Haviland Enterprises appoints new president and CEO

Meg Post. Courtesy Haviland Enterprises

A chemicals manufacturer is replacing its retiring CEO with its current president.

The board of directors at Grand Rapids-based Haviland Enterprises said Monday, June 27, it appointed Meg Post as president and CEO, following her promotion to president last fall. Effective July 1, Post will take over for Mike Karasiewicz, who is retiring after serving as Haviland’s president and CEO since 2018.

Haviland Enterprises is a global manufacturer and distributor of specialty and commodity chemistry and the parent company of Haviland Products Company and Haviland Pool and Spa. It is a 100% employee-owned company with 270-plus employees and over 620,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

Post joined Haviland in 2018 as vice president of finance, was named CFO in 2020, then was named president the following year.

Before joining Haviland, Post spent more than a decade at Adamy Valuation, where she provided financial and valuation advisory services to middle-market companies. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance from Grand Valley State University.

“I’m thankful for the nearly four years I’ve spent working with Mike, and for the invaluable guidance he has provided relative to strategy and leadership,” Post said. “I’m very excited to step into this new role, and I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Haviland through its next phase of growth and transformation.”

Mike Karasiewicz. Courtesy Haviland Enterprises

Karasiewicz described Post as “a critical part of the company’s growth and success” during the past several years.

“Her commitment to employee engagement and development, safety and strategic alignment will drive growth and success for the company’s employee-owners,” Karasiewicz said.

Karasiewicz joined Haviland’s board of directors in 2014, then succeeded Bernie Haviland as president and CEO in 2018.

Throughout his time at Haviland, Karasiewicz led the company through a cultural and leadership transformation, restructuring the business and forming the company’s senior leadership team. He brought a focus on safety, customer service and transparent communication to all levels of the business, and his leadership also brought record levels of sales and profitability to the company, the board said.

As president and CEO, Post will succeed Karasiewicz as a member of Haviland’s board. She also will lead Haviland into its 90th year of operations and 10th anniversary of being a 100% employee-owned company.

“Leading an employee-owned company is an incredibly rewarding opportunity, and I’m excited to continue fostering our culture of employee engagement, transparency and growth through operational excellence,” Post said. “We are positioned to make significant investments in our people, processes and facilities to create growth and value for our customers and employee-owners.”