You’ve heard us say often that Vibrantz is on an incredible journey. A journey to build an enduring and sustainable world-class specialty chemicals and materials company that our employees believe is a safe and great workplace, makes a favorable impact on the planet and creates value for stakeholders. 

We haven’t plugged our destination coordinates into a mapping app or given the address to a ride share driver as we sit idly waiting to get to the other side. On the contrary, the Vibrantz experience just over one year in is an exciting road trip where – day in and day out – our leaders and 5,000 employees are hyper focused on the steps required to keep serving our 11,000 customers while integrating, innovating and navigating today’s dynamic economic landscape. 

It’s fitting, then, that this month our blog stories focus on Vibrantz’s impact in automotive applications. In other words, we’re featuring just a few of the ways that our journey is positively impacting yours.

Weekly, the media is awash with stories featuring transportation trends. Regardless of the extent and rate at which cars and trucks are electrified, automated or used as a service, getting from point A to B in a private vehicle is something the world is rather attached to. According to Statista, private vehicle travel today is preferred by almost two times that of public transport.

It’s easy to assume the role of a chemicals and materials company in the automotive space is solely in the raw input materials used to make vehicle batteries. But for decades, Vibrantz’s advanced materials, color solutions and performance coatings have played a leading role in making vehicles safer, stand-out, more efficient and – also critical – that support the global shift to produce greener cars and trucks. Whether it’s our abrasives for brake pads, frits and glazes for taillight sensors, tanning agents, colorants and pigments for vehicle interiors, or glass enamels for windshields – Vibrantz scientists obsess over daily commute details so drivers don’t have to.

But that’s not even the best part. Our manufacturing employees also take great pride in being an important part of the vehicles driving on roads worldwide. When asked about his work at our Villagran, Mexico, facility, Guadalupe Garcia, an R&D pigments chemist said:

“I love working on products like our reflective pigments that enable cooler surfaces on cars. We really are working on solving the biggest challenges and demands of today’s market.”

Cuauhtemoc Rosas, the glass plant manager in Villagran, also shared:

“The Vibrantz purpose, vision and values – particularly safety – guide our behavior and are manifested in the products we make. Like the automotive pastes that enable windshield safety. It’s awesome seeing how our efforts are part the bigger team bringing these solutions to life.”

And while we’re proud of our impact on vehicles to date, our sights are also set further down the highway as the landscape evolves to include more hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs). We recently announced the construction of a pilot project that will process high-purity manganese sulfate (HPMSM) used in batteries as original equipment manufacturers prioritize the production of zero-emission vehicles. Over the next three years, this expansion is anticipated to increase our HPMSM capacity to a level that could help power two million EVs as we provide an additional manganese sulfate alternative for the battery market serving EVs.

If you’re not yet following us on LinkedIn or X, formerly known as Twitter, I invite you to do so. If you’d like to learn about the fascinating science helping elevate everyday products, subscribe to our Vibrantz Edge blog.

If nothing else, enjoy a little “Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac as you commute and journey through this month’s stories with us. 

If you are curious about opportunities to join our dynamic team, visit our Careers page.

Careers

Amy Chiconas

Vice President, Communications and Brand

Amy Chiconas

Vice President, Communications and Brand

Amy Chiconas is a strategy-driven communicator with a track record of bettering ideas, teams and companies in the specialty chemicals and materials and midstream energy industries. Prior to joining Vibrantz in 2022, Chiconas spent six years at publicly held Ingevity, where she led employee and marketing communications, public relations and brand management. Prior to Ingevity, she led the marketing communications, business intelligence and talent development work for RoadScience and was previously part of Maersk Group in New Jersey, Denmark and Germany.

Chiconas has a bachelor’s degree in management and Spanish from Southern Methodist University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Carolina.