Leadership Team
Meet the Leadership Team at GEOMET Recycling
From innovative minds to extensive industry experience and expertise, our leadership team is comprised of executives who are dedicated to delivering consistency, dependability, and excellence in the scrap metal recycling industry.
Richard Goldberg
President & CEO
When Richard started GEOMET Recycling with his trusted group of partners in 2017, he infused into the company a rich family history that spans more than 70 years in the recycling industry. The Goldberg family’s commitment to innovation can be traced back to the 1950s with his grandfather, Bob Goldberg, who was well known for his experience with Commercial Metals Company.
Richard benefitted from working for his father, uncle, and grandfather and has 18 years of experience in scrap metal recycling under his belt. His goal for GEOMET was to build off that family-based background in the industry to provide metal recycling processing and consolidation services to independent and industrial clients—all while fostering a commitment to superior customer service. His true niche is in meeting the recycling needs of businesses, large manufacturers, and like-minded individuals who want to protect our planet.
Richard’s bold and driven mindset has allowed him to ensure GEOMET always has the best employees and that they are all supported, trained, and allowed to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Richard is a founding member of his group in Vistage, the world’s largest executive coaching organization for small and midsize businesses.
Josh Applebaum
Executive Vice President/Partner
Josh was part of the team that launched GEOMET Recycling. He spent the previous 15 years developing a passion for recycling and making our world a better place to live while learning the intricacies of the industry from the ground up. As Executive Vice President of GEOMET, Josh is responsible for the management of commercial recycling projects as well as risk mitigation and logistics. His vast material and industry knowledge allows him to anticipate the needs of our clients and consistently exceed their expectations.
Before GEOMET, Josh had worked for Gold Metal Recyclers since 2005. He held a position at nearly every level of the organization and eventually transitioned into commercial management in 2011. By the time he left the company, he was the Vice President of Nonferrous for European Metal Recyclers in the southern and Texas regions and was responsible for 23 facilities in the southern part of the United States. He worked as part of a team to place scrap from those facilities into markets around the globe.
Josh holds a Bachelor of Communications degree from the University of Kansas.
Spencer Lieman
Purchasing Manager
Spencer has been in the scrap metal industry since graduating college and has worked tirelessly to learn as much as he can both in the field and from a back-office perspective operationally. As GEOMET’s Purchasing Manager, Spencer’s responsibilities include maintaining open communication and strong relationships with buyers and suppliers (new and existing) while strategizing how to effectively purchase scrap metal to drive the company’s overall mission of environmental sustainability.
Before coming to GEOMET, he worked at Gold Metal Recyclers for five years. He worked his way up from being in the scrap yard for two years before transitioning to a commercial buyer role for his final three years with the organization. In October 2017, he came to GEOMET as a nonferrous scrap metal buyer. His passion for scrap metal recycling and resolving issues quickly and fairly creates a bright future for both Spencer and this company.
Spencer received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas-Austin and his MBA from UT-Arlington.
Ken Goldberg
Chairman/Partner
Ken brings to the table more than 44 years of executive and operational leadership experience. In 2017, he started GEOMET Recycling with his son, Richard, and other young leaders and partners. They have created a culture of teamwork and camaraderie between management, employees, suppliers, and customers at Geomet.
Ken’s knowledge, experience, and vision of a better way to recycle are at the heart of GEOMET. In 1976, he and his wife, Sherry, founded Gold Metal Recyclers in Dallas with $5,000 and three employees. They turned it into a billion-dollar company with roughly 500 employees across the southwest. By the time he sold Gold Metal in 2011, the Goldbergs were synonymous with community involvement and economic responsibility.
From 1976 to 2014 the Goldbergs financially supported churches, YMCAs, DISD schools, and other in-need institutions. Ken was also on the leadership team that raised $85 million for the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum in downtown Dallas.
Ken graduated from the University of Texas in 1975.
Mikel Shecht
Executive Vice President/Partner
After working closely with and as a part of the recycling management teams for several private organizations over the course of 14 years, Mikel jumped at the opportunity to partner with long-time friends and bring the forward-thinking vision of GEOMET Recycling to life. In a short period of time, and in the face of constant opposing economic and commercial pressure, Mikel and his partners succeeded in creating and training a great team and a recognizable brand that customers on all sides of our industry know and trust.
A “scrap veteran” with a long-time ferrous and nonferrous commercial and operational background, Mikel’s key responsibilities for GEOMET are business development, operations, and supplier relations. He also brings to the table a hands-on understanding of how each job role plays into an organization’s recycling efforts. Before GEOMET, Mikel was a key cog for several regional commercial and management teams and also worked his way up the ladder as a buyer and trader. His passion is to identify, explore, and create options that solve problems and help clients succeed.
Veronica Hernandez
Human Resources Manager
Veronica has 20 years of experience in human resources management, including 11 years specializing in recycling companies. As the Human Resources Manager at GEOMET since its inception, Veronica is the go-to strategist for all things HR related, specifically, implementing and overseeing practical and effective company-wide policies and procedures that accelerate our company’s development, competitiveness, and profitability while also attracting and keeping the best talent in the market.
Before jumping onboard to support the leadership team at GEOMET, Veronica worked in a hospital setting handling benefits and leave administration as well as recruiting for Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. She worked there for nine years until transitioning to a bilingual HR role with the Goldbergs at Gold Metal in 2008, where she stayed for eight years. Between 2016 and 2017, she held a similar position at Multi Packaging Solutions (division of Westrock) before returning to work with the Goldbergs at the newly-created GEOMET.
Veronica has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management.