2009 Alumnus Refines the Family Business as VP of Finance

Understanding the financial landscape and precious metals industry has allowed Class of 2009 alumnus Jacob “Jake” Gottlieb to not only join the family business, but successfully lend his expertise to clients as the vice president of finance at Colt Refining, Inc.

Colt Refining was founded by Jake’s father, Harvey Gottlieb. As a way to earn extra money, Mr. Gottlieb and his father would travel on the weekends looking for scrap metal, copper, old metal bathtubs, etc., to sell to a local scrap yard. The trips incentivized Mr. Gottlieb to open his own scrap yard, which he successfully did in 1977 with the office located in Bethany, Conn. As the industry shifted in the 1980s, Colt Refining pivoted from scrap metal to concentrate in circuit boards and partnered with circuit board shops along the East Coast. The company continued identifying opportunities within the industry and took the two-prong approach with precious metals refining at Colt Refining and electronic scrap recycling at Colt Recycling, which was later sold in 2022 to Elemental Holdings.

As the VP of Finance, Jake takes on myriad responsibilities, but his main focus is the banking relationships. Since the company borrows and returns ounces of metal to a bank through a specialized lending facility, he manages the facility and makes the trades for each metal. Additionally, he also utilizes the futures markets and other specialized trading desks that create markets for smaller metals such as rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium, in order to hedge the company’s positions and eliminate any price risk. Other responsibilities include transferring and delivering physical metal to suppliers on customers’ behalf, overseeing operations of the accounting and finance departments, and serving as the company’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Officer responsible for Know Your Customer (KYC) and AML compliance.   

“The precious metals industry is interesting as there is quite a wide range of people involved in the industry, with backgrounds ranging from high school education to PH.D.s,” said Jake. “There is a lot of mechanical and chemical engineering involved in refining processes, ranging from recovering spent catalysts, to chemically stripping plated materials, to using thermal reduction to recover lower grade materials. Once people tend to break into the industry, whether on purpose or mistake, they rarely end up leaving. I will say it is definitely an industry that could use some more youth as these metals are critical for our future.” 

Jake said he knew he always wanted to pursue a career in business, but did not know what specific concentration in the sector. As he discovered the stock market during college and being able to apply what he had been learning, specifically the theories of economics, he became excited and credits that moment as when he knew he wanted a role tied to markets. He further elaborated how there are so many different aspects of finance and exploring all of them was important to his growth professionally. 

Jake graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Elon University where he double majored in finance and international business. He began his professional career at Commerce Bank & Trust Company in Worcester, Mass., as a commercial and industrial credit analyst. He later joined Colt Refining in the New Hampshire office in 2018 and assumed his current position as VP of Finance in 2023. 

“During my time in banking, I poured through financials of companies of all sizes and learned how to establish creditworthiness,” said Jake. “It also provided valuable insight into the do’s and don’ts of how to run a business, an experience that I will always cherish.”

Outside of work, Jake enjoys outdoor activities including golfing and skiing. He also has a passion for travel. Reflecting on his time at Hamden Hall, Jake recalls learning about globalization and notes how that subject focus prepared him for the world outside our halls and how to adapt with the technological shift in the economy.

“I really appreciate how the teachers pushed us to think critically and creatively as much of life comes down to how you can think around a situation, and for that I will forever be grateful,” noted Jake. “The community that Hamden Hall fosters is second to none. Beyond academics, on the athletic fields and outside of the classrooms, Hamden Hall helped me forge lifelong friends, many of whom I still keep in touch with today.”