I have aspired to be part of the ChemQuest team enhancing their processes to support industry start-ups through client-centric recommendations and business models. Likewise, there is no better time in my recollection to assist clients with establishing a robust Business Continuity Plan not only to mitigate risk but for a faster return to a thriving business. To be effective, business continuity planning should be synced with daily operations and the client’s short- and long-term performance benchmarks to uncover and correct its weaknesses.

Smith: ChemQuest has a strong complement of well-respected and knowledgeable diverse personnel and I see my role as bringing an operational perspective to the approach.  My ultimate goal is to deliver to the customer a well-planned approach with deliverables that meet or exceed their requirements.

CW: What are market goals for ChemQuest in this service area?

Delivering distinctive, thorough, actionable, confidential and professional work to support our clients in every aspect of sustained, profitable growth. 
Enabling our clients to:

• Build organizations that challenge established thinking and drive transformation;
• Gain Competitive advantage through distinctive, targeted, substantial and actionable improvements that sustain profitable growth;
• Unlock new and hidden insights empowering an organization’s smart risk-taking, catalyzing innovation excellence and value creation;
• Be successful – Because our success depends upon yours.

CW: How can clients contact you or where can they find your offered services?

Information on ChemQuest’s four service pillars and a wide array of industry resources can be found at chemquest.com and www.linkedin.com/company/the-chemquest-group/. Contact us at info@chemquest.com to learn how we can help your business and to be added to ChemQuest’s quarterly Latest Happenings newsletter.

CW: Which part of the specialty chemicals’ value chain engages ChemQuest commercial and operational efficiency services?

Private equity firm, activist investor, and other value chain stakeholders of (as well as private) producers of raw materials, intermediates, additives, and formulated products, as illustrated below.