When Randall S. Dearth was named president and CEO of LANXESS Corp., he had
quite a challenge on his hands. LANXESS
was spun off from Bayer Group four years
ago, so Bayer could better define their core
business, namely material and life sciences.
At the time of the spin-off, 40 percent of the
chemicals group, which is now known as
LANXESS, was underperforming. Yet, under
Dearth’s guidance, LANXESS not only turned
it around and divested underperforming sections, but the company’s EBITDA grew from
7 percent in 2004 to 12 percent in 2006.
“The key to turning LANXESS around was
ensuring that all of our business units were
operating effectively and efficiently,” Dearth
says. “Goals were set high, and we were able
to see where we were being held down. Over
the past four years, we divested underper-forming business and began growing both
organically and through acquisition.”
Not only is the company thriving financially, but it also has an employee retention rate
of 95 percent. That rate, along with Dearth’s
overall success, should not come as a surprise, considering his rise through the ranks.
He was president and CEO of Bayer
Chemicals Corp. since 2003, after joining Bayer
in 1988 as a development chemist for automotive coatings. From 1993 to 1997, Dearth was
on assignment in Germany, where he was
responsible for market development in Europe
and Asia. Upon returning to the United States,
he managed the coatings and colorants resins
business before being named director of the
division’s monomers and adhesives business.
Among other positions, he was also the head
of the global powder coatings business group.
“Being a good leader means being able to
keep employees motivated and on track,
especially in times of uncertainty,” he says.
“When we were spun out of Bayer four years
ago, there was a lot of anxiety about starting
something new. I knew I had to lead by example and greet the unknown with optimism
and excitement, and I am grateful that everyone here followed suit.”
Yet, Dearth doesn’t lend all his energy to his
business. He exemplifies a pacesetter by
showing that a successful business strategy
includes much more than just sound business
decisions. It involves an environmental stew-ardship, a commitment to the community and
a demonstration of good conduct, sound values and strong purpose in his actions.
He has helped the regional business community economically by traveling with
Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato
and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to
Europe with the mission to bring direct trans-Atlantic flights to Pittsburgh in efforts to aid
international business growth in the region.
In November 2007, Dearth hosted the
region’s first Chemical Industry Summit.
By bringing together chemical executives
and legislators in southwestern Pennsylvania
to explore legislative and regulatory initiatives for the chemical industry, they were
able to identify workable solutions to the
issues that are facing the industry and the
region, including energy, security, climate
change and rail transportation. The summit
represented everything that is dynamic about
the chemical industry landscape as Dearth
and his peers focused on ways to keep the
United States competitive in an industry that
employs more than 1 million Americans.
Dearth impacted the community philanthropically by creating the LANXESS Xplore
Science program where employees devote
their time and resources to the educational
community by demonstrating how science is
cool and learning can be fun.
Culturally, he serves as the chairman of the
Andy Warhol Museum board, where he had
the vision to bring on factory workers —
young leaders in the city who work to bring
new business and young people to the region
through the Warhol Museum.
As a board member on the American
Chemistry Council, Dearth has helped the
community scientifically by being very active
in recruiting chemists to the region and lobbying for new laws to bring additional natural
gas to Pittsburgh. He also sits on the
American Chemistry Council Board and the
United Way of Allegheny County.
“Companies, including their leaders, are
only as strong as the communities in which
they serve,” he says. “Pittsburgh has been a
great home to me and to LANXESS Corp. I
want to be as involved as my schedule permits, and I want LANXESS Corp. employees
to take an active role in their neighborhoods,
as well. We just launched a Community
Chemistry video where I got to see how
employees in all of our U.S. locations give
back to their communities. It was great testimony to our corporate citizenship.”
HOW TO REACH: LANXESS Corp., (800) 526-9377 or
us.lanxess.com
