The Asbury Leadership Team

Gregg Jones has over 30 years of leadership experience in industrial and manufacturing businesses across engineering, marketing, sales and general management roles.  He most recently was President and CEO of EP Minerals, a Golden Gate Capital owned industrial minerals/engineered materials business.   Prior to being CEO, he was the Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing at EP Minerals.  Gregg started his career as a Process Engineer in the Paper Industry at Union Camp Corporation.  He has also worked in commercial leadership roles at Rock Tenn Corporation and Imerys.  

Gregg has a BS and MS in Paper Science Engineering from SUNY Syracuse and a MBA from Syracuse University.

Noah Nichelson says his main job is to ensure Asbury has resources required to execute on our strategic vision. In his words: "Give people the tools and training with end goals in view and then get out of the way. Course correct as necessary."

Noah joined Asbury in 2015 and has been in the carbon industry for more than 20 years. His career began in engineering and then moved into operations management. Prior to becoming President, Noah was Chief Operating Officer. His training includes Six Sigma Green Belt and Bartell and Bartell Leadership Flight School certifications and he was published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry. Noah is also credited with US Patent 7,335,331: Method for Making Ceramic Plates.

His education includes a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering at the University of Colorado.

In his spare time, Noah enjoys the outdoors with his family, camping, hiking, fishing and gardening.

Eric Walmet has over 25 years in operations and operations management, who has built and led diverse teams throughout his career with Ingevity (previously known as Westvaco, MeadWestvaco, and WestRock).   Eric is an expert in safety and operations leadership and culture building, with demonstrated success in process innovation, operational excellence, and managing large, multifaceted projects.    Eric began his career as an engineer at the Charleston Paper Mill, before transferring to the Charleston Chemical Plant, where he spent 25 years in various engineering and production roles, culminating with his being named Charleston Plant Manager in 2016.   He successfully led the plant of 200+ employees through various safety and process improvements, while partnering with different commercial teams to successfully implement significant growth projects. 

Eric has B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Tech.

Scott Palm has over 40 years of experience in the minerals and materials industries, principally in general management, strategy and innovation related positions with both public and private equity-owned organizations. He has held prior positions with leading industrial minerals companies, such as UNIMIN (now part of Covia) World Minerals (now part of Imerys), EP Minerals (now part of U S Silica), Active Minerals and Imerys. He has initiated and led the acquisitions of over 20 industrial minerals companies and is an inventor of over 30 patented or patent pending products or processes related to diatomite, perlite, clay, cullet, composite materials, brucite and radiation-cured polymers.

Scott has an undergraduate degree in Mining Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago.

Patrick Sook joined Asbury in 2011 as our Corporate Controller after spending close to a decade in the public and private accounting sectors.  He is a CPA who received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from DeSales University.  In July 2021, Patrick was promoted to Chief Financial Officer.  As a strategic member of management team, Patrick ensures our financial goals are achieved by actively managing the company’s working capital needs with an eye on long-term plans to ensure continued profitability and growth. 

In addition to his contributions to Asbury, Patrick actively participates in coaching youth sports as father of 3 children.  He spends the rest of his free time playing golf and tennis or at the Jersey shore with his family.

Kevin likes to say, “Asbury is the type of company that encourages and provides growth opportunities to their employees.”

Kevin began his career with Asbury in a non-traditional way. In 2002 he was hired as a contract employee for Asbury’s IT department and a year later accepted a full-time position continuing in the IT department.

In 2003, Asbury’s management team approached and offered him the position of Sales Manager for South American and Mexico. As Kevin grew, so did his territory, in 2006 Europe and Africa were added to his responsibilities.

During his sales tenure, he was also charged with the management of key products and markets as well as covering some Cast Metals accounts in Western PA and Ohio.

In 2012 Kevin was promoted to Industrial Sales Manager where he was responsible for managing Asbury's vast global salesforce strategizing to promote Asbury Carbons and increase their customer base.

