FQE Chemicals is pleased to announce that Jody Black has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer of FQE Chemicals.
Black will be responsible for leading FQE Chemicals to achieve its short and long-term strategies and growth plans in this position.
Black has a long track record of growing businesses around innovative technologies throughout his 27-year career. In addition to the legacy businesses he has developed, Black has focused on people development to provide guidance and mentorship to a large number of professionals, many of whom are now executives in their own right. He is a dedicated team-oriented executive leader who works tirelessly to build successful relationships that yield positive results.
Black's leadership is well summed up by his former colleague André Burdet in Zurich: “Above all, I was impressed with Jody’s outstanding ability to bring people from diverse horizons together to get the job done. With his high energy and positive attitude, Black proved to be incredibly successful to move his team and partners towards effective solutions. Jody is an excellent motivator, team builder and engineering executive.”
Black has an in-depth understanding of all aspects of the petrochemical business that started very early-on. His first internship provided a unique perspective that would set the foundation of his career. For the first ½ of the summer he was designing projects. For the second ½ of the summer he was assigned to a maintenance crew to install the projects that he designed. In reflection, this was an outstanding lesson to ensure that we connect the virtual assessment of the business with the realities of getting things done. He continued a progression that led to his appointment as an executive for a Fortune 500 company and then into his current leadership role to drive growth in our KNG Capital backed enterprise.
Black's vision for FQE Chemicals is a preferred employer and preferred chemical supplier for companies seeking to improve operations while reducing personnel exposure risk, unit downtime, and disposal cost. His peers in the marketplace have repeatedly told him they will be disappointed in anything other than a unicorn business being built from the foundations he is establishing.
Black and his wife are long-term supporters of Junior Achievement, an organization focused on teaching financial literacy and entrepreneurship to supplement gaps in the U.S. educational system. For work-life balance, Black enjoys a mix of hobbies including hiking and fishing. He is particularly proud that the deep sea fishing opportunities along the Texas gulf coast allow him to use bait the size of his previous freshwater catches.
Black's favorite quote sums up his approach to the marketplace and confidence in developing FQE Chemicals as an industry-leading company:
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
