Rob Helwick

President and CEO

Rob has over 30 years of experience in the chemicals industry. He has held various leadership roles in manufacturing, supply chain, sales, marketing, and business development for both chemical manufacturers and distributors. Rob most recently was General Manager for Univar’s Industrial Chemicals business in the Gulf region. Prior to that he served as Director of Business Development for Nexeo Solutions and as Commercial Director for Arizona Chemical for their Pine Chemicals business in the Americas region. Rob also spent 20 years with Huntsman, most recently serving as Business Director for Huntsman’s Rigid Polyurethane Foam business. Rob has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University and an M.B.A. from University of Delaware.

Rudy Jones

Chief Financial Officer 

Rudy has over 10 years of experience in finance and accounting. Before joining Meridian, Rudy worked for both Grant Thornton and KPMG where he performed financial statement and internal control audits of both large public and privately owned entities. Primarily, Rudy served companies in the consumer and industrial products industry, but also has experience in the asset management industry where he performed audits of investment companies, including both private equity funds and hedge funds. Rudy also has experience serving clients in a transaction advisory capacity where he gained experience in buy and sell side due diligence. Rudy is a Certified Public Accountant and obtained a B.S. in Accountancy as well as a Master’s in Accountancy from the University of Missouri.

Gabe Smith

Supply Chain Manager

Before joining Meridian, Gabe worked at a large LTL trucking company as a Sourcing Analyst where he conducted full-cycle RFPs for the company’s MRO and Safety divisions. He has experience working with vendors and internal stakeholders to maintain DOT and OSHA compliance for chemical handling and spill cleanup. Gabe graduated from Truman State University in 2022 and is currently pursuing his MBA with a specialization in Data Analytics at the UMKC Bloch School of Business.