Products Finishing’s 40 Under 40 award program recognizes young professionals in the finishing industry. The program’s emphasis is on leadership and potential leadership — whether for a current employer or overall involvement in the industry. This year, PF editors combed through a long list of nominees with a wide range of skill sets. The finalists include engineers, chemists, general managers, operations manager and sales professionals, to name a few. Whether focused on the business side or on the shop floor, the common thread between them is that they all are innovators and trailblazers striving to be the next generation of leaders in this industry. 

 

Angelo Magrone

Angelo Magrone has been in the metal finishing industry since 2012, having worked for a supplier of equipment (Serfilco), a supplier of chemicals (Asterion LLC) and now for Bales Metal Surface Solutions. He also serves on numerous NASF commitees.

Arthur “Artie” Thomas

Arthur “Artie” Thomas, P.E., has worked with Herff Jones, Toyota, Hurco, and now Gema. At Hurco, he redesigned lathe products, improved processes and provided new ideas and solutions for customers.

Ben Lawhorn

Ben Lawhorn has been in the finishing industry for 12 years at anodizing and precision hard coating facility Global Metal Finishing (formerly East East DyeCom). He started as a sales manager, and now supports most roles in the company.

Christoper Gray

Christopher Gray founded Alliance Industrial Masking (AIM) in 2008 and was the sole employee for 3 years. In 2011, he was able to expand the business, but remains involved with every aspect of the company.

David Jilot

David is a key leader at Pioneer Metal Finishing, where he was worked since 2007. He has completed Sandler leadership and sales training and participated in the Leadership at Pioneer Program.

Dean Bell

Dean Bell has been with his family company, Precision Finishing, since 2013. In his time there, he has learned the business from the ground up to provide customers with solutions.

Dean Zdravkovski

Director of Operations, MacDermid Enthone Inc.

Dean is one of the youngest members of the executive team at MacDermid Enthone, and has worked with the company since 2005.

Doug Rubino

Doug started in the industry 12 years ago as a production assistant. He has received Columbia’s STAR employee award and is a member of the internal environmental committee.

Dustin Evans

Product Specialist, Atotech

Dustin Evans has been in the plating industry since 2012, and he now provides technical expertise for plating lines at Atotech. He is a certified as a TS 16949 Internal Auditor, as well as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Emerson Bilodeau

Director of Quality and Engineering, AeroDynamics Inc.

Emerson has been in the industry since 2014, after he graduated with a bachelor’s in engineering from Cornell. He started at AeroDynamics as process engineer in 2018 and quickly moved up to his current role.

Emily Peck

Emily has been with MicroCare since 2016, and commonly presents at tradeshows and other finishing events. She published over 15 technical articles in trade journals last year, and she is the VP of membership for the Surface Mount Technology Association.

Eric Turner

Eric started in the industry as a forklift driver in 2001 and has worked his way up to his current role. He is a Level 3 NACE-Certified Coating Inspector.

Ivan Pinto

Industrial Coatings Technical Manager, PPG Mexico, S.A. de C.V.

Ivan has been in the industry for 12 years at PPG. His responsibilities have grown to include managing departments, monitoring production and introducing new technologies to Mexico and Central America.

Jason Swanger

Finishing Supervisor, Siemens Industry Inc

Jason came to Siemens from the environmental field. In his two years in the field, he has passed the CEF exam and the South Carolina Physical Chemical wastewater exams for the "D" and "C" level.

Jeff Lawrence

Jeff has been in the finishing industry since 2009, working at a wire electroplating company (Elkem). He is also on the board of the Masters’ Association of Metal Finishers and President of the Wire Association International.

Jim Adolf

Jim holds a PhD in chemical engineering and has worked at Atotech and startup Modumetal. He has worked at Hohman for one year and has already made an impact.

Jordan Donnelly

Jordan has been in the finishing industry for 15 years. He recently completed the AESF Foundation’s Certified Electroplater-Finisher program and the CAF – Airline and Aerospace certification. He is working towards Master Surface Finisher certification.

