Reflections from the Foam Frontier: A Conversation with John Meehan

Recorded: May 2024
Published: May 2025
Location: PFA Conference, St. Petersburg, FL

At the 2024 Polyurethane Foam Association meeting, we sat down for beers and a candid conversation with industry legend John Meehan, who has now retired after more than 60 years in the Urethane business. What followed was a rich tapestry of stories — from the birth of flexible foam to corporate buyouts, mysterious plant fires, and lessons in loyalty that today’s chemical industry would do well to remember.

Summary of the conversation at the bottom. Listen to the interview here:

Read the transcript in full here:

From Hand Mixes to Multinationals

Meehan started his journey in 1960 at Olin Research Labs doing hand mixes, balancing part-time work with school. By 1970, he was formulating rigid and flexible foams for Olin, just as the industry was beginning to take shape.

“We had a $30 million TDI plant — the pilot plants today are bigger than that.”

Back then, Olin was a sprawling industrial force — aluminum, brass, Bible paper, even skis — and Meehan had a front-row seat to its dive into isocyanates and polyols.

The Industry Evolves

The interview charts the transition from conglomerate-dominated foam production to the rise of entrepreneurial foam shops, some run by characters straight out of central casting.

“Chuck Moeller ran a multi-million-dollar operation and spat tobacco juice into a Styrofoam cup at board meetings.”

From dealing with General Tire’s foam division to confronting delinquent customers like Joe DiMaggio’s brother, Meehan’s stories illustrate both the grit and absurdity of business in the chemical trenches.

Then vs. Now: Relationship-Driven Sales

One of Meehan’s recurring themes was the loss of human connection in modern sales.

“In those days, you shook a customer’s hand — and that was the deal. Now, they don’t even answer the phone.”

He describes a time when sales was personal: you knew your customers, their kids’ names, their lunch orders. Today, too often, it’s just price-checking and ghosted emails.

The Vanishing Mentor

Meehan laments the decline of in-house R&D and mentorship, once the bedrock of technical sales and innovation.

“We had a ton of people doing real R&D. Now you can’t even find a pilot machine.”

Companies, Meehan argues, have become too focused on short-term returns, cutting staff and gutting their ability to nurture new talent or develop future technologies.

Is There Hope for Small Companies?

Despite the challenges, Meehan believes companies like Everchem have an opportunity to thrive — precisely because they still value relationships and technical integrity.

“You get spec’d in, and you don’t have to worry about the nickel-and-dime pricing.”

His advice: stay close to the customer, focus on being reliable, and speak the language of the people who actually use the product — not just the procurement departments.

Final Thoughts

Meehan’s reflections are more than nostalgia — they’re a call to rebuild the human side of an industry that too often runs on autopilot.

“Sales and marketing is still the best job in the world — if you do it right.”

As he steps away from the business, we’re left with a deep appreciation for the people, processes, and personalities that built the urethanes world — and a reminder that people still matter.