About Us

What We Believe

Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.

- Winston Churchill

The Catalyst Team

Rob Green

Senior Managing Director
rgreen@catalystog.com

A Kansas native, Rob holds a B.S. in Construction Science from Kansas State University and an MBA from The University of Kansas. Rob also holds a seat on the Board of Directors of First National Bank of Hutchinson.

John P. Claxton

Managing Director
jpclaxton@catalystog.com

Since joining Catalyst in 2007, J.P. has held positions of President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of the individual platform companies. Prior to that, J.P. spent two years as a Manager in the Merger and Acquisition Group at Brunswick Corporation, a $4 billion manufacturer of recreational products located in Lake Forest, Illinois. He began his career in Audit and Assurance Services as a Certified Public Accountant with Deloitte & Touche LLP in Denver, Colorado.

A Kansas native, J.P. holds a Master of Accountancy and Information Systems from The University of Kansas and an MBA degree in Finance from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Download Our Company Overview

Our Firm

Catalyst Operating Group invests in, and provides active operational leadership to, small and lower middle-market manufacturing companies. Based in Hutchinson, Kansas since 1974, our businesses have been located in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Toronto, Tianjin and Shanghai, China.

We are not a traditional private equity firm. We invest our own capital with no predetermined exit timeframe. We’re operators and entrepreneurs first and foremost, with a proven track record of successfully acquiring and building businesses for the long-term. We leverage our deep industry and management expertise to build lasting value through operational improvements that drive sustainable profitability and growth well into the future.

Simply stated, we don’t manage capital… we manage people.

Core Values

Golden Rule
We are fair, respectful, and communicate with honesty and candor
Work Ethic
We embrace challenges and work hard to get stronger and better
Learning
We promote proactive improvement and strive for excellence
Teamwork
We believe in accountability and powerful people who make things happen

What We Are Not

Our approach is long-term and growth-oriented rather than short-term and transactional. We are not interested in investment philosophies focused on financial engineering and near-sighted business decisions to realize quick capital gains.

We are not …

Private equity firm or fund
Short term, buy and flip investors
Minority investments
Start ups or early-stage ventures