Continuum Powders has announced the appointment of Jared Butson as Senior Vice President of Global Sales. Butson brings with him over two decades of experience in sales in the aviation industry. Butson will, no doubt, be relying on his contacts and goodwill established in the business, not so much the product as he will be selling powdered metal, the stuff of additive manufacturing, quantities of tiny particles of metal, instead of aerospace systems and services as he has done in the past.
Butson was previously VP of sales at VTS Engine, before that, VP of sales and marketing at Turbine Aero, and before that, director of sales at Avidyne.
“Continuum Powders is at the forefront of innovation in advanced manufacturing, and I’m excited to help the company expand its reach and impact globally,” Butson said in the company’s press release.
Continuum’s stainless steel powder under magnification. Image Continuum Powder.
Continuum Powders has a good story. Metals come from mining operations, and mining has the reputation of being one of the most environmentally damaging industries there is. Continuum Powders, however, was created to counter that image, distancing itself from mining and making its powder from only recycled metal. While most recycled stock material (think plastic) is of lower quality and is more expensive than virgin material, Continuum claims that its unique M2P (metal to powder) process, which results in round metal particles, makes powder every bit as good as the more destructive counterpart. We don’t know how Continuum powders fare in a price comparison.
Continuum Powders was spun out of MolyWorks in 2016 and in 2022 and secured a $36 million investment by Ara Partners, a Houston-based private equity firm. The company appears to be based in Cloverdale, a small town in Sonoma County, California, hardly known for metal or mining. Perhaps that’s the point.
