koroseal - Redefine Design by Koroseal

Meet the Creator: Mitch Barton

May 22, 2025

Director of Market & Product Development // Market Investigator

When creators create, they need the right solutions to help bring their visions to life. At Koroseal, we have an entire team dedicated to understanding customer needs, and identifying new products that make better creation possible. As Koroseal’s Director of Market & Product Development, Mitch Barton leads his team in creating the imperative connection between market needs, and innovative products. Mitch’s entrepreneurial spirit and vested passion for discovering new solutions helps our team deliver on making customer dreams a reality.

Mitch's Creator Journey

Mitch has always been a true “learner” at heart. His innate curiosity and strong problem-solving skills made him destined for a career in product development. As an Ohio native, and natural-born student, Mitch initially attended Bowling Green State University with the intent to pursue Medical School. Through his experience with campus leadership roles and exposure to other courses, he recognized his passions were pointing him elsewhere, and he ended up with an MBA in Marketing. Mitch grew his love for Product Management in a 3 year Management Training Program. During the program, he explored working cross-functionally with engineering, research, and marketing teams to help bring new products to market. His zest for launching new products only grew from there.

Mitch has helped launch 100’s of new products over the course of his career, spanning various industries. From tool manufacturing and bio-medical supplies, to owning his own junk removal franchise, Mitch has supported business development with innovative solutions each step of his career.

Today, Mitch brings a new level of innovation and passion to our team both through his example and leadership.

“I enjoy running teams that are excited to innovate!”

Leading Koroseal’s Product & Market Development department, Mitch leverages his expertise working cross-functionally across every facet of Koroseal - including collaborating with the Design team to identify trends and market insights; meeting with Sales focus groups to understand the current landscape; and connecting with suppliers to continually explore the latest in technology, materials, and products. Gathering insights from all angles, Mitch leads his team in leveraging that information, and translating it into products that deliver.

Solution-Driven: Building Great Things Together

Product development is key to an interior solutions company. At Koroseal, we want to ensure we provide the most innovative, creative, and useful solutions to help our customers create transformative spaces. It requires us to be constantly evolving and learning - two attributes Mitch aligns with seamlessly. With his investigative rigor, and expertise, Mitch is up for the ongoing challenge.

Ultimately, Mitch leads his team in understanding the markets we serve, and identifying the right products to meet those markets’ needs. A Product Development team member is assigned to every product line and tasked with learning the ins and outs of their market segments. Mitch inspires his team to dig deep, and not only bring the right new products to Koroseal customers, but also to truly understand and connect with their target audiences.

Creating the right solution is only helpful if we can effectively communicate its benefits in relevant and meaningful ways to our customers.

“If you understand your customer, you should be able to speak in their language to effectively communicate how a product meets their needs.”

Mitch finds motivation in helping his team, and inspiring their creativity. Finding the right solution also means sometimes finding the wrong solution first. Mitch supports the discovery process, and recognizes the importance of efficiency. A piece of advice he continues to utilize in his work today - “Don’t be afraid to kill projects early.” If something isn’t working, move on to investigating the next idea.

Mitch’s entrepreneurial spirit drives him to continually investigate, explore, and find solutions. If someone shares a new article with Mitch - no matter the topic - he finds himself enthralled, absorbing the new content, and getting his wheels turning on real-world applications of the information. His enthusiasm and love of problem-solving help motivate others to excel. He enjoys exploring the world, and learning along the way. While traveling with his family, Mitch visited Indonesia to discover his wife’s family history, and will be visiting Sicily later this year to explore his own family roots.

With Mitch’s support, the Market & Product Development team is empowered to explore, innovate, and break barriers - with the expectation that Koroseal products will drive market excitement and, ultimately, delight our customers.

Creating with Mitch

We met with Mitch to learn more about his approach and inspiration. See what else he had to say!

Can you delve into a trend or practice in your field that you are particularly fond of, and explain why it resonates with you?

Mitch: Natural materials are in style, but also environmentally friendly. Cork, grass… I love that these green, natural material options are coming back, and that we are innovating new ways to use them. The use of recycled and fast renewable materials is exciting - as a beekeeper myself, I enjoy supporting the earth, and finding ways to give back.

Describe a project, or task, that allowed you to help bring a customer’s dream to life.

Mitch: In the last 10-15 years, construction has focused on hard materials - granite, marble, cement, glass. Although these materials are durable, they all create noise. Customers need alternative solutions. Koroseal has innovated products to help - products that are aesthetically pleasing, create a warm environment, and meet functional needs, like sound absorption.

What is your favorite Koroseal product?

Mitch: I love our Arbor product line because it allows you the ability to incorporate the beauty and warmth of wood into a design; using a very thin, environmentally friendly, veneer product.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Mitch: Besides the wonderful people at Koroseal, I enjoy bringing new products and product lines to our A&D customers and end users.

What’s a hobby or interest that fuels your creativity?

Mitch: I’m a serial remodeler on my own home, and previously on rental properties. Remodeling projects allows you to use your mind in a different way – like spatial orientation – while also doing physical work that’s immediately satisfying.

How do you approach the balance between creativity and functionality in your work?

Mitch: In product development, we evaluate new projects across different criteria, ensuring they meet the functional needs we set out to accomplish, as well as hold up aesthetically. The commercial community needs highly durable products, but we also ensure the other side - providing delicate beauty. A great example of this balance is found in our protective wallcovering products, like Traffic Patterns and Fusion. These products really strike a great balance for our customers.