Josh Dorris

Plating Process Manager, SRG Global

Josh has been in the finishing industry since 2009, when he started as a line technician at SRG, a coatings manufacturer. Now, he is the plating process manager.

Josh VanDuinen

Josh has 10 years of experience in the mass finishing industry with Walther Trowal. His expertise includes process development and improvement, finishing applications for 3-D printed parts and shot blasting.

Josh Yeary

.Josh has worked at Calvary for his 7 years in the finishing industry, where he started as a lab technician and rose to become lab manager.

Juan Manuel Milian Valencia

Juan has been in the electroplating field for over eight years. He is certified as a Six Sigma Green Belt and was Green Belt of the Year in 2016.

Julie Gatt

Global Marketing - Sustainability, MacDermid Enthone Inc.

Julie has been with MacDemid Enthone for five years, where she has implemented global software and driven brand awareness, among other accomplishments.

Keith Logan

Quality Manager, Saporito Finishing

Keith has been at Saporito Finishing for nine years, where he maintains documents to continue meeting NADCAP and ISO 9001:2015 certifications and attending NADCAP conferences.

Kilby Garcia

Kilby Garcia has been in the finishing industry for almost ten years, where he has helped move Five Start Plating from a small anodizing company to a full metal finishing shop.

Matthew Lomasney

Matt has been in the finishing industry for seven years with Master Finish. He has obtained a CEF-3 and teaches as an adjunct at Calvin College for Chemical Engineering.

Matt Mechling

Matt has been in the finishing industry since 2007. At Coventya, he has risen from production technician to material resource planner to his current role.

Michael Beamish

Michael has spent 11 years at DeFelsko Corporation, a manufacturer of coating thickness gages and inspection instruments. He is an active member of the Society of Protective Coatings (SPC), the International Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE), the Powder Coating Institute (PCI), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Michael Miles

CEO, Miles Chemical

Mike has been in the industry since 1999, and he has helped grow Miles Chemical from a small, three-person operation to a finishing supplier with almost 100 employees.

Michael Stewart

Michael has been in the finishing industry since 2014. He started as an office manager but has transitioned into an operations role for American Metal Coatings.

Mike Black

Mike started out as a chemical sales rep but has been working in the finishing industry for just over a year. He is a member of the Canadian Association for Surface finishing.

Monique Guyse

Monique has worked at Plateco, a zinc plating company, since the summer following her eighth-grade year. She has been there full-time since 2015 and is an ISO 9001:2015 auditor.

Nate Wells

Program Manager, Dynamic Software Solutions

Nate manages implementation of DWOS (Dynamic Work Order System), an application designed specifically for the metal finishing industry.  Nate has been able to use his real-world knowledge of Supply Chain Management and the aerospace industry to improve customer efficiency, optics, and quality management while maintaining existing business processes and workflows.

Owen Labrie

Head Chemist and Laboratory Manager, AeroDynamics Inc.

Owen is the head of the Environmental, Health and Safety committee at Aerodynamics. He is also certified as a Level II Wastewater Operator, Hazardous Waste Coordinator, HAZWOPER and DOT

Ryan Renwick

Ryan has been in the industry for 16 years. He started out as a part-time intern and now works as a full-time formulating chemist.

Scott Schaff

Scott started in the finishing industry as an intern in 2004 and has worked up to his current role. He is on the board of his local CCAI chapter and he is a member of the Porcelain Enamel Institute.

Shane Stewart

Shane started working in metal finishing working part-time at Palm Technology, a finishing supplier. In 2011, he took a full-time role and worked as a designer, engineer and project manager.

Tim Splingaire

Tim started his career at a manufacturer of nuclear products (Oldenburg Group), then began working at Therma-Tron-X in 2013. He has since become a mentor for the new generation.

Tom J. Dobmeier Jr.

Tom started in the finishing industry in 2005, working weekends in high school. He has worked at McGard since 2011 and has obtained ASQ SSBB and CEF-3.

Vanessa Navarro

Vanessa has been working with Axalta in the industry for more than six years, building a global brand and bringing in acquisitions.