Jaco G. van der Merwe is the President & CEO of Astec Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASTE), a provider of equipment and solutions required to support infrastructure development from Rock to Road and related industries. The company is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee and has twenty-four manufacturing facilities across the United States, Canada, Brazil, India, South Africa, Northern Ireland and distributes its products worldwide. Astec does over USD$1.3 billion in annual sales and has a market capitalization in excess of USD$1 billion.
Mr. van der Merwe originally joined Astec in 2016 as Group President of the Energy Group. In 2019, he became responsible for the Infrastructure Solutions Group, which included the company's flagship asphalt plant design and manufacturing business. Under his leadership, the company established itself in the concrete plant design and manufacturing business (2017) and currently has a leading position within North America. Most recently, in January 2023, Mr. van der Merwe assumed the role of President & CEO of Astec, in addition to joining the corporation's Board of Directors. Since taking over as CEO, he built a strong executive leadership team and together they created a new long-term vision for the company while driving consistency in performance. The company made its biggest acquisition during 2025 and is on track to deliver consistent, profitable growth.
Prior to joining Astec, Mr. van der Merwe spent over 18 years with Epiroc (formerly part of Atlas Copco, a Swedish multinational company). During his time at Epiroc, he held various leadership positions covering manufacturing, sales and marketing, aftermarket support and general management. Mr. van der Merwe gained valuable global leadership experience and managed businesses in various countries including South Africa, China, India, Canada, Chile, Sweden and Australia. He led and integrated various successful acquisitions and developed a passion for manufacturing, sales and service-related business accounting and financial management.
Mr. van der Merwe is a naturalized U.S. citizen, originally from South Africa where he completed his Metallurgical Engineering studies at Tshwane University of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pretoria. He and his wife Linda have been married for almost 30 years, reside in Chattanooga and have two daughters who live in Nashville, Tennessee.