Tech Success – Phoenix Tailings CEO credits baseball lessons

Today Magazine Online

Sep 19

13 min read

Updated: 10 hours ago

• Valley native and CEO Nick Myers says his mentors were "inspirational"

Bruce William Deckert

Editor-in-Chief

Today Magazine Online

Phoenix Tailings CEO Nick Myers has presided over a remarkable tech startup-to-success story — and one recent accomplishment featured his attendance at a pivotal summit in Washington D.C. hosted by president Donald Trump at the U.S. Department of State.

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Just seven years after beginning in 2019 in a Boston-area backyard, Phoenix Tailings is a major player in the global realm of rare-earth metals. Myers and chief commercial officer Anthony Balladon attended Trump's Roundtable on American Mining in early August, although they didn't personally meet the president.

Regarding the significance of the company's name, Myers says: "Tailings are the technical term for the mining waste material we work with. Phoenix is the legendary bird that is resurrected. Phoenix Tailings represents life being born from the ashes of the waste."

He has defined the Phoenix Tailings goal as "clean mining and metals production" while explaining the firm's mission as follows: "to create a zero-waste world."

Byproducts from the mining industry become toxic waste that is typically dumped in sizable landfills called tailings ponds.

The Phoenix Tailings team extracts beneficial primary metals from this toxic waste, essentially recycling and salvaging the valuable ore therein. The metals restored from the waste are then utilized as raw materials in a constellation of industries that significantly drive the economy worldwide and impact human life in the 21st century: aerospace, automotive, aviation, biotechnology, defense, electronics, medical technology and more.

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Rare-earth metals and critical minerals are indispensable for these industries. Further, the U.S. government views these metal and mineral commodities as essential for national security. The United States is racing to ramp up domestic production of rare-earth metals to reduce reliance on China and other international sources for crucial metals.

In the defense industry, the need has increased since the Iran war began in February because the U.S. military requires the replenishing of weapon systems being marshaled in the war effort. In light of this ramped-up demand, Phoenix Tailings received a conditional $500 million loan in June from the U.S. Department of War (via the Office of Strategic Capital) to fund construction of a Freedom Facility.

"We call it the Freedom Facility because ... the purpose of this is to ensure that the entire Western Hemisphere, the United States and its allies are free of Chinese influence within the rare-earth space," Balladon says, per the Associated Press.

The company hopes to have a brand-new cutting-edge complex operational sometime in 2028. Phoenix Tailings has also received a $66 million grant from the Department of Energy.

The Phoenix Tailings headquarters is located in Woburn, Massachusetts, about 10 miles north of Boston's City Hall — two state-of-the-art production facilities are located in nearby Burlington and in Exeter, New Hampshire.

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The U.S. War Department notes that the conditional loan commitment signals a new collaboration with the Boston-area company.

"This partnership with [the Office of Strategic Capital] marks Phoenix Tailings' next stage of growth, positioning the company at the center of an important national security priority focused on building a resilient, domestic supply chain for rare earths," states a War Department press release. "Phoenix Tailings specializes in rare earth separation and metallization, a highly technical midstream process that bridges the critical gap between raw extraction and permanent magnet production."

Myers' presence at the recent American Mining Roundtable is only the latest in a lengthy list of notable achievements connected to Phoenix Tailings that have been chronicled by Today Magazine CT and other media outlets. For example, Forbes Media has chosen Myers for its illustrious Next 1000 list that honors "entrepreneurial heroes" of the 21st century.

He acknowledges that awards "can be cool" — but his big-picture perspective recognizes their clear limitations.

"I don't care much for awards," Myers told Today Magazine in conjunction with a March 2022 cover story. "We have a lot to accomplish, and I'm not content — the awards are generally just fleeting publicity."

Nick Myers was an NYCBL All-Star the summer of 2013 — courtesy photo

Still, by virtually any measure, the Phoenix Tailings story in the critical-metals realm has been marked by a red-hot and soaring trajectory.

Myers is 34 years old — his birthday is in November — and he hails from Canton, Connecticut. Established in 1806, Canton is a suburban-rural town of about 10,100 citizens nestled in Connecticut's Farmington Valley. A Valley native, Myers is a high-school graduate of The Master's School in West Simsbury. This private Christian day school for nursery through grade 12 — alternately known by the shorthand TMS or Master's — also enrolls students for a year of postgraduate study.

