Lex Reynolds, CEO Announces Retirement

The Reynolds Company, a Greenville-based subsidiary of Itochu International, Inc, announced the retirement of Lex Reynolds, CEO, effective August 31, 2020. Neel Reynolds, currently serving as President, will replace him.

Lex Reynolds has been with the company since its inception in 1978. He began serving as the President and CEO in 1985 and has been the CEO since April of 2019. After 42 years of service, his plans will include spending more time with his family and volunteering in the Greenville community.

Meals on Wheels nationwide supports more than 5,000 community-based programs that are dedicated to addressing senior isolation and hunger. The company’s vision is “An America in which all seniors live nourished lives with independence and dignity.” Their mission is “To empower local community programs to improve the health and quality of life of the seniors they serve so that no one is left hungry or isolated.”

My first great memory occurred in April 1978 when I listened to my father tell one of his partners at Tanco Adhesives, where he was President at the time, that he was leaving and going to start a business with his sons. He was 57 at the time with two children in college plus two mortgages. I thought to myself; he is either crazy or he has more guts than I have ever seen. It was a night I will never forget and certainly one for which I will be eternally grateful as it was the birth of The Reynolds Company.

My second great memory was when my dad, sensing The Reynolds Company was growing and would need more space, found “this old mill” in West Greenville. The first time I walked inside I thought “he’s gone crazy!” 
Now I look back and see his visionary spirit at work. My father could see something, no matter how bad it might have looked, and think about what it “could” look like. He was a visionary giant.