Heartland Water Technology, a market leader in the turnkey delivery and operations of proprietary wastewater treatment and waste conversion solutions, has appointed Christopher Beaufait as its new President and Chief Executive Officer effective April 17, 2023. Beaufait has been a member of Heartland's Board of Directors since 2017.
Beaufait brings over 20 years of leadership experience building global technology-focused businesses, having served in executive roles with the General Electric Company, Vestas, and Sarcos Robotics. Most recently he served as the President and CEO of Sharper Shape Inc., an asset intelligence software solution company which utilizes automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to help customers improve operations, reliability, and safety of critical infrastructure. Beaufait led a complete turnaround and successfully established Sharper Shape as an industry leading automation company for the utility segment.
As Heartland's new President and CEO, Beaufait is responsible for leading the company's strategic direction and driving growth across all areas of the business. His background in building service-oriented, performance-driven businesses is ideal for leading the extension of Heartland's core Wastewater Treatment business, featuring the Company's patented technology, the Heartland Concentrator™, and to launch Heartland's new Waste Conversion business, featuring its proprietary HelioStorm™ ultra-high temperature ionic gasifier.
Beaufait brings over 20 years of leadership experience building global technology-focused businesses, having served in executive roles with the General Electric Company, Vestas, and Sarcos Robotics
In a planned transition, Beaufait takes over the leadership of Heartland from Earl Jones who served as the company's CEO since 2016. During that time, Jones led the successful relaunch and growth of Heartland's core business, completed a significant growth capital investment from The Baupost Group and closed the acquisition of Cogent Energy Systems. Jones remains involved with Heartland in a strategic advisory role and as an investor.
Says Jones, "I'm proud of the track record of safety and delivery that Heartland has achieved to date. We have consistently demonstrated to the market the high value which our technology and our team offer to customers. We've built a strong foundation and I am excited about Heartland's opportunities as Chris takes the helm."
During his first 90 days, Chris worked closely with the team, the Board of Directors, and Heartland's customers to craft the next phase of the Company's strategic growth plan. The Company will continue to offer a complete leachate treatment service to solid waste customers and build upon initial commercial success as an important disposal option for oil and gas produced water. "Our customers want Heartland to solve 100% of their disposal problems," said Beaufait. "For leachate treatment, changing regulations and emerging contaminants of concern such as PFAS are driving up disposal costs and reducing outlets. The Heartland Concentrator™ is an effective tool for on-site leachate treatment, volume reduction, and PFAS separation. We intend to continue leveraging our world class cloud-based operating platform, our terrific team, and a "customer first" delivery mentality to solve problems and delivering a complete solution for our customers."
This fall, Heartland will launch its waste conversion business focused initially on biosolids management, delivering assured PFAS destruction through high-temperature gasification.
Said Beaufait, "Wastewater treatment plants are looking for new ways to dispose of biosolids. With HelioStorm™, we have a technology which not only breaks down biosolids, it also provides assured PFAS destruction and generates energy from waste. Additionally, we expect HelioStorm™ to be highly effective at treating a variety of challenging waste products including PFAS resins, medical waste, and end-of-life plastics.
Speaking about the transition, Rob Cawthorn, Chairman of Heartland's Board says "First, we would like to acknowledge and thank Earl Jones for his service and dedication to Heartland. He was instrumental in establishing Heartland as an industry leader and growing the company to where we are today. Second, we are excited to welcome Chris Beaufait to Heartland. After serving on the board for the past six years, we are thrilled to have Chris join as President and CEO. Chris' broad industry background, which includes renewable energy, advanced technology, and cutting-edge software development, is ideal to help Heartland continue to become a complete solution provider for our customers."