Myers is a 2014 alum of Saint Michael's College in Vermont (B.S. physics) and has two master's degrees: a marketing MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology (2015) and a finance MBA from Northeastern University (2017). He received a partial athletic scholarship at Saint Michael's, an NCAA Division II school, as a pitcher on the baseball team.

Myers attended Master's for his four high-school years, graduating in 2010. Today Magazine asked him about the teachers and staff who stand out in terms of helping him grow and prepare for his Phoenix Tailings role. He identifies three key people — two educators and a coach: Kathryn Kay, Joe Dietrich and David Kull.

During Myers' four years at Master's, Kull was his baseball coach and Kay was a high-school teacher and administrator. Dietrich's roles at the school included English teacher, chaplain and dean of students.

"It is amazing what God has planned for us — He used baseball to teach me some of the most important lessons about leadership that I still rely on every day" — CEO Nick Myers

"They were incredibly inspirational people," Myers says, "with Kathryn Kay consistently guiding me to grow as a man with steadfast ethics never to be shaken. Joe Dietrich ... would always dive deep into thinking deeply, not just answering the question in front of us — and David Kull, my baseball coach, whose mantra 'Play like a champion for The Champion' resonates with me to this day and inspired the core value of 'hustle' we still use at Phoenix."

For the sake of clarity, "The Champion" referred to here is Jesus of Nazareth, who is also "The Master" referenced in the school's name. While the professed desire of the school's founders and current staff is for Jesus to be the school's ultimate authority, no institution — whether described as sacred or secular — consistently lives up to its ideals. The Master's School is of course no exception and resides in this common human ballpark.

Today Magazine asked Myers whether a meeting in D.C. with the president of the United States was on his radar when he graduated from high school.

His reply: "Definitely not — I tend to hyperfocus on one thing and let everything else fall away. In 2010, I was solely focused on playing professional baseball."

His pro pitching dream didn't materialize. However, the Phoenix Tailings vision was birthed after his college years and has ascended rapidly in the seven-plus years since the company's takeoff in 2019.

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"It is amazing what God has planned for us," Myers tells Today. "He used baseball to teach me some of the most important lessons about leadership that I still rely on every day. I could never have imagined the adventure He had in store for me or that I would one day have the opportunity to help America in this way."

Today Magazine requested comment from Kull, Kay and Dietrich regarding Myers, asking essentially the same question posed to Myers himself: When Nick graduated from Master's, did you think that one day he would be the CEO of a company invited to a high-level meeting with the president in Washington D.C. — was such a development anywhere on your radar as you considered Nick's future endeavors?

Kay says she was aware of Myers' attendance at the American Mining Roundtable before being contacted by Today: "I was not a bit surprised but very pleased — I have followed Nick's career via his Facebook posts over these past seven years."

"Nick's academic abilities and challenges certainly reflected his potential future successes," Kay says.

"He took AP Physics as an independent study! He had a ready laugh, enjoyed the hands-on projects his teachers assigned, worked well with his peers and, as a baseball player, was a great inspiration to his team. I felt that these character traits would certainly develop as he matured and would be necessary when starting a business."

"I'm not sure how a meeting with the president could be on anyone's radar, but I'm not surprised about his accomplishments" — former TMS baseball coach David Kull

Kay began her tenure at Master's in September 2001 as a history and Bible teacher. Prior to the 2007-08 school year — Myers' sophomore year — she was appointed upper school director, an administrative position comparable to a public high-school principal. When she took the director's baton, she also became the AP History teacher.

The Master's School observed its 55th anniversary last year. TMS debuted in the 1970-71 school year.

"I am delighted by his successes," Kay says of Myers, "and that his entrepreneurial endeavors led to his invitation to be part of the American Mining Roundtable with president Trump."

How about the baseball coach — was Myers' conference at the U.S. State Department with top government officials possibly on Kull's radar?

"I'm not sure how a meeting with the president could be on anyone's radar," says Kull, "but I'm not surprised about his accomplishments because he's always been a very driven and determined person. Anything is possible for someone like Nick."

