Earlier this month, Delavau, one of HBM’s portfolio companies, welcomed Gregory Sherman as Vice President of Operations. Gregory will be a member of Delavau’s leadership team, reporting to John Burrows, CEO.
About Delavau: For over 150 years, Delavau has been relied upon as a premier supplier of food, pharmaceutical, and nutritional technologies to major nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and food brands.
CC: Please introduce yourself and share your career highlights.
GS: I am a native New Yorker who has a passion for engineering, professional sports, and outdoor activities. I proudly and loyally root for the Mets, Jets, and Rangers – teams I grew up watching – and have influenced my wife, Stephanie, and my twin boys, Grant and Finley to share my enthusiasm for these teams. However, having lived in the Philadelphia area for nearly 11 years of my life, I consider myself a proud Eagles fan as well.
Engineering always interested me. After graduating from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, I embarked on a career in the chemicals and manufacturing industries. I joined Johnson Matthey, a Philadelphia based manufacturer of automobile catalytic converters. Since then, I have assumed Process Engineer, Production Supervisor, Production Manager and Site General Manager roles at several companies including, General Chemical, SPI Pharma (Polyols) and Corn Products. I was most recently the Site General Manager of SPI Pharma’s antacid plant in Delaware before joining Delavau.
CC: What intrigued you about the Vice President of Operations opportunity at Delavau?
GS: What sold me on the opportunity with Delavau was both the environment and the people. I could immediately tell during my facility walk-thru and through the interview process that people were engaged and had a genuine desire to make the business better. They were transparent about areas that needed improvement and just as importantly, how they collectively planned to improve those areas. It was a breath of fresh air – essentially an environment that I could see myself fitting in well given my background and areas I personally look to develop.
CC: What will be your primary roles and responsibilities?
GS: As a member of Delavau’s leadership team and the Vice President of Operations, I am responsible for the entire company operations and oversight of the operations team. I will focus on ensuring operations functions effectively and is in alignment with the business goals. We will ensure that all facets of operations – safety, quality control, cost-effectiveness, ability to meet customer commitments – are properly attended to for the long-term success of the company.
A large part of my responsibilities will be developing talent. I enjoy this aspect of my job immensely as I truly believe that when an organization functions as a cohesive team, it can accomplish so much more. Developing talent is a major part of this as valued emerging leaders will drive business growth and foster customer satisfaction.
CC: What are you looking to accomplish in your first 90-days at Delavau?
GS: As Robert Baden-Powell, British Army officer and author of Scouting for Boys said: “If you make listening and observation your occupation, you will gain much more than you can by talk.”
I firmly believe in the wisdom of Robert Baden-Powell’s and plan to listen and learn about Delavau during my first 90-days. I want to hear and witness who we are, what we do and why we do it so that I can utilize my strengths to contribute to the long-term success of the company.
I am excited for the opportunity to work with the Delavau team. I believe people will find me to be approachable, collaborative and genuine. Above all else, I hope people find me to be someone of integrity.
Greg joined Delavau on December 4th.