Ashley Rine

Ask Ashley Rine about her greatest successes, and she’ll point to three things that make her proud. Two are related to her career—she’s the first chemical engineer in her family and the first female to have served as plant manager at Chemours Plant in Belle, WV, in the Glycolic Acid Division, which is now operating as PureTech Scientific. The third is being a mom to two sons who ensure she takes the same gritty ambition that she brings to her work life on family adventures like whitewater kayaking and ziplining.

This lifelong West Virginian is thrilled to contribute to an industry that she loves in the state she proudly calls home. Rine serves as vice president of operations for PureTech Scientific, making sure that this global business provides customers the absolute best product for whatever industry they represent, whether pharmaceuticals, personal care products, electronics or others.

“As the vice president of operations, I have my finger on the pulse of the entire supply chain,” Rine says. “I am responsible for everything from manufacturing glycolic acid products to delivering it to customers for PureTech Scientific. My focus is on strategic solutions to provide customers with the product quality, quantity and optimizations they desire.”

Rine has fond childhood memories of growing up in West Virginia—every­thing from cooking and canning with her grandmother to sledding and riding her bike to get ice cream in her hometown of Williamstown. Some of her experiences pointed her toward her future endeavors, like helping her father fix broken tractors on the multi-generational farm where she lived in her younger years—her first glimpse into troubleshooting with mechanical equipment.

“I have always wanted to be an engineer. When I was young, my father worked in the chemical industry, and his company had a family open house where you could tour the plant,” she says. “I still recall where I was standing in his process unit when I decided I wanted to work in industry and become a chemical engineer.”

Her first job as a professional was as a manufacturing technology process engineer at DuPont in Belle for the methylamines and methylamides units.

“Working for a notable global industry leader shaped my values in safety and organizational savvy,” Rine says.

Leading her organization through significant business transformations during recent years has been the biggest challenge of her career thus far.

The transition from DuPont to Chemours and subsequent restructuring, the global pandemic, a significant industrial incident and most recently, the divesture of a business and upstart of a new company, have been testing.

“I feel I have achieved mastery in flexibility and adaptability. Along with keeping a positive perspective, all challenges can be overcome,” she says.

Rine also gives back to help students find rewarding careers. She volunteers on boards and committees for the Univer­sity of Charleston School of Business and Leadership, Mountaineer Montessori, West Virginia University’s Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources and the West Virginia Manufacturers Association.

Advancing education in the Mountain State, particularly for women, is a passion of Rine’s.

“Diversity of thought and experiences is important,” she says. “I have enjoyed being able to share with young women that they too can be leaders in male-dominated fields such as STEM.”