KST Coatings Earns Honors From 100 Year Club of Cleveland
Sherwin-Williams Business Unit has a Strong Legacy in the Community
KST Coatings, a business unit of The Sherwin-Williams Company, was recently welcomed into the 100 Year Club of Cleveland for the services and contributions the company has made to the Cleveland community.
"Our roots in the greater Cleveland corporate community run deep," says Andrew Kinnen, Business Unit Director for Sherwin-Williams. "And while we've undergone a number of transitions in our history, as so many businesses do, one thing has been a constant - our commitment to this region," he says, noting that today, the company employs more than 30 staff members at its present location in Twinsburg, as well as an additional 20 persons at other locations throughout the nation.
A Brief Look Back
Now celebrating its centennial anniversary, KST Coatings opened in 1906 as The Acorn Refinery Company, which produced roof coatings and paints. Later, The Acorn Refinery became Perfection Industries, making its headquarters in two buildings located on 80th and Franklin Streets in Cleveland. From that base, Perfection's two enterprising founders, Edward M. Katz and Samuel Sanders, not only developed coatings -- they developed the kind of sales force needed to build a prosperous business. Eventually, Perfection had more than ten different subsidiaries to serve the needs of its diverse markets, including Electric Paint and Varnish Co., Progress Paint, Adams Paint, Madison Paint, Sureity Products, Electric Chemical, Franklin Paint and Fulton Paint. Products from these subsidiaries enjoyed national recognition and sales.
There were a number of product hallmarks along the way to the company's current centennial mark: in the 1920s, Perfection introduced the Kool Seal® brand of roof coating to address the needs of the residential marketplace. In 1945, the company announced the first aluminum asphalt coating developed for commercial roofs, with Uniflex® quickly becoming a gold standard in the industry. In 1984, the company not only debuted its first elastomeric roof coatings, it also debuted a new corporate identity and headquarters location when it moved to Twinsburg and began operating under the name Kool Seal, Inc.
In 2005, The Sherwin-Williams Company acquired Kool Seal, Inc., making it part of Sherwin-Williams' Chemical Business Unit under the name KST Coatings. Among other products, KST Coatings today manufactures and distributes Kool Seal Reflective Roof Coatings® and Snow Roof Systems®, which are sold through retail channels, as well as Uniflex Industrial Roof Coatings for the commercial market.
Since 1906, KST Coatings has been providing quality roof coating solutions for both consumer and commercial markets. The company's products are designed to address requirements that range from environmental factors to substrate protection concerns. For more information on KST Coatings and its product brands, visit www.kstcoatings.com, or telephone 888-321-5665.
