The ChemQuest Group, Inc., a global consulting firm focused on tailored business strategy and optimization, technology acceleration, market intelligence, and M&A advisory services for the specialty materials industry, has elevated four directors to Vice President roles with the goal of enhancing the firm’s business development activities.

Eric Casebolt, Rich Gibson, Crystal Morrison, and Prem Patel are now all focused on driving new business across the firm’s four main pillars: Business Strategy & Transformation; M&A Advisory Services; Operational & Manufacturing Efficiencies; and Technology Development. ChemQuest’s multi-disciplinary, collaborative teams work together to address end-to-end client needs throughout the specialty chemicals and advanced materials sectors.

“While interest rates haven’t yet declined as anticipated, we are seeing considerable positive economic signs and widespread, though cautious optimism. In addition, our internal business cycle analysis is showing a strong trend of increasing growth. As a result, the time is right to expand our resources and deploy a team to capitalize on these trends and create opportunities,” said Daniel Murad, CEO of ChemQuest. “I am confident in the expertise and drive of our expanded business development team, and I look forward to working with each of them to serve the various needs of our clients around the world.”

Eric Casebolt joined ChemQuest in 2023. An accomplished leader with a proven track record of providing viable and actionable solutions to organizational goals, Casebolt’s career started at Johnson Polymer Inc. and evolved to include roles with BASF and Eastman Chemical Co. He has worked to develop and market many resin technologies and formulation additives for use in numerous applications. Casebolt earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin Parkside, a master’s degree in chemistry from DePaul University, and an MBA from Wake Forest University.

Rich Gibson joined ChemQuest in 2021 following a more than 30-year career at Milliken & Co., where he most recently served as director of corporate strategy. Gibson’s extensive business strategy development expertise includes market segmentation, value chain analysis, business intelligence, econometrics, voice of the market, due diligence, and risk management. In addition, Gibson has a wealth of operations experience, including plant management, process improvement, strategy deployment, project management, supply chain management, and more. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Tennessee.

A highly regarded scientist and organizational leader, Crystal G. Morrison, Ph.D., joined ChemQuest in 2018. Over the course of her career, she held several roles at Los Alamos National Laboratory and later joined PPG, where she led global research for industrial and packaging coatings with technology covering 11 unique market segments with over $2.5 billion in annual sales. Morrison earned master’s and doctoral degrees in macromolecular science and engineering from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Prior to joining ChemQuest this year, Prem Patel developed extensive strategy, marketing, sales, operations, and product development experience in roles for companies such as Rogers Corp., Lear Corp., Milliken & Co., and Ingevity Corp. He has been successful in growing P&Ls by leading and scaling strategy, M&A, product management, innovation, and operations initiatives across global value chains. Patel holds an MBA from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.