In May, 2020 Kevin was promoted to Vice President of Sales.

He received his Associate Degree from the Allentown School of Business.

From a personal standpoint, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, particularly doing anything outdoors. His main passion is spending time on his boat and fishing. He also volunteers in his community as a sports coach and with a local scout organization.

Steve Polgar is a 30-year veteran of the carbon business, and oversees safety and production for all Asbury facilities.

His certifications include: Certified Mechanical Inspector, Certified Quality Technician, Certified Quality Auditor, Certified Quality Engineer, Certified Quality Manager / Organizational Excellence, and he is a certified Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) Instructor.

Steve enjoys spending time with his family, walking, bicycle riding, going to yard sales and attending local music or art events.

Skip Brown works with and travels with all Asbury distributors and independent reps. His duties also include participating in product demonstration, developing new product ideas, reviewing pricing and profitability analysis, and vetting prospective raw materials.

He's been with Asbury since 1990 after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC. Skip's previously held role at Asbury was Northeast Territory Manager for all products and industries.

Jeffrey Julian joined Asbury in 2010 and has the overall responsibility to direct and coordinate the marketing and product management efforts of the company globally.

His responsibilities include establishment of market-based pricing and profit and loss management on all industrial products. He also performs oversight or direct negotiation of incoming supply contracts for managed products, negotiation of annual supply contracts to key customers, development and execution of all annual Product and Market Management Plans and design and control of Asbury's social media and website activities--among other marketing and communications leadership duties. Jeffrey also serves as a member of Asbury’s Strategic Planning and Leadership Committees, is a member of the Metal Powder Producers Association and a member of the Industry Development Board for the Metal Powder Industries Federation.

Jeffrey has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from the University of Hartford, and previously held positions of Product Manager and Industrial Marketing Manager at Asbury.

Outside of Asbury, Jeff enjoys spending time with his family, bicycle riding on local trails, weight lifting and numerous other physical fitness activities.

David Soares executes strategies to continuously improve Asbury quality system compliance and performance. In this capacity, he directs and coordinates all Asbury quality programs and strategies, including ongoing certification to the most recent ISO Quality Standards under a corporate umbrella certification.

David has been with Asbury since 2014 and is a key contributor to the strategic planning process of the corporation and a member of the Leadership Committee. He holds certifications of ASQ – Certified Quality Manager, ASQ – Certified Quality Auditor, and Lean Master Certification, and has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautics from St. Louis University.

Ryan Weir has been working with industrial minerals and their use for 25 years. He has experience with oxide and non-oxide ceramics in addition to carbonaceous materials and has held technical and engineering positions within the carbon, whitewares, refractories, and abrasives industries.

Ryan is committed to ensuring that Asbury Carbons maintain a leadership position in conventional analysis methods, including physical and chemical property measurements of dry carbon and graphite powders, natural graphite geology, mineralogy, and petrology. He is committed to extending the company’s legacy of technical service. This service includes troubleshooting customer applications-related problems involving carbonaceous materials and in fact-based technical marketing of the entire Asbury Carbons product line including non-carbonaceous products.

Ryan’s education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Glass Engineering Science from Alfred University, Alfred NY and a Masters of Business Administration from Lakeland University, Plymouth WI.

Nick Iacono has been in the carbon industry since 2007 and controls the sales, distribution, and operations for all of Canada. His previous positions at Asbury include Territory Sales Manager for Industrial and Non-Ferrous markets in Ontario.

Nick's extensive business acumen makes him a valuable leader at Asbury. He received his degree in Business and Economics from Humber College in Toronto.

Ton joined Asbury in 2021, after spending 32 years in the Chemical Process Industry. He began his career in Process Engineering but spent most of his career in Operations Management functions. As the General Manager of European Operations he is responsible for all activities from the Maastricht site.

Ton received his Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Delft Technical University in the Netherlands.

In his free time Ton enjoys playing tennis, visiting art museums and hiking on mountain trails.