Steve Dehmlow has been Chairman and CEO of Great Lakes Synergy Corporation (formerly known as GLS Corporation), a privately-held company headquartered in suburban Chicago, since 1996 and has been CEO of Composites One LLC since 1999. Great Lakes Synergy operates three separate businesses involved in plastics and chemicals.

In 1999, Mr. Dehmlow engineered the formation of Composites One LLC, a joint venture owned by Great Lakes Synergy and Cook Composites & Polymers. Created through the merger of 3 distribution companies in 1999 and expanded through four additional acquisitions, Composites One has 36 locations supplying composites materials to 10,000 customers who manufacture fiberglass reinforced plastics and composites for marine, consumer recreation, corrosion resistance, defense and transportation applications.

Mr. Dehmlow founded Great Lakes Synergy’s thermoplastic elastomers business, now called GLS Corporation, in 1984. From its laboratory in McHenry, IL and production facilities in McHenry and Suzhou, China, GLS creates proprietary thermoplastic compounds that are found in a variety of recognizable consumer and medical products. Additional customer support is provided from offices in the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Great Lakes Synergy’s oldest operation, Great Lakes Terminal & Transport has been providing chemicals and fuels trucking and logistics support services in the Midwestern US since 1947 and is one of the two original businesses of this third-generation family company which was founded by Mr. Dehmlow’s grandfather.

Prior to joining Great Lakes Synergy in 1981, Mr. Dehmlow started his career with Shell Chemicals after earning his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Tulane University in 1978. He also has a Masters in Management from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

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Chairman & CEO
Great Lakes Synergy Corporation