Dow’s Balbo on building culture, leading through crisis and overseeing global assets

Luca Balbo didn’t plan to stay in the U.S. for 18 years.

When he arrived from Italy in 2007 with his wife and 6-month-old baby, the move was supposed to last a couple of years. But opportunities kept coming, and the temporary adventure became a permanent career.

Today, Balbo serves as Dow’s global director of operations for the industrial, intermediates and infrastructure envelope, overseeing approximately 70 manufacturing assets, 8,000 employees and contractors, and over $11 billion in annual sales. He recently transitioned from leading Dow’s St. Charles Operations in Hahnville, Louisiana, where he managed one of the company’s largest integrated sites.

From the Alps to American manufacturing

Balbo grew up in Northeast Italy, in a region known more for skiing than chemical plants. He earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Padova, the second-oldest university in the Western Hemisphere at over 800 years old.

After working in R&D at EniChem in Italy, Dow acquired the company’s polyurethane business. When Dow later closed the site, Balbo chose to take an opportunity in America. What started as a short-term assignment became a career spanning multiple states and increasingly complex roles.

The hurricane that changed everything

In 2021, Hurricane Ida hit St. Charles Operations with 200 mph winds. The Category 4 storm caused more than $100 million in damage to the site, which produces 5 to 6 billion pounds of final product annually.

Balbo and his team rebuilt the facility in 45 days, faster than any other site in the region.

"I have never spent $100 million in 40 days without planning," Balbo said. "We go into big turnarounds that can be $100 million, but we spend three years planning them. This thing hit us and we had a plan to keep the plant and people safe, but we didn’t have a plan to rebuild because you don’t know what’s going to be impacted until it happens."

Balbo had just moved from Michigan and was house hunting when the storm hit. He lived in his office, coordinating recovery while managing COVID-19 protocols and disrupted supply chains.

"It glued us together as a team," Balbo said. "From a human perspective, it was team building on steroids. You really connect at the basic human level. It wasn’t pretty when we were in the middle of it, but it’s beautiful to think about now."

Building culture through crisis

Balbo’s biggest accomplishment at St. Charles Operations wasn’t completing major projects or managing turnarounds. It was creating a culture where leadership and frontline employees operate without artificial separation.

"I’m leaving a site where there is very little separation between leadership and frontline employees," Balbo said. "We’re able to understand each other, respect each other and use each other’s skill sets. Whether you’re an engineer or an operator, everybody has to give."

That required humility from leadership.

"At some point in your career, the job is bigger than you," Balbo said. "You might not be the smartest person in the room at all times. You have to humble yourself to the point where you listen more than you talk. You grow others and enable them to do more, rather than spend time doing things by yourself."

The products that enable modern life

St. Charles Operations produces materials for healthcare, personal care, food packaging, specialty plastics, coatings and military aviation fuel. The site is fully back-integrated, starting with basic raw materials and transforming them into sophisticated molecules.

"We produce products that basically enable life as we know it," Balbo said. "The chair you’re sitting in, the glasses you’re wearing, the floor your chair is sitting on, some of the personal hygiene or medical products you use, the car you drive, they would all kind of vanish if we were not making those products."

That sense of purpose drives his work.

"It’s kind of the same feeling I bet doctors and nurses have when they do something good," Balbo said. "Even if the day might have been tough, they go home and say ‘I saved a life or I impacted a life.’ It’s not a stretch to think that working in the chemical industry has similar characteristics."

Advocating for the industry During his time at St. Charles Operations, Balbo joined the board of the Louisiana Chemistry Association and currently serves as its chair. The role reflects his commitment to changing how the chemical industry engages with communities at the local level.

"When it comes down to local dynamics, activists have boots on the ground," Balbo said. "The interaction is very local now, and LCA has adapted to deal with all of this to advocate for the industry and combat the false narratives."

Stepping into a global role, again

Balbo’s new position oversees business units including polyurethanes, construction chemicals, coatings and monomers across dozens of countries. He doesn’t run sites anymore. His focus is on translating business strategy into asset strategies that keep Dow competitive in a rapidly changing market.

"Our industry is changing a lot," Balbo said. "There is a basic profitability challenge related to things like regional conflicts and the cost of energy. But even more importantly, the role that China is playing in the market, where they can afford to dump a lot of commodity products below cost, is changing the face of our industry."

Those market forces shape the strategic decisions Balbo makes with business presidents and manufacturing leaders about where Dow needs to be present, where it doesn’t and how to preserve Western chemical independence. With 8,000 people across 70-plus assets, the challenge becomes communicating that strategy so everyone’s daily decisions align with bigger objectives.

Technology and the future.

Dow facilities use private networks, tablets, sensors and AI models to give operators real-time information about equipment performance. On the business side, AI tools predict customer demand and guide formulation processes. What used to require testing 200 formulations can now be narrowed to 20 tests.

"The industry is going to be less dependent on a few experts," Balbo said. "New technologies will help us apply knowledge at every level, from the newest operator to the biggest leader in the company."

Advice for the next generation

Balbo’s career took 26 years to build. He got there by staying curious, focusing on learning rather than titles and following Pablo Picasso’s philosophy: "I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."

"Focus more on what you don’t know," Balbo said. "What people have to say about things you’re not an expert in. That gives you the ability to always move to the next level."

The advice is to be patient and avoid chasing titles for their own sake.

"If your goal is to get to a position of power or influence for the sake of having VP in your title, you’re probably never going to get there," Balbo said. "It’s not about having the job. You need to learn the job. It’s being able to do it. Once you’re able to do it, the job is probably going to come to you."

That philosophy extends to mentoring younger professionals, which brings him the most satisfaction.

"I like to see younger folks stepping up to the plate and discovering that they can do the same thing I was doing or better," Balbo said. "Seeing talent finally believe in themselves is just beautiful."

Leading through what comes next

As Balbo settles into his global role, he’s moving from Louisiana to Houston. The challenges facing Dow and the chemical industry won’t get simpler. Global conflicts, trade tensions, regulatory pressures and technological disruption will continue reshaping how companies operate.

His success hasn’t come from having all the answers. It’s come from asking the right questions, building teams that trust each other and staying curious. The same approach that helped rebuild a hurricane-damaged facility in 45 days now guides strategy for 70 manufacturing assets across the globe.

"Step by step, be humble, keep learning," Balbo said. "Always look for something beyond your job. That’s how you keep growing."

For an industry that enables modern life in ways most people never see, that philosophy matters. The chemical products Balbo’s teams manufacture won’t make headlines. But the hospitals, homes, cars and countless other aspects of daily existence that depend on those products will keep running because leaders like him show up, do the work and build the teams that make it possible.