1985
1990
1989 Enrolled at the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point
1993 Graduated from the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point
1995
2000
1995 Promoted to first
lieutenant in the U.S. Army
1996 Deployed for JTF-6
Counter-Drug Operations
1999 Honorably departed
active duty from the U.S. Army
2003 Named head of polymer
polyol manufacturing at
Bayer MaterialScience, LLC
2005 2005 Named head of TPU
manufacturing at Bayer
MaterialScience, LLC
2010 2010 Appointed vice president
and general plant manager
at Bayer CropScience, LP
2013 Named president
and CEO of MATRIC
2015
2017 Founded Appalachia
Development Group, LLC
2020
2019 Elected chairman of
the board for Charleston
Area Alliance
“West Virginia is where we
decided to stay and fight for a
better life for the people around us.
While we love our hills ... it is the
people who gave us cause to stay.”
West Virginia’s chemical valley. Its success
is West Virginia’s success, and at the end
of the day Hedrick is fighting for a better
future for the Mountain State.
“West Virginia is where we decided
to stay and fight for a better life for the
people around us,” he says of his family.
“While we love our hills and clean air and
water, it is the people who gave us cause
to stay. I take great pride in leading the
MATRIC team to do something bigger
and better than any one individual could
accomplish alone.”
Hedrick didn’t join MATRIC and call
it a day, though. He sees too many other
opportunities around him to stop fighting
for the future. With the rapid growth of
the natural gas industry in Appalachia
and the untapped potential that exists
here, he and his associates envisioned an
underground natural gas liquids storage
hub and the job creation and economic
growth it would spur. Not one to simply
dream, Hedrick led the effort to put plans
in motion, and the Appalachia Develop-
ment Group (ADG) was born, created to
make the Appalachia Storage and Trad-
ing Hub a reality.
There are two characteristics in par-
ticular that have helped Hedrick find
success: resiliency and confidence in the
team. “The truth of the matter is that I am
stubborn and notoriously dissatisfied
with the status quo,” he says. “When my
team and I decide something will happen,
I have the firm belief that we will deliver
every time.”
Hedrick takes his experience and proven
leadership skills beyond MATRIC and
ADG into the community because he sees
the importance of enabling others to help
make West Virginia a better, more pros-
perous place. Hedrick serves as the chair-
man of the board for the Charleston Area
Alliance and sits on the board of directors
for the Discover the Real West Virginia
Foundation, Advantage Valley, Thomas
Health System, Clay Center for the Arts
& Sciences, West Virginia Manufacturers
Association (WVMA), West Virginia
Regional Technology Park Corporation,
Shale Crescent USA and Chemical Alli-
ance Zone. He is also involved with the
West Virginia Business Roundtable and
American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
In the past, he has served as chairman
of the Charleston Regional Chamber of
Commerce, WVMA’s Marcellus to Man-
ufacturing Committee and the Petroleum
and Chemical Industry Committee, and
he has volunteered for United Food Oper-
ation, Inc., Habitat for Humanity and the
United Way.
Hedrick believes motivation comes
from a resolve borne of core beliefs that
have taken root over time. For him, those
core beliefs are built on the importance
of service to others and the will to win,
especially when it comes to West Virginia.
He finds inspiration in these words from
Nelson Mandela: “I never lose. I either
win or I learn.”
“Those words encompass an attitude
that allows us to seek to win every day,
knowing that we will win in the long
run even if we must endure learning days
along the way,” he says.
Despite its challenges, Hedrick believes
West Virginia’s—and Appalachia’s—best
days are still ahead, and that’s a battle
he will continue to fight.
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