Kull coached the Master's varsity baseball team for the four years Myers was a high-school student at the school. Myers and Kull's son Kyle were teammates and classmates during that time frame — like Myers, Kyle Kull graduated in 2010. Their senior year Master's baseball team went undefeated, winning the Hudson Valley Athletic League (HVAL) regular-season and tournament titles in the team's first year in the league. Myers was an all-conference pitcher.

HVAL is affiliated with the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) — Master's still competes in NEPSAC but is no longer part of HVAL, per online sources.

"Nick was an excellent baseball player, a great teammate, and a lot of fun to be around," says Kull. "He was the type of kid who put a smile on my face — most of the time. He could be mischievous on occasion, but that didn't detract from him being a team player and a good student."

Kull was an ESPN employee for nearly 25 years, from 1996 until 2021, when he was included in a major corporate layoff. He served as an editor in various roles at ESPN.com and ESPN Digital Media for about 22 years before accepting a position as a TV coordinating producer from September 2018 until January 2021. In this capacity, Kull was part of a production team for ESPN's signature SportsCenter news-and-highlight show that won a Sports Emmy Award, according to his LinkedIn profile.

"I loved being his coach," he says of Myers, "and I'm extremely happy he's done so well."

"He had a ready laugh ... worked well with his peers and, as a baseball player, was a great inspiration to his team" — retired TMS educator Kathryn Kay

Brandyn Garcia, a 2019 Master's grad who also pitched on the baseball team, made his major-league pitching debut in July 2025 with the Seattle Mariners. His Master's coach was Jim DeCesare, a longtime art instructor at the West Simsbury school who now teaches at West Hartford-based American School for the Deaf. A resident of Collinsville — a distinct section of Canton — DeCesare has also been a longtime college art professor at CT State Tunxis in Farmington.

Meanwhile, Today Magazine contacted Dietrich in early September, but before he could comment, the career educator died on September 9 after battling Lou Gehrig's disease, clinically known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis aka ALS.

Nick Myers' parents, Kurt and Helene, moved from Philadelphia to Canton in 1988 — Today asked them this question: When Nick was in high school, if someone told you he would be named to the Forbes Next 1000 as the CEO of a successful tech-company startup by age 30, what would you have thought?

"Nick has always been extremely smart, and when focused on a goal there was no stopping him," says Helene, who worked as an attorney in private practice and still maintains her license.

Kurt, a medical doctor aka MD, spotlights the sports focus of Nick's youth: "He only first picked up a baseball at the age of 11," Kurt says, "and that drive to attain a goal gave him the opportunity to play Division II baseball and excel — now his company employs the top engineers in the world, from MIT, Harvard, Yale and Princeton, and he's the CEO."

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Helene adds: "We always knew he could do this — he did not surprise us."

Helene has been an active volunteer as a docent and educator at the Farmington-based Hill-Stead Museum and the Hartford-based Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. She enjoys teaching and is certified for their education programs.

Asked whether the mining-industry path Nick has pursued is surprising, his parents observe that this vocational choice aligns with his childhood pastimes: "He loved rocks as a child," Kurt says. "He would collect mineral stones from wherever we traveled in the world."

"He would dig in playgrounds for hours," Helene says. "So the idea that he would end up in mining did not surprise us. ... He wants to make a difference in the world. That was what he decided after working a traditional job in banking."

Dr. Myers is director of the urgent care center at Trinity Health of New England's Naugatuck location. From 1996 to 2020, he was the director of pediatric emergency medicine at Saint Mary's Hospital in Waterbury. He retired in 2020 but came out of retirement in 2024 to don the urgent-care mantle.

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"Nick went into tech startups and eventually met his company co-founder at a Bible study they were at together," Kurt says. "The Master’s School at work here, I think."

Indeed, as Myers tells Today Magazine: "We were not started like most deep technology companies, out of a fully funded lab — Phoenix Tailings was started when I met Tomas Villalon at a Bible study."

