Elevance appoints new president and CTO

Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc, a high-growth company that creates novel speciality chemicals from natural oils, has hired Karl Schoene as the company's president and chief technology officer. In this role, Schoene will help the company continue to focus on accelerating commercialisation activities and revenue growth, and focus on building world-class business development and technology capability.

“Karl's experience in business-to-business markets and process manufacturing industries, including chemicals and renewable energy, makes him an excellent addition to our leadership team,” said Elevance CEO, Tony Parnell. “In this position, Karl will work closely with me and the other members of the leadership team to continue our focus on commercialisation activities and revenue growth, and provide leadership to the technology and business development organisation. We are excited to welcome him to our company.”

Prior to joining Elevance, Schoene was president and CEO of Accutest Laboratories, a network of seven labs and 14 service centres across the US. In this role, he led nearly 700 employees through a major performance turn-around and M&A process, culminating in a sale this year to SGS, where he continued to lead the acquired business through a successful post-M&A integration.

Previously he held several positions, including president, COO and CEO of InEnTec, and prior to that, held several positions at AkzoNobel Polymer Chemicals, including vice president and global SBU manager, general manager and global business manager in organometallic specialties, polymer chemicals and agriculture applications. Schoene also held executive leadership positions at Crompton Corporation and Witco Corporation, was a manager at Amoco Corporation and Albemarle Corporation Olefins and Derivatives Division, and was a senior R&D specialist and chemist with Ethyl Corporation. He also serves at board-level and in advisory board roles to several start-ups in diverse industries, including speciality chemicals, pharma and medical devices.