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Crystal Morrison, Ph.D., holds master’s and doctorate degrees in macromolecular science and engineering from the University of Michigan, as well as a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology). Prior to joining ChemQuest as a director in 2018, her dynamic career included roles of increasing responsibility in settings ranging from a national lab to a global, multi-billion-dollar coatings company.
Now a ChemQuest vice president focused on expanding our business development efforts, how has she capitalized on her past experience to support our clients, and what trends does she foresee for the future?
Can you share some of your career highlights prior to joining ChemQuest?
My background is a little different than others at ChemQuest. I actually started my career at Los Alamos National Lab as a postdoctoral fellow. I served as a staff member and team leader for almost 10 years. In that role, I gained experience with many different materials, from silicones and nanomaterials to paints and coatings and adhesives and sealants.
After about 10 years at the government lab, I relocated to Pittsburgh to join RJ Lee Group, a family-owned company that does litigation support, forensic analysis, and materials testing. I led business development and technical projects for polymers and plastics. I also supported their government-funded projects since I had such a strong government background, and I was an expert for litigation support, which was fascinating.
After a few years, PPG recruited me primarily for their corporate strategy team, which involved a combination of government research projects, tech scouting, and business development. Essentially, I was building new partnerships for PPG. After a few months, I was asked to lead global R&D for industrial coatings.
I had a fantastic experience at PPG. I had a global role and participated in several mergers and acquisitions, which I enjoyed. I needed more flexibility to support my family, so I decided to step away from PPG and joined ChemQuest, along with pursuing some other entrepreneurial adventures.
I’ve had roles in academia, a national lab, a family-owned company, at a huge, global company, and now in consulting at ChemQuest. I’ve had the opportunity to see business from a lot of different angles and build relationships across specialty chemicals and materials, not just paints and coatings. I feel like ChemQuest is a perfect spot for me and my career now. All of the experiences I’ve had have gotten me to this point and enable me to better serve our clients.
How have those experiences informed your work with our clients?
In previous roles, like at RJ Lee Group, for example, I was doing business development and consulting. Even in my roles at the national lab, and certainly my roles at PPG, I was always working with a funding agency or a customer and really trying to understand their challenges. I would think strategically about how to solve their problems in a meaningful, efficient way.
While being a technical person, I have this deep appreciation for business, strategy, and the path that gets you to success, outside of just really cool technology. I think that comes from all of my experiences and working in truly different environments to serve the needs of very, very different companies and industries.
Is our customer the Department of Defense? Is it an attorney on a litigation case, or is it a private equity company looking to buy another company? Having such varied experience has given me the ability to look at clients’ needs in a more comprehensive way that encompasses both the technology as well as the business strategy needed to be successful.
Are there any types of projects that you find more interesting or engaging than others?
I’ve had the ability to work on so many really cool projects at ChemQuest. There’s always so many different projects, and with so many different types of clients. That’s what I find truly interesting.
For me, some of the projects that I found to be very engaging are the buy-side M&A projects, and then the business strategy and marketing projects. Private equity companies are typically our customers on M&A projects, and I’m always interested in the types of things that those PE clients care about that ultimately make their decision a yes or no on a deal. The way that we then put together the body of data to help them answer their questions is also equally fascinating.
Our PE clients have slightly different perspectives on the detail required to get a deal to close. Some clients are extremely granular, while others are a bit higher level, and it’s always interesting. I enjoy seeing how those clients evaluate the deals and how we put together such a strong body of data to help them get to their answer.
In terms of the business strategy and marketing strategy projects, I have to admit, I am kind of a strategy junkie. I really enjoy taking a look at a company that says, “We want to be here in 3-5 years.” They’re asking us to help them formulate a plan to get from point A to point B. That’s fascinating, because you get not only into the technology but also all the different opportunities they could pursue and which ones make the most sense.
As a scientist, part of my mentality is just “go and chase all the cool opportunities!” As somebody who’s really thinking about strategy, though, it’s important to determine which of the cool opportunities make the most sense for growth.
I’ve been involved in all of our pillars, from M&A and strategy to tech development and operational efficiency. But for me, the M&A and strategy projects always end up being the most interesting and intriguing. And some of the hardest.
What are some trends that you’re seeing that are impacting our clients (now and in the future)?
We’re sitting now at the beginning of Q4 2024. We’ve got a lot of things going on globally, from war in the Middle East, war in Ukraine, and the U.S. presidential election. Any time we go into these periods, there’s always uncertainty, and deal activity slows down.
With the Federal Reserve recently lowering interest rates and the likelihood of further rate changes through 2025, I believe M&A activity will begin to pick up, especially after the election, as rates continue to drop. Many investors are sitting on significant capital that needs to be deployed. We can expect more M&A activity in specialty chemicals and materials. Additionally, niche areas, such as chemical distributors, which have been active in recent years, are likely to experience increased activity as well.
On the technical side, we see a lot of trends related to sustainability. While sustainability means different things to different companies, people are really making it a part of the mission of their companies. Years ago, it was a buzzword. People were trying to figure out if “sustainability” was really going to stick. It seems to have stuck.
Sustainability is great when it comes to product development. You have products that are going to be more sustainable, whether through using bio-based raw materials or reducing energy consumption. But ultimately, our clients’ customers have to be willing to pay for those products. For the industries we serve, their customers are not always ready to pay for those products. It varies a lot, and, consequently, what sustainability means varies a lot.
People are looking at sustainability in a lot of different ways, from saving energy and water to using bio-based materials to reducing energy consumption in their plants, and also making a case for all of these things from a business standpoint. We can help companies in their sustainability journey in a lot of different ways, whether it’s from acquisitions, looking at strategy, improving their operational efficiency, or technology development. For example, we can help companies evaluate bio-based materials or help them find ways to develop materials that maybe consume less energy in production.
Crystal can be reached at cmorrison@chemquest.com.
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