Launched in January 2019, Phoenix Tailings began as a makeshift lab in the backyard of Villalon's apartment in Cambridge, a city in Massachusetts just west of Boston across the Charles River. Via the improvised lab, four of the company's founders built a prototype machine for extracting valuable metals from tailings residue. Myers and Villalon initially crossed paths the year before at a biblically-focused retreat sponsored, fittingly, by an organization named FOCUS — that is, the Boston University chapter of the Fellowship Of Catholic University Students.

Today, Villalon is Phoenix Tailings' chief technology officer.

Five forward-looking entrepreneurs founded Phoenix Tailings — Myers, Villalon and Balladon, along with former chief operating officer Michelle Chao and Mike Martin, who are no longer with the company. Martin and Myers were high-school classmates for four years at Master's. Like Myers, Martin was in the class of 2010. Another Master's grad, Nicole Tassio, has been the executive assistant at Phoenix Tailings since October 2023. She was in the class of 2011.

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Asked for his main recollection of Nick when they were TMS classmates, Martin says: "I remember Nick to be an energetic, driven and competitive person."

Regarding Myers' recent attendance at the State Department's American Mining Roundtable — on graduation day in June 2010, did Martin think that his classmate's future endeavors would include being the CEO of a company invited to a crucial council in D.C. with the U.S. president?

"After graduating from high school, Nick's dreams were aimed at baseball, so I thought he would make his way into MLB at some level," Martin says — MLB refers to Major League Baseball.

"That ended up not working out, and he then turned to business and entrepreneurship in graduate school," Martin continues. "This ended up being the perfect application for his personality and skills. When I recognized that alignment, I saw the potential of where Nick could end up."

Since June 2022, Martin has been a manufacturing engineer at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford.

"It is not surprising he has accomplished so much so quickly," Martin notes, "and I am eager to see what the future holds for him and Phoenix Tailings."

Kurt Myers says that Nick attracted some attention from MLB teams heading into his senior season, but a nagging arm injury impacted his chances, along with a fastball that lacked sufficient velocity.

The summer of 2013, after Nick's junior year at Saint Michael's College, he played for the Geneva Red Wings in the New York Collegiate Baseball League (NYCBL) — comparable to the legendary Cape Cod Baseball League that gives college ballplayers the opportunity to compete all summer long after their spring seasons are completed. He made the NYCBL All-Star team.

Nick's four-seam fastball "topped out at 91 in college before an injury his senior year," Kurt says, adding that MLB scouts showed "some interest after his summer in Geneva, but just not fast enough for the draft."

When Nick was in high school, his four-seamer was clocked at about 88 mph — the "mph" abbreviation stands for miles per hour.

In 2014, the year Nick graduated from college, MLB pitchers averaged about 92.5 mph on four-seam fastballs, per various online sources. Historically, a four-seam fastball is the fastest pitch in a pitcher's repertoire, speedier than a two-seam fastball. Today, MLB pitchers average about 94.5 mph on four-seamers.

In 2025 more than 190 professional pitchers — encompassing the major-league and minor-league levels — exceeded 100 mph, according to Baseball America. Only 82 pitched in the majors aka MLB.

Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan threw the first documented 100-mph pitch in an MLB game, per the National Baseball Hall of Fame website. In August 1974, a radar gun clocked his fastball at 100.9 mph.

While MLB scouts may have considered the speed of Nick Myers' fastball insufficient for major-league consideration, the cruising velocity of Phoenix Tailings appears to be on track to combat the international scourge known as toxic waste. +

• Stay tuned for another Phoenix Tailings feature offering further background on the educational-and-career journey of Nicholas (Nick) Myers and his Farmington Valley roots

• This article is part of a Phoenix Tailings series published in 2026 — so far comprised of these two stories:

• Phoenix Soars – Valley native and CEO attends Trump summit

• Tech Success – Phoenix Tailings CEO cites baseball biz lessons

Related Phoenix News – via Today Magazine CT

• Toxic Haste – Zero-waste mission is urgent Phoenix Tailings goal

• CEO's Goal – Mining realm that recycles toxic waste

• Biz Beat – $76M in new funding for Phoenix Tailings

Today editor-in-chief Bruce Deckert is a multi-award-winning journalist who believes all people merit awards when we leverage our God-given gifts for good — he previously worked at ESPN Digital Media, the Journal Register Company and The Master's School