President
Hydrite Chemical Co. | Brookfield
Kevin Honkamp is the president of Brookfield-based Hydrite Chemical Co., one of the largest independent manufacturers of chemicals and related services in the United States. He has served as president since early 2017 and prior to that was vice president of sales and procurement.
Hydrite was founded in Milwaukee in 1929 as a supplier to the tanning industry. In 1935, Wayne Thompson and Richard Honkamp left their jobs and purchased a majority share in the business, which remains family-owned.
A new 45,000-square-foot headquarters facility for the company was completed in 2021. Hydrite also has plants in Milwaukee, Oshkosh, La Crosse and Cottage Grove, plus facilities in Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Texas, California and Colorado. The company has 1,000 employees.
The company is ranked on the Deloitte 75 list of largest privately-held businesses in Wisconsin.
In April, Hydrite announced that it acquired Missouri-based Fife Water Services and Colorado-based Precision Polymer Corp. Fife is a supplier of water treatment and water processing products and automation. Precision Polymer formulates and distributes wastewater treatment chemicals.
Education: Bachelor’s, Santa Clara University
