Coatings World - February 2013

BASF Opens
Dispersions Plant in
Huizhou

BASF inaugurated its new disper-
sions plant in Daya Bay Petrochemical
Industrial Park in Huizhou, China. The
new plant will produce styrene butadiene
(XSB) dispersions and styrene acrylic (SA)
dispersions. XSB dispersions are mainly
used as coating binders for paper, while
SA dispersions are used in paint and coat-
ings, printing and packaging, construc-
tion materials and adhesives.

Coatings, Ink Industries Mourn Charles Hoover III

By David Savastano
Ink World Editor
changed,” Charles Hoover V said. “When he joined the business
in 1954, there was no colorant business. My great-grandfather
had been in the paint business and had built Hoover Color as a
custom pigment blender, making the exact color people needed.
“As the colorant business evolved in the 1960s and 1970s,
the need for custom pigment blends shrank,” he added. “In his
1970 acquisition of the facility in Virginia, my father transformed
Hoover Color from a pigment blending company to being a
primary manufacturer. He was also very good at getting people
to reach a consensus, and helped the pigment industry work
together during his tenure as president of the Color Pigment
Manufacturers Association (CPMA).”
When not at work Chuck enjoyed traveling, football and “put-
tering around” when not at work. He was an avid skier and loved
to ski at their homes in Vermont and Colorado with his family
and friends; his family noted that Mr. Hoover departed this world
as the first big snowstorm of the year blanketed Blacksburg.

Daniel Canavan Sr., president and CEO for D. B. Becker Co., Inc., knew Mr. Hoover for nearly 25 years, and said he was both a leader and a gentleman.

“Chuck was a gentlemen in the truest sense of the word, and I doubt if there are many men in our chemical industry who possess his depth and knowledge and his high regard for others,” Mr. Canavan said. “Chuck Hoover was a leader in the development of inorganic pigments for usage in paints, inks, coatings, sealants, plastics, construction-concrete, artist paints and colors.

“Chuck was genuine,” Mr. Canavan added. “There was nothing artificial because it came from the heart. Chuck will be greatly missed, as the industry has lost a a man of great leadership and conviction to our industry.”

Charles Hoover V said that he has received numerous condolence notes over the passing of his father, as he touched so many lives.

“In many of the condolence notes that I’ve received from
my father’s business friends, I heard one of my father’s expres-
sions over and over again: ‘Hoover Dumb Luck,’” his son noted.
“As one friend said, this wasn’t dumb at all. What it really was a
combination of ‘preparation meeting opportunity,’ along with a
philosophy that ‘everything comes with patience.’ My father felt
that luck sometimes needed to be nudged in the right direction,
but if you were prepared and patience, things had a way of fall-
ing into place.”
Charles E. (Chuck) Hoover III, president of Hoover Color, passed away at his home in Blacksburg, VA, on Jan. 17,
2013, just shy of his 78th birthday.