Axalta and Ducks Unlimited
were joined by members of the
community, including representatives from A&A Coating,
Inc., a Texas-based leader in the oil and
gas pipe coating industry and an Axalta
customer.
“Today is an exciting day for Ducks
Unlimited and Axalta as we commit
to the restoration and enhancement of
300 acres of managed, freshwater wet-
lands,” said Ducks Unlimited CEO Dale
Hall. “With Axalta’s generous support,
we can continue our work to improve
habitats for waterfowl and other migra-
tory birds, while making significant prog-
ress toward our Rescue Our Wetlands
campaigngoals.”
The Gulf Coast is a priority landscape
for Ducks Unlimited. The coastal prai-
ries and marshes of Texas and Louisiana
winter up to 15 million waterfowl each
year and serve as nurseries for commer-
cially and recreationally important fish-
eries. Working with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited will
add water control structures and earthen
levees to facilitate better habitat manage-
ment on this public-access refuge outside
of Houston. The work on the Anahuac
National Wildlife Refuge will begin as
soon as site conditions allow.
“We are proud to be a part of the work
that Ducks Unlimited and Axalta are do-
ing to protect our environment, especially
here in Texas,” said Robert Langbartels,
general manager of A&A Coating, Inc.
“Axalta and A&A Coating share a strong
bond. Our companies care deeply about
preserving the environment and value the
great work that Ducks Unlimited does
to protect and restore that environment.
This is also a great project for our em-
ployees who will be able to benefit from
the restoration of the Anahuac National
Wildlife Refuge right here in Texas.”
“Thousands of Axalta employees
around the world are deeply passionate
about conservation, from the impact of
our coatings to participating in making
the products we paint last longer to our
environmentally responsible manufactur-
ing processes,” said Mike Cash, president
of Axalta’s Industrial Coatings business.
Company Profile: PaintSolutions
PaintSolutions is a California-based niche paint company offering high quality coatings for use on Hollywood sets.
John Jilek is president of Inksolutions, a Chicago-based company selling ink vehicles, overprint varnish and additives to the
lithographic ink maker. The company was founded in 2001 and
has ten employees at its facility. Several years ago, the company
was looking for a building in Los Angeles.
“We bought the Muralo (Norton & Sons) building in
Commerce, California in 2005, said Jilek. “They moved back
to Bayonne New Jersey, so we took over the toll manufac-
turing of their West Coast products which included Spackle,
Synkoloid patch and repair products and various paints. In
2007 they pulled out completely, so we took over their line,
with the right to manufacture, market and distribute their
product lines west of the Rockies. Last year they sold their
company to California Products. They did not want the Syn-
koloid product line, so we bought that. We now own the
Synkoloid brand.”
With this as a base, Jilek remarketed the patch and repair
line, introduced SYNKO Cem-Bond, Floor & Patio paint and
SYNKO Universal Colorants, which are used in Hollywood for
artists designing sets and formed PaintSolutions.
“Last year we introduced three lines of acrylic house paints,
which are being sold in the Los Angeles area,” Jilek added. “We
also sell paint for the background sets in Hollywood. This year
we introduced: a line of primers, a traffic paint and several spe-
cialty paints.”
PaintSolutions has 10 employees in the Commerce, Califor-
nia plant, which produces: lithographic printing ink vehicles and
overprint varnishes, carbon black dispersions for litho inks and
paints and paste products for the paint market. The company
recently introduced a line of traffic marking paint.
From a business
development stand-
point, coming from the
ink industry, Jilek had
an advantage entering
the paint market. The
two industries are very
similar. “Both industries
are dominated by large
international compa-
nies, leaving the smaller
independent companies to be creative and stay ahead of the
game,” said Jilek. “Both of our companies cater to the inde-
pendent companies, with creative products, new research, top
quality and dedicated attention to each customer.”
PaintSolutions’ success as a smaller niche company can be
attributed to superior customer and technical service. “We are
dedicated to the customer,” said Jilek. “We have excellent tech-
nical abilities, but we are not bogged down in bureaucracy. We
make decisions quickly and respond to our customers needs.”
“Many companies are sacrificing quality for profit,” said
Jilek. “We are making paint the way it was made 20 years ago
– high quality paint. The painters, our customers customer, have
thanked us for staying in California and supporting them with
the paints that they need.”
