ABOUT EDISON COATINGS, INC....
History
Health, Safety and the Environment
HISTORY:
1977
Michael Edison, chemical engineer, founded Edison Hydrocontrol Chemicals, Inc. in New York City. The Company set out to work on the development, production and marketing of specialty materials based on new thermoplastic copolymer technologies with applications in Construction, Agriculture and Industry. An early innovation involved the development of a unique new waterborne weatherproofing sealer for treatment of concrete and masonry building surfaces.
1980 A production facility was set up in Wolcott, Connecticut, producing the Company's first three products - SYSTEM 90 and
SYSTEM 80 Catalytic Breathing Sealers for Concrete and Masonry, and SYSTEM 45, a latex-modified repair mortar for concrete. One of the projects the Company completed at this time required
the customization of SYSTEM 45
to match the color and texture of precast architectural concrete panels. The successful completion of this project led to an opportunity to work on the restoration of an Historic Register brownstone facade in 1981. The Research & Development work undertaken in advance of the project's execution in 1982 formed the basis of what is today called
Custom SYSTEM 45, a complete customized series of repair mortars, offered in numerous strengths, textures, compositions and colors.
1981
Edison moved the corporate office from New York City to the Wolcott plant and incorporated in the State of Connecticut as Edison Chemical Systems, Inc. The Company dedicated much of its early revenues to Research & Development, extending its product offerings yearly, and continually improving and updating existing products.
1983 Specialized grades of SYSTEM 90-Series sealers
were developed and produced, allowing optimization of treatment for different substrates and service exposures. Today they remain an important component in the Company's product line, and waterborne grades have been
incorporated within the series, replacing most of the earlier solvent-borne formulations.
1984
The Company undertook a major development effort to produce high performance waterborne coatings for concrete and masonry. This work led to the creation of Aquathane UA210 polyurethane coatings and the 350-Series acrylic elastomeric coatings, which remain key products in the Company's line today.
1985
The Company had outgrown its Wolcott plant. Edison purchased an industrial building at 25 Grant Street in neighboring Waterbury, CT, and moved there in June of 1985.
1987 The Company created its Flooring Products Division, providing odorless 100% solids
Flexi-Deck 500 elastomeric deck coatings for the Parking industry, and 100% solids Flexi-Gard 500 S industrial floor coatings for general commercial/industrial applications.
1990 The Company accelerated addition of local dealerships in key markets and extended its distribution area beyond the Northeastern
United States. A 3-year study of successful Flexi-Seal 510
flexible epoxy crack sealant performance on 5 New York City parking structures is published.
1992 The product line expands into new special purpose epoxy systems. Flexi-Weld 520 adhesives, Flashepoxy 580
Low-Temperature epoxies, Flexi-Gard 500-N Chemical and Heat Resistant Novolac Epoxies and Aquepoxy 250 immersion-grade waterborne epoxy coatings are added.
1994
Edison Chemical Systems, Inc. files a Corporate Name Change with the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, becoming Edison Coatings, Inc. The new name better reflects the Company's core business, which includes the development and production of specialty materials for repair, protection and decoration of concrete and masonry. The Company's Architectural Restoration Products Division begins a period of steady, substantial growth, with a particular emphasis placed on customized materials.
1999 The custom formulation library surpasses 1100 items, Edison products are in use on Historic restoration projects throughout the
United States, and the Company has outgrown its 25 Grant Street facility.
2000 Relocation to our new plant and headquarters to Plainville, Connecticut.
2002 The Company emerges as the leading supplier of terra cotta repair and reglazing systems. EverKote 300 Mineral Coatings are released.
2003 The Company experiences record-breaking growth, led by the release of a highly successful new product, AquaSpex 220 multi-color special effects finish.
2004 Edison Coatings begins marketing and production of authentic Rosendale Natural Cement Products(R).
2007
The Company reorganizes its distribution, providing direct-sale services in all national and international areas
2008 Edison Coatings' online store opens at www.edisoncoatings.com/store
HEALTH, SAFETY & THE ENVIRONMENT
From the very beginning, Edison Coatings' has understood the importance of protecting the health and safety of its customers (and their customers!). It became a guiding principle in all
of our formulation work that no Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS) would be used in the production of Edison products.
When our product line expanded into polyurethane technology, the use of polyurethane resins containing free isocyanates was excluded, due to potential long-term health risks. When
customers asked us to expand into the production of acidic cleaning solutions for building restoration, we declined, fully recognizing that these materials are all too often involved in worker injuries.
In 1984, the Company's new coatings development work turned completely toward waterborne and 100% solids technology, in the belief that the future of the industry would be solvent-free.
It was our conviction that the sooner the new waterborne technologies were commercialized, the sooner they would become commercially and technically competitive with traditional solvent-borne coatings technologies.
While the coatings industry at large enjoyed a decade of delays in implementing new Clean Air and VOC standards (VOC's are Volatile Organic Compounds, typically associated with air pollution and ozone layer
depletion), Edison Coatings was already in compliance with all proposed and regionally implemented standards.
Edison's 100% solids epoxy systems were also formulated with worker health and safety in mind. Certain highly effective epoxy diluents and additives are also more highly irritating and
sensitizing. Edison believes that small compromises in certain performance properties are a good trade-off for greater safety, and excludes the use of the more irritating/sensitizing cresyl glycidyl ether and butyl
glycidyl ether diluents in its resin formulations.
In 1999, a national VOC standard was adopted, but the standard allows for substantial exceptions for the first 2 years. Edison Coatings believes that protection of the environment should
not be delayed until the last possible moment, and announced the discontinuation of its remaining standard solvent-borne products. Only one solvent-borne product remains, SYSTEM 90-II, and it has been reformulated
using new HAPS-free, oxygenated VOC-exempt solvents.
Edison Coatings looks forward to continued good corporate citizenship. We will continue to decline entry into environmentally unsound or unsafe technologies, and will continue to make
Edison Coatings products the safest and most effective products available.
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