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Jerry Jost founded Jost Chemical after a successful early career in chemical engineering. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri at Columbia. He served on active duty in the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, Georgia, and then another eight years in the U.S. Army Reserves.

He began his career as a chemical production engineer for Wagner Electric, and then as a Project Engineer at ITT Blackburn. Following those two positions, Jerry spent nine years at Mallinckrodt (currently operating as Covidien) in various roles: production engineer, production supervisor and technical supervisor. He credits this varied experience for teaching him the nuances inherent to the specialty chemical and pharmaceutical industry. By understanding the science as well as production, he was able to successfully grow his own company.

In 2010, Jerry earned the Small Business Association’s Person of the Year Award for St. Louis District. He was honored for Jost Chemical’s growth, financial performance, new product innovation, response to adversity and contributions to the community. That same year, he also received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Energy/Chemical Award in the Central Midwest region. According to Ernst & Young LLP, the award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic, growing businesses.

Jerry Jost has served on the Chemical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) at the University of Missouri for over 10 years, and he’s also been on the board for the Associated Industries of Missouri for more than 10 years. Jerry has been a volunteer judge at both Washington University and Saint Louis University campuses for various entrepreneurial contests, such as the Idea to Product (I2P) early-stage academic competition and the FIRST Robotics competition. He also was a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) for over 20 years and regularly has opened his company’s facilities for regional ACS meeting and training purposes, as well as the Boy Scouts of America. He also offers continued support to the Salvation Army, now going on two decades.