Palmer Holland Creates Four Market-Focused Industrial Specialties Business Teams

WESTLAKE, OH — August 25, 2026 — Palmer Holland, Inc., an employee-owned North American specialty chemical and ingredient distributor, today announced a broadened market-focused structure for its Industrial Specialties business, effective immediately. The business will be organized around four dedicated teams: Coatings; Adhesives, Sealants & Elastomers (ASE), Engineered Materials, and Lubricants. The structure replaces the former CASE umbrella with distinct Coatings and ASE teams.

Each team will have dedicated business leadership, technical support, and focused commercial strategies. The new structure will increase market specialization, strengthen principal partnerships, deepen technical expertise, enhance customer engagement, expand opportunities to connect customers with complementary solutions, better align investment with market opportunity, and accelerate organic growth.

Tony Denton will serve as Senior Vice President - Industrial Specialties. The four businesses will be led by Dave Ruggieri, Business Director - Coatings; Alex Snyder, Business Director - Adhesives, Sealants & Elastomers; John Battaglia, Business Director - Engineered Materials; and Matt Miller, Business Director - Lubricants.

Palmer Holland also announced two appointments designed to strengthen companywide growth and commercial capabilities. Following Palmer Holland’s expansion into the Latin American market, John Outcalt will become VP of International Sales & Strategy, with responsibility for accelerating international growth and partnering across the organization on strategic growth initiatives. Ron Zmich, who has led Industrial Specialties for the past 3.5 years, will transition to the role of Director of Commercial Training and Development, applying his extensive technical, commercial, and leadership experience to the continued development of Palmer Holland’s commercial organization.

“Our markets are becoming more specialized, and our structure needs to keep pace,” said Tim Skufca, Chief Executive Officer of Palmer Holland. “This new structure brings our leadership, commercial decisions, and sales execution closer to the markets we serve. By giving each market dedicated leadership, deeper expertise, and clearer accountability, we can respond faster, invest more intentionally, and create greater value for our partners. It also allows John and Ron to bring their experience to two areas that drive additional value for our partners: international growth and the continued development of our commercial team. As an employee-owned company, we are building this structure for the long term.”

“The goal is not to create four silos,” said Denton. “It is to give each team the specialized focus to understand every aspect of its market, build stronger technical and commercial plans, and make faster decisions while still drawing on the full capabilities of Palmer Holland. Our principals and customers should experience clearer accountability, stronger market plans, and more opportunities to connect complementary solutions.”

Denton brings more than 30 years of industrial-sector experience, including procurement and commercial roles with Hitachi Automotive Products, GE Plastics, and Cabot. Ruggieri joined Palmer Holland after 12 years with Rubber Polymer Corporation, where he last served as executive vice president. Battaglia joined Palmer Holland in 2012 and has held sales and business leadership roles across multiple industrial markets. Miller joined the company in 2015 as an account manager and most recently served as National Sales Manager - Lubricants. Snyder joined Palmer Holland in 2018 after holding technical and commercial positions with Valspar and Braskem.

Outcalt joined Palmer Holland as an account manager after working with Sherwin-Williams and later became a business director. Zmich joined Palmer Holland in 2006 and has spent his career in the chemical industry across supply chain, sales, sales management, and business leadership.