Joe Lyons, NACD.DC
COO & CFO Barr Brands International
COO & CFO Barr Brands International, Independent Director: Community Coffee Company, The Vollrath Company, and National Guard Products & Jordan Aluminum
Joe Lyons is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Barr Brands International (“BBI”), a 100% Employee-Owned ESOP that owns and operates W.M. Barr and Microban. W.M. Barr is a consumer products company headquartered in Memphis, TN with a portfolio of market leading brands such as DampRid, Mold Armor, Goof Off, Klean-Strip, Citristrip and others. Microban is headquartered in Huntersville, NC and is the global leader in built-in antimicrobial, odor control, and long-lasting disinfection technologies.
Joe took on a broader leadership role at BBI in April of 2022 as COO and has been CFO of BBI since joining the company in 2013. Additionally, he served as President of Microban from December of 2018 through April of 2022. Joe has over 25 years of financial and operations experience managing businesses from start-ups to global enterprises in service and manufacturing industries, including extensive international operations in China, Hong Kong, Europe, and Japan. He has significant corporate finance and merger and acquisition experience including troubled debt restructuring, acquisitions, refinancing, and debt and equity issuance. In his current role, Joe is responsible for all global operations (supply chain, manufacturing, distribution), finance, accounting, IT, regulatory and risk management functions, and oversees the company’s strategic planning and merger and acquisition activity.
As Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of True Temper Sports, Joe led the company through a successful sale to Lincolnshire Management in 2012 and negotiations with the United Steelworkers’ Union in 2011, as well as the start-up of a new plant in Suzhou, China. Joe also held various financial leadership roles with Gate Gourmet, the leading global provider of catering solutions and provisioning services for airlines, Glimpso, LLC, a start-up in fashion-oriented backpacks, handbags, and luggage that launched the FUL brand, as well as PricewaterhouseCoopers, the largest of the “Big Four” professional services and accounting firms.
Joe is an NACD Board Leadership Fellow and holds an NACD Directorship Certification and is a member of the Private Director’s Association. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Vollrath Company, a family and women-owned food service equipment manufacturing company, the Board of Directors of Community Coffee Company (Audit Committee Chairman from June 2016-March 2022), the largest family-owned and operated retail coffee brand in America, and on the Advisory Board of National Guard Products & Jordan Aluminum, a family-owned leading manufacturer of weather-stripping, threshold products, light kits, louvers and glass for commercial doors and full-service supplier of aluminum extrusions, with powder coat and wet paint, anodizing, and fabrication capabilities. Additionally, Joe is on the Board of Directors and serves as the Chairman of the Finance Committee for Alembic, Inc, one of the oldest and most stable member-owned insurance captives in Grand Cayman.
Joe has served on several community and not-for profit boards and is currently a member of the Chairman’s Circle of the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Board of Governors of the New Memphis Institute. He was a finalist for the Memphis Business Journal Large Private Company CFO of the Year award in 2015 and earned the John S. Glenn Award for the highest score in the State of Tennessee on the May 1997 CPA exam.
Joe has an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University and both a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from Mississippi State University. He lives in Collierville, TN with his wife of 25 years, Michele (also a Mississippi State alumna), and their children Nick (20) and Olivia (17). Joe is an avid golfer, SCUBA diver, and crossfitter.