Vibrantz Technologies Corporation, a joint partnership of Prince, Ferro and Chromaflo, announced that effective September 30, 2022, Scott Becker has elected to retire as president, Colour Solutions. Effective September 1, Barry Misquitta, president of the company’s Advanced Materials business, assumes the role of president, Colour Solutions, and David Newton, vice president, global commercial for the speciality minerals and battery materials division within the company’s Advanced Materials segment, steps into the role of president, Advanced Materials.
“Scott has been instrumental to the success of what is today Vibrantz’s Colour Solutions segment and an integral member of our team since we became a new company in April of 2022,” said D. Michael Wilson, president and CEO at Vibrantz. “Our Colour Solutions business is well positioned for further growth because of his commitment. We will miss Scott’s leadership, industry knowledge and experience, and wish him the very best in retirement.”
Becker has over 40 years of experience in the colourants space. Prior to Vibrantz, he was CEO of Chromaflo Technologies, the company he founded in 2012 and that was acquired by American Securities in 2016. Prior to Chromaflo, Becker was the CEO of Plasticolors, Inc., a privately held colourant company serving the industrial coatings and thermoset plastics markets from 1999 to 2012. He was also the president of Elementis Specialties from 1996 to 1999 and was with Pfizer Pigments earlier in his career. Scott serves on the board of the American Coatings Association and was previously a board member for the American Composite Manufacturers Association.
“Barry’s involvement in the colour solutions space while at Ferro and his experiences living and working abroad make him a natural fit to lead our global Colour Solutions segment,” Wilson said. “He has a penchant for action, thinks strategically and possesses a strong technical background. Throughout his career, Barry has helped ensure world-class product and service delivery, continuously improved operations and driven growth.” Wilson added that Becker and Misquitta will work closely over the coming weeks to smoothly transition leadership responsibilities.
“I am also very pleased to welcome David to our executive team as president of our Advanced Materials segment,” continued Wilson. “He has a strong history of enabling profitable commercial and strategic business development on a global scale and has learned our Advanced Materials business quickly. His experience will serve us well as we build on our innovation-focused culture to become a world-class specialty chemicals and materials company.”
Misquitta has been president, Advanced Materials at Vibrantz since April 2022. Prior to Vibrantz, he was vice president and chief commercial officer at Ferro Corporation. Also at Ferro, Misquitta was vice president, Americas and Asia, colour solutions, innovation and strategic marketing from 2019 to 2020, and vice president, Asia Pacific from 2015 to 2018. He spent four years with BASF in China as Asia-Pacific commercial director for energy storage materials and five years as vice president of energy storage materials at Novolyte. In 1999, Misquitta joined Ferro for the first time and held commercial leadership positions with oversight of the company’s pharmaceutical, fine chemicals, electrolytes and phosphines businesses. He has a doctorate in chemistry from Louisiana State University and a Master of Business Administration from Cleveland State University.
Newton has been vice president, global commercial for Advanced Materials at Vibrantz since April 2022. Prior to Vibrantz, he spent over 12 years at Ingevity Corporation where he was most recently vice president of corporate strategy and renewable energy ventures from 2020 to 2022, serving as a spearhead for technology scouting to drive the company’s growth initiatives. Also at Ingevity, Newton spent four years as vice president, commercial director and business manager for the company’s Performance Materials business unit and – from 2010 to 2017 – held various commercial and strategy leadership positions. He holds a Master of Business Administration in finance from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business and a Bachelor and Master of Science in civil engineering from Clemson University.