Joe was president and owner of ESM Consulting of NC, a management consulting business specializing in helping privately held business owners develop exit strategies and further assisting them in selling their businesses as they move into retirement. He operated this business after retiring from full time work in 2008 and closed it at the end of March, 2014 when he and his wife, Sharon, moved to the Sarasota, Florida area to enjoy downsized living with a maintenance free yard and the nearby Gulf Coast beaches.
Before retiring from the plastics industry in March 2008, Joe was the executive vice president of global business development for Bulk Molding Compounds, Inc. (BMCI), a $135 million global producer of thermoset composite molding compounds serving the automotive, electrical, electronic, fuel cell and appliance industries. Headquartered in West Chicago, Illinois, BMCI has manufacturing locations in Illinois, Ohio, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and China and is the largest global producer of the type of thermoset composites known as bulk molding compounds (BMC).
For ten (10) years before retiring from BMCI, Joe was responsible for the company's merger and acquisition activities, plus its global marketing and new business development programs. In this capacity, he also served as the key commercial leader of BMCI's fuel cell business.
Joe has been a leader in the thermoset composites industry for over 20 years. He joined BMCI through its acquisition of Cytec Industries' Polyester Molding Compounds Business, which he ran as its general manager for 9 years.
Cytec was formed as a spin-off of American Cyanamid Company's Chemical Division, which Joe joined in 1987, initially serving as Cyanamid's director of automotive marketing. Prior to joining Cyanamid, he served in various company officer, general management, marketing, sales and technical service management positions in the plastics industry, which he has been a member of for the past 45 years. Before Cyanamid, Joe served in key positions with Morton International, Bee Chemical Company and the General Electric Company, where he began his career in 1966.
Joe is a past chairman and secretary of the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Industrial Advisory Board at The University of South Carolina Center for Fuel Cell Research and was BMCI's representative to the US Fuel Cell Council. He has authored, co-authored and presented a number of papers on BMC applications. He previously served on the board of directors of BMC Mexico, BMC Far East Limited and The RJ Marshall Company of Mexico and currently serves on the board of directors of Penn Compression Moulding, Inc., a North Carolina plastics parts manufacturer.
He and his wife, Sharon, resided in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. They relocated to Lakewood Ranch, Florida. They have 2 children and 4 grandchildren.
Editor note: Joe Carfora was an ROTC graduate from Rutgers University where he received his commission as an Army second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. Following three months of training at the Ft. Belvoir, Virginia engineering school, Joe was sent to Wildflecken, Germany in April, 1967 where he became a company commander in the 54th Combat Engineer Battalion. After 22 months in that assignment, Joe came back home and was promoted to captain in the Army Reserves.
Joe was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for his leadership in raising both the training and readiness level of his company in Germany.
