Jay Ward
Senior Advisor

Jay is a Senior Adviser at Ventus, and supports the team with the design and implementation of portfolio company workforce strategies. Jay was formerly CEO of KKR portfolio company Minnesota Rubber & Plastics, successfully executing a broad-based employee ownership strategy that facilitated an 8x increase in valuation in 8 years. 

Jay graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1986, serving in the nuclear surface fleet during the Gulf War. 

After leaving the Navy, Jay joined semiconductor chemical manufacturer General Chemical Corp as Plant Manager. He advanced in operational roles before adopting 5 children and joining Donaldson Company, Inc (NYSE:DCI) as Plant Manager in 1998, later moving to Director of Operations for 7 US manufacturing plants and then Global Product Director. In 2005, Jay was appointed President & Managing Director of EMEA, residing in Belgium. In 2008, he took over as Senior Vice President of Engine Products, leading the $1.5bn global business serving off-road, emissions, and the aerospace and defense markets. Finally, Jay led 8 business units as Senior Vice President of Industrials serving the semi-conductor, disk drive, gas turbine, dust collection, food/beverage markets.

In 2017, he joined Minnesota Rubber & Plastics (MRP), a leading provider of materials science-based elastomer and thermoplastic solutions, as CEO. Following the 2018 sale to KKR, MRP deployed an innovative workforce strategy that included equity ownership for all 1,450 employees across six countries. Jay delivered an 8x growth in company value within 8 years, over 800bps of margin expansion, and a reduction in workforce turnover in some regions from over 70% to less than 15%. Hourly workers received payouts on their equity of up to approximately 2x annual pay. 

He holds an BS in Engineering from the US Naval Academy and MBA from Mercer University and Golden Gate University.