Denali Water Solutions appoints new CEO

Denali Water Solutions, a Russellville, Arkansas, leader in organic waste management, has appointed Todd Mathes as CEO, effective immediately. Mathes succeeds Andy McNeill, who will become chairman of the board.

“I am incredibly proud of all that Denali has accomplished over the past decade and even more excited about our future,” McNeill says. “This is the right time for me to transition to the chairman role in which I will continue to focus on our long-term strategy and acquisition roadmap. Having worked with Todd for many years throughout our careers and seeing him thrive as Denali’s president and [chief operations officer], I believe he is ideally suited to take on the role of CEO as we enter the next chapter for Denali.”

Mathes joined Denali in 2021 as president and chief operations officer (COO) and brings more than 20 years of experience in organic waste management, processing, recycling and disposal. Prior to joining Denali, Mathes served as a senior vice president at Darling Ingredients, Irving, Texas. He also served as COO of Richardson, Texas-based Terra Renewal Services for more than a decade.

TPG, San Franciso, invested in Denali in early 2020 through TPG Growth, the firm’s middle market and growth equity platform. Since then, Denali has completed 13 acquisitions including Mokena, Illinois-based Organix Recycling, which Denali says is the largest pre-consumer food waste collector and processor in the United States, and Imperial Western Products, a Coachella, California, processor of organic waste and producer of biodiesel.

“It’s an honor to become CEO at such an exciting time in Denali’s growth journey, and I look forward to working closely with the leadership team, board and our partners at TPG to execute on the company’s mission,” Mathes says. “I also want to recognize Andy, who founded Denali and has led the company’s evolution to become a national player. I have had the privilege to learn under Andy during my time at Denali and previously at Terra Renewal and am pleased to continue partnering with him as we take on these new roles.”

TPG Partner Ransom Langford says he looks forward to working more closely with Mathes in the future.

“Under Andy’s leadership, Denali has become a market leader in organic waste management,” Langford says. “It has been a pleasure to partner with Andy, Todd and the Denali team, and together we have been laying the groundwork for this next phase of growth at the company for a number of years. We’re pleased to continue working with Andy in his role as chairman.”