Green Biologics (GBL) announced today the appointment of James J. Hohman to a non-executive director position on their board of directors.  Hohman was formerly President of OMNOVA Solutions’ Performance Chemicals business unit and a corporate Senior Vice President of OMNOVA.

Prior to GenCorp/OMNOVA, Mr. Hohman held key general management, business and marketing management positions with BP Chemicals and B.F. Goodrich.

“Jim is a seasoned leader and executive in the chemicals industry and we are excited to welcome him to Green Biologics’ board of directors,” said Sean Sutcliffe, Green Biologics’ CEO.  “We believe his strong experience in growth, both through acquisitions and through organic growth, as well as his global experience, will be extremely valuable as Green Biologics emerges as a leader in renewable chemicals.”

“We conducted an exhaustive search for someone who would further strengthen our board’s breadth of talent and background, and we are delighted to have identified such an outstanding and experienced leader,” said Simon Mansfield, Chairman of Green Biologics’ board. “I am confident Jim will make an important and positive impact on our board.”

In his 19 years at OMNOVA and GenCorp, Mr. Hohman was instrumental in broadening the company’s global reach in emulsion polymers and specialty chemicals to include applications around the world in oil and gas, construction, high performance coatings, nonwovens, adhesives, automotive, polymer and rubber modification, antioxidants, coated paper and packaging, carpet and flooring, and many others.

At OMNOVA/GenCorp, Mr. Hohman led negotiations for a number of key acquisitions including the Goodyear/Calhoun, Georgia latex facility, the U.S. specialty chemicals businesses of Sequa Chemicals and PolymerLatex, and the acquisition of ELIOKEM, a key acquisition that significantly broadened OMNOVA’s served markets and expanded the company’s global manufacturing footprint.

“I admire Green Biologics for their vision in building a leading renewable chemicals company, and for the aggressive and pragmatic approach they’ve taken to production scale-up and commercialization,” said Mr. Hohman.  “In getting to know the company I have developed tremendous respect for the board members and management team, in both what they have done and their clear plans for the future, and I look forward to helping them realize their vision.”

Mr. Hohman earned his bachelor’s degree in Honors Chemistry from The Ohio State University and his MBA from the University of Louisville.  He joined the board of directors of Pilot Chemical Company on January 14, 2015.  Most recently, he was a member of the Strategic Review Executive Taskforce of the American Chemistry Council, a former member of both the Corporate Visiting Committee of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and the Advisory Board of The Ohio State University’s College of Math and Physical Sciences, and from 2002 to 2010 was a founding board member of RohmNova, a joint venture between OMNOVA and Rohm & Haas Corp.