Our Team

Ocean Exchange Board Member Team

Charles Hinnant

Chairman & Owner, Optima Chemical LLC

Charles (Charlie) A. Hinnant is the Chairman & owner of Optima Chemical LLC, a custom manufacturing concern in Douglas, GA.

Mr. Hinnant was also the founder of Charkit Chemical Corporation located in South Norwalk, CT. Charkit is an international trading and chemical distribution company, acquired by LLB Specialties, where Charlie now serves as a member of their advisory board. Mr. Hinnant was also the owner of Arran Chemical, Athlone, Ireland for twenty years which he sold in 2015 to Almac Group, a global pharmaceutical contract and manufacturing operation.

Prior to founding Charkit in 1982, Mr. Hinnant was employed by Fairmount Chemical in New Jersey as Vice President of Marketing. Before Fairmount he was employed by Olin Corporation formerly located in Stamford, Connecticut.

Mr. Hinnant has a BS in Chemistry from Davidson College, an MBA from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and has completed Post Graduate work at Tulane University.

He currently serves or has served on the:

  • Visitors Board of the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD)
  • Board of Directors of the Maritime Aquarium (Norwalk, CT)
  • Davidison College Board of Visitors
  • United Way of Fairfield County, CT plus Allocation Committees

Mr. Hinnant’s primary residence is Palm Beach, Florida but spends time in Connecticut, South Carolina and Nantucket as he enjoys many sporting activities especially boating with the extended family including six grandchildren ranging in age from 19 to 4.

Contact Us

Ocean Exchange invites you to learn more about Awards Program, our ecosystem and success of our award winners and participants. Together, we can chart a powerful course to help ensure the future of our oceans and the Blue Economy.

“Ocean Exchange has a platform to enable people with information that they need to know about the ocean and then to showcase new technologies that are on the forefront of really helping the ocean and the planet.”

“The quality of the content and the people who are involved with Ocean Exchange is all high end.”

“Besides funding, Ocean Exchange provides access to a wide area network of incredibly talented people in organizations that really do just want to help people.”

“Ocean Exchange is really about helping the little guys grow and in so doing, helping the big guys be better ocean citizens.”

“Ocean Exchange seems to be much more focused on bringing to light under-capitalized, wonderful new technology ideas. And it’s all about two-way access to this new technology and to the people who can help with the experience to grow that technology.”

“Ocean Exchange is a force multiplier to enable sustainable innovation.”

“Ocean Exchange is a global, novel innovation forum that has a greater ability to attract a broader range of impactful stakeholders than any other event that’s out there.”

“Unquestionably, one of Ocean Exchange’s primary strengths is how it brings together people from different paths. That makes its event a delegator experience as well as experience for an innovator or awards nominee.”

“Ocean Exchange is entirely different from any of the other organizations that I’m involved in. It is about sustainable innovation. I think it’s also very different in the extremely broad range of stakeholders that it involves.”

“There’s nothing better than going to an event or engaging with people so you walk away and say, ‘Wow!’”