The Specialty Group

Chidam Chidambaram is Chief Executive Officer at Specialty. He joined Specialty in November 2022. Before Specialty, Chidam spent many years in General Management and Marketing.

He has extensive experience in launching new products worldwide, global advertising, and growing businesses through traditional and direct channels, including digital.

Most recently, at Dentsply Sirona, he was Head of SureSmile globally, growing the business from $20MM to $150MM in revenue over two years.

While at Dentsply Sirona, he was also Chief Digital Officer and Chief Marketing Officer, where his team created enterprise digital marketing capability and launched e-commerce websites in many countries worldwide.

Tim Jackson is the Chief Operating Officer at Specialty. He joined Specialty in February of 2021. Prior to Specialty, Tim spent many years in Operations and Manufacturing Management.

His previous experience includes many roles across Philips, leading North America Operations for Personal Health, Senior Director of Distribution, and Senior Director of Manufacturing. He has achieved breakthrough results through unshakable belief in Lean methodology and talent cultivation.

Progressive career leading high mix/volume manufacturing, Tim led a strategic partnership with global 3PL and executed a change to move away from high labor warehousing into greenfield new state-of-the-art distribution center.

Ryan Egan is the Chief Financial Officer at Specialty. He joined Specialty in August 2023. Prior to Specialty, Ryan was the CFO of an industrial refrigeration business where he drove all aspects of finance and technology transformation and M&A, which included a successful exit.

Before that, Ryan spent most of his career in various consulting roles, helping clients achieve their financial and strategic goals.

Arlen graduated from Indiana University in 1984 with a degree in dental laboratory technology. Today, he has 40+ years of experience working and developing solutions for orthodontists. He is a sought-after speaker at orthodontic meetings who is at the forefront of innovation in orthodontics.

Arlen invented the RES™ Expansion screw, Herbst AppleCore Screw, Mini-Palex™ Expansion screw, Leone Half screw, Herbst MiniScope mechanism, M-4 Herbst Mechanism, ROC Crowns, Rapid Molar Distalizer and various orthodontic appliances over the last 38 years.

He is the 2008 NADL Harry Hagman Inventor of the Year award winner. As a Georgia Dental Laboratory Association member for over 20+ years, Arlen has served on all board positions for the GDLA, including serving as President in 2022.

Arlen is passionate about the orthodontic laboratory business and works with doctors and their staff to deliver the best treatment outcomes.

Heather McNeil is the Head of Human Resources at Specialty. Before beginning her career with Specialty, Heather performed accounting roles in the for-profit and non-profit realm while also processing payroll and other HR administrative tasks for non-profit.

Heather holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from Davenport College of Business and received her SHRM-CP certification in December 2016. She joined the company in April 2011 as our HR Administrator/Accountant.

During her first five years with the company, Heather's primary role was managing accounting while handling payroll, benefits administration, job postings, and onboarding.

As the company grew, Heather's role grew as well. She became our HR Manager in July 2016 when she took over talent acquisition and employee relations while still overseeing accounting. In 2020, Heather handed over the accounting duties to focus solely on HR. Since then, she has become our Head of HR.