Faces of Evotherm: Matt LaChance
Jun 08, 2016
Welcome to “The Faces of Evotherm,” a spotlight on Ingevity team members and their work with customers. For this inaugural spotlight, we introduce Matt LaChance, Evotherm Technical Marketing Manager for New England.
Matt takes seriously the role of educating and creating an awareness of WMA technologies within the world of asphalt municipalities. He’s authored numerous industry papers and been the featured speaker at many regional and national conferences. Matt loves to make his customers look good and has the following to say as he reflects on a 27-year career doing so.
Amy Chiconas (AC): “What’s one thing about your work that gets you out of bed in the morning?”
Matt LaChance (ML): “The customers I have worked with for decades. They’re as much friends as they are customers. I get to help them solve problems and find solutions to issues they may be having with their asphalt mixes. Basically, I get to help out old friends for a living…pretty cool.”
AC: “What’s a favorite project memory of yours?”
ML: “When I was working as an Inspector for the City of Bridgeport in Connecticut, our contractor forgot to call me the night before to let me know they were paving in the morning. Upon arriving, I had the pleasure of informing them that they were supposed to be paving Pennsylvania Avenue from East Main Street to Texas Avenue, not Texas Avenue from East Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue. ‘You paved the wrong street, guys!’ Oops…”
When not hanging out with his “customer friends” day in and day out, Matt is an avid cyclist, kayaker and beer drinker. He loves the motto “Failure is not an option” from the movie Apollo 13. “I have it everywhere, on the wall of my office, on a refrigerator magnet, on a shot glass. You know, the important places, just in case I forget.” Far, far from failure, Matt makes his team and customers better with each interaction.
Stay tuned for our next Face of Evotherm, one-of-a-kind Mr. Jim Lynch.