Jon McCracken, a highly experienced and certified manufacturing executive, has been named Chief Operating Officer (COO) of InChem Corp., a custom and toll chemical manufacturer based in Rock Hill, S.C.

Jon was previously Global Operations Director for a major coatings manufacturer, where he was responsible for several industrial operations worldwide. In addition, he has extensive acquisition experience, which includes integration of companies, and has served in establishing supply-chain organizations for supporting business functions such as asset utilization, procurement and demand planning/scheduling.

“As our company continues to grow nationally and internationally, including operations of three manufacturing plants in the Carolinas, we believe Jon can be a very valuable asset for our management team,” said Steve Crownshaw, InChem President. “We created this new position of COO to utilize his experience and capabilities.”

Jon attended Washburn University majoring in mechanical engineering. He has extensive American Management Association certifications in project management, supply-chain and leadership management. He also is a certified Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt.

InChem Corp. was a corporate sponsor of the Junior Achievement Annual Fall Golf Classic held Oct. 11 at the Tega Cay Golf Course in Tega Cay. A total of 19 teams and 73 golfers spent a beautiful day golfing and supporting JA programs.

Junior Achievement gives young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future and make smart academic choices.  The funds raised help provide relevant, hands-on experiences to local students in kindergarten through high school, giving them essential skills in financial literacy, workforce readiness and entrepreneurship.

“We are pleased to sponsor this event benefitting Junior Achievement,” said Steve Crownshaw, President of InChem Corp. “JA is educating tomorrow’s leaders with a positive attitude toward business and a responsible lifestyle.”

The funds raised during this event will allow JA serving the Catawba Region to serve 500 students throughout Chester, Lancaster and York Counties, helping JA reach their goal of 5,500 students for the 2013-2014 school year.

“Molly Cool,” an amazing Holographic Greeter from the future, joined the InChem team in its trade show booth at the Chemicals America Specialty & Agro show in Wilmington, NC, in early September 2013.

“Molly” is a lifesize holographic projection that tells visitors all about InChem in 2 minutes or less. Here is a video of what she looks like (taken in the studio before the show); just click on the play button:

“Molly Cool” (named for “molecule” – get it?) is believed to be the first Holographic Greeter ever employed at a trade show event by a U.S. chemical company. In addition to holding a short InChem slide show in her hands, she also demonstrates agitation and pump equipment as well as pelletized products such as InChem makes. The pellets appear to fall down in front of her, and so for added impact granular pellets were scattered on the floor at her feet.

“The vast majority of visitors to our booth thought Molly was great, and they listened to what she had to say,” said InChem President Steve Crownshaw, who dreamed up the “Greeter” after seeing another version in the Charlotte area. “In fact our little 8X8 foot booth got pretty crowded at times. The technology is very intriguing, so we had plenty of scientists trying to figure out how she worked. A couple admitted it was a little creepy, because it is a little like having an apparition speaking in front of you. But Molly was very cheerful and we truly enjoyed having her with us. We feel we got some new business leads we would not have gotten otherwise, because practically everyone at the show came to our booth. It demonstrated our innovation and our ability to think outside the box.”