Our Founder

Richard Beaupre is currently the CEO of the ChemArt Company. His desire to own his own business took him on a journey from research chemist to successful entrepreneur starting in 1976. Mr. Beaupre invented the formula and process for a light-sensitive dry film making the photo-etch production process more efficient and consistent. The application of that technique in concert with design, tooling, etching, plating, assembly and distribution make ChemArt the only fully vertically integrated photochemical etcher in the US. ChemArt is an ISO 9001:2000 company. Today, Richard oversees a multi-million dollar company recognized as a world leader in its field. He is a recent past-president of the Photo Chemical Machining Institute (PCMI), an international trade organization, and currently sits on the board of directors. ChemArt celebrated it's 30 year anniversary in 2006.

Prior to founding ChemArt, Mr. Beaupre worked as a research chemist at Dynachem Corporation in California.  It was here, after 2 years of research that he developed a dry film photo resist that was environmentally friendly, eliminating the need for chlorinated solvents. Dynachem was sold to Thiokol Chemical in 1974, and has since been acquired by Rohm and Haas Chemical.

Mr. Beaupre graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a BS in Chemistry in 1962, after serving 2 years of active duty with the Navy in the mid-fifties. He was able to complete his education through financial support from a benefactor who helped married students with continuing education. Mr. Beaupre has always had tremendous gratitude for that assistance. Today, he endows the URI Scholarship Fund for married students with children, directed at students who find themselves in his situation when he was at URI.

In 1998 the Small Business Administration honored Mr. Beaupre by naming him the 1998 Rhode Island and New England Small Business Person of the Year. That same year he was honored by URI by granting him the Alumni Business Award. He was also appointed to the Board of Trustees for Davies Technical High School, where he serves as an advisor to the school administration. Mr. Beaupre holds an honorary Doctorate from URI granted in 2003.

Mr. Beaupre has served on the URI Arts & Sciences Advisory Board, helped establish the Hope and Heritage Fund, and is a long-time major contributor to the annual Alumni Fund, Ryan Convocation Center and the Center for the Humanities Endowment Fund. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Rhode Island Philharmonic; is past treasurer of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Ashton, RI; and a benefactor of Amos House, RI Hospice, Salve Regina College, Little Sisters of the Poor, The Rhode Island Philharmonic, Narconon, City of Hope, First Night, Catholic and Episcopal Charities.

Mr. Beaupre has chosen a senior management team with an impressive set of accolades to their credit as well. In fact, the entire ChemArt family of employees has a vast set of credentials and community outreach that is reflected in the care and diligence they put into their jobs every day.