West Sacramento-based Origin Materials Inc. has hired Matt Plavan, a veteran of local publicly traded companies, as its new chief financial officer.
Plavan starts work at Origin (Nasdaq: ORGN) on Oct. 30.
"Matt has broad, highly relevant experience within publicly traded companies introducing disruptive solutions into well-established industries, successfully setting and managing financial performance expectations with key stakeholders through multiple stages of growth," said Rich Riley, co-CEO of Origin Materials, in a news release.
Origin has been working for years to create plastic precursor chemicals from scrap wood and organic materials to avoid the use of petrochemicals. The company has a manufacturing plant open in Sarnia, Ontario, and it is developing a new plant in Louisiana.
Plavan is currently CEO of IngredientWerks, where he led the company’s transition from a division of Boston-based Agrivida to a molecular farming company developing plant-based animal protein ingredients.
Before that, Plavan was CFO and then CEO of Davis-based Arcadia Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq: RKDA) from 2016 through the end of 2021. Plavan joined Arcadia as CFO in 2016 and helped the company transition from being a science-based biotechnology company to being a consumer product and brand company. He was named CEO in 2019, and led the company through rounds of fundraising and several acquisitions. He left Arcadia at the end of 2021.
"His strong capital markets background combined with his proven ability to build and lead high performing teams to execute large, enterprise-wide project initiatives, will make him an invaluable member of Origin’s leadership team,” Riley said. “We look forward to working alongside him in building upon Origin’s strong foundation for growth."
Prior to joining Arcadia, Plavan was CEO of Rancho Cordova-based Cesca Therapeutics Inc., now called ThermoGenesis Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: THMO). During his tenure, he was part of the team that transformed Cesca from a manufacturer of medical devices into a regenerative medicine company that uses its equipment to create stem cell therapies.
At Origin, Plavan will succeed Pam Haley, who has served as interim chief financial officer since Sept. 1. Haley will continue in her role as senior vice president of accounting and finance.
"I strongly believe in Origin’s mission to advance sustainability across the materials supply chain," said Plavan, in a news release. "The company’s patented platform for turning the carbon found in inexpensive biomass into useful material is well-positioned for global scale-up.”
