SEI Chemical, a Vernon manufacturer that started out making graffiti removal coatings, is quietly on its way to becoming a force in specialized chemical manufacturing.
In just a decade, the company has grown from its founder, Ross Sklar, toiling in a small space in the San Fernando Valley, to 10 employees working in a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and laboratory near downtown Los Angeles.
Some of the company’s products are sold in Home Depot. And just this past February, SEI acquired Betterbilt Chemicals, a janitorial chemical manufacturer in La Verne. Since then, SEI has more than doubled Betterbilt’s production to 800,000 units.
Now, in a partnership with Vernon’s aerosol manufacturer Four Star Chemical, SEI and Betterbilt are set to launch a U.S. franchise program for a mobile graffiti-removal service. They are pitching the franchises to cities, businesses, and entrepreneurs following a successful trial with four franchises in Canada.
SEI is best known for making a coating that protects surfaces from graffiti, by allowing easy paint removal with a dry towel or pressure washer. “That helps cut down costs for cities and businesses constantly paying millions for graffiti removal,” said Sklar, who serves as the company’s chief executive.
On the horizon, he said, are more acquisitions within the next 12 months. One, which he declined to name, should close next month and would take the company to five times its current size. He plans to keep the company in Los Angeles.
“It’s pricey and difficult with all the regulations, but we love it here,” Sklar said. “We’re hoping to become a leading manufacturer in chemicals worldwide and are in total acquistions mode.”
C-17’s Outlook
There has been some good news for Boeing Co.’s 5,000 employees who work on the C-17 cargo plane in Long Beach.
The Long Beach assembly plant celebrated its delivery last week of the second of three planes that NATO has ordered. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate’s Defense Appropriations Committee approved a $2.5 billion order for 10 more C-17s.
If the additional planes are approved this fall by President Barack Obama, the Long Beach plant will be able to stay open through at least spring 2012.
Last month, the company launched a public relations campaign featuring ads citing the potential impact of a plant closure, along with rallies staged by employees to shore up political support. The plant is slated to close in July 2011 if more orders don’t roll in.
India, Qatar and the United Kingdom have recently expressed strong interest buying more of planes, which are used to transport troops and cargo for both humanitarian relief and military missions, said Jerry Drelling, a Boeing spokesman.
Kop Fine
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a $126,000 fine against Commerce-based industrial coatings manufacturer Kop Coat Inc. for violations of federal law, including improper storage of hazardous waste.
In 2007, EPA investigators found Kop Coat Inc. stored hazardous waste without a permit, did not meet emission standards for tanks and failed to perform weekly inspections at a now-defunct plant at 5431 District Blvd. in Vernon.
EPA officials said they found acetone and toluene stored improperly at the facility. Exposure to solvents such as acetone and toluene can affect breathing and cause vomiting, said Rich Vaille, associate director for the waste management division in the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region.
Staff reporter Francisco Vara-Orta can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 241 or at [email protected].
