Technical Team

For more than 100 years, Penreco® has specialized in niche product blending to meet customer specific requirements. And our experts help lead the way.

Our research and development team is more than chemists, they’re business partners. Our experts work closely with customers to develop customizable formulations for some of the world’s leading global brands. Innovation is at the heart of everything we do, and our goal is to formulate lasting partnerships.

Our technical team consists of five chemists

Mark Voelker, Technical Director

Working at Penreco since 1992, Mark started as a chemist in the laboratory, moved to lab supervisor in 1994 and then laboratory manager in 2004 being responsible for all of Quality Control at Karns City. In July of 2012 Shipping and Warehouse operations were assigned and the Technical and Product Support responsibilities were given in 2013. The Technical Director position for the Specialty Oils and Waxes business unit, which includes all of Penreco, was accepted in January of 2018. Mark has spent all his time physically in the laboratory; building a strong knowledge base of Petrolatum, White Oil, and Versagel\Versastique products as well as understanding the intricacies of testing and physical characteristics of the products. With significant Pharmacopeia and FDA knowledge, extensive auditing experience, and a thorough insight of the Penreco (Karns City) plant allows for extensive customer collaboration for new products and problem resolution.

Angela ViertelChemist

Angela has been working for our lab for over a decade now. Not only does she play a pivotal role in the production of our Versagel line, but she also supports the plant by running additional tests needed to certify our various other products. Angela makes small scale batches of our Versagel and Versastique products as well as working to develop various prototypes and new formulations for our Versagel and Versastique product lines.

Ryan CameronSenior Development Chemist

Ryan is the newest member of our technical team. He comes to us with a PhD in chemistry and with years of industrial experience. Within that short time, he has already come to know our Versagel and Versastique product line quite well. He has formulation and developmental experience that has aided us in supporting various customer requests.

Tara SeatonProduct Support Specialist

Tara has been working for Penreco for almost seven years now. During that time, she has worked with sales, marketing and our regulatory teams in order to provide technical support to our various customers. She has a very wide knowledge of our Versagel and Versastique products and works closely with our distributors and formulators.

Chelsey KirbyProduct Support Specialist

Chelsey has been with Penreco now for a little over two years. During that time, she has supported customers by providing technical support for the Penreco products lines, including Versagel and Versastique. Chelsey also works closely with our sales team by providing support for our customers in terms of customer trainings and on-site presentations, as well as attending trade shows where she provides technical support.

Our in house team capabilities include product performance and analytical testing. We have state-of-the-art chemical analysis and a product testing lab to service a variety of industries and applications.

Our services include

Physical property analysis including:

Viscosity / rheology
Appearance / color / odor
Stability Testing
Product hardness / stick break force
% solids and pH

Texture analysis
Consistency / Penetration
USP and NF testing
PAH testing