Trade Organizations:

www.sdi.org

www.mbma.com.

The John L. Armitage & Co. is a privately held industrial paint and coatings manufacturer headquartered in Gallatin, Tennessee. The Company has been owned by the Armitage family since its inception in 1876. The company started as a producer of high quality varnish. In 1914, it added a product called Black Japan. Black Japan consisted of linseed oil and Gilsonite varnish and was used as a baking finish for metals. The present course of John L. Armitage & Co. dates back to 1949, the year John, grandson of the founder, became president. The company introduced a state-of-the art coating called Armorhide. Armorhide was a textured coating system based on vinyl dispersion resins. Armorhide quickly became the preferred coating for computer cabinetry, office equipment, and coin operated telephones. The coating provided superior abrasion resistance and easily covered spot welds, scratches and imperfections. Companies like IBM and AT&T specified and used the product. In the 1970's, John L. Armitage & Co. saw the need for more environmentally friendly coatings. The Ecolotex line of water reducible products was introduced. Xerox Corporation was one of the first to specify Ecolotex for use on their "cabinets." The Ecolotex line has expanded and been customized to other markets where compliant coatings are desired. The hardware industry, cellular telephones, steel castings, television cabinets and elastomeric paint for rubber substrates are but some of these evolving markets. More recently, John L. Armitage & Co. has teamed up with Chemcoat, Inc. under a joint venture entitled ArmorChem, LLC. ArmorChem, LLC supplies the majority of the steel joist industry with an alkyd based dip primer called ArmorChem 2500. In 1995, ArmorChem, LLC introduced SP-1000, a quick dry alkyd primer for spray application. This product revolutionized the structural steel industry with a "dry to touch in less than 10 minutes." In addition to this, John L. Armitage & Co., also provides water and solvent based primers for the Metal Building Market and for structural steel roof and floor deck. All ArmorChem primers are VOC compliant coatings, that are formulated to meet local, state, and federal environmental restrictions, as well as manufacturer's stringent quality standards. ArmorChem, LLC can offer these products at very competitive prices due to the economies of scale associated with the volume of business in the steel market. Most of these primers are available for purchase on the internet at www.ARMORCHEM.com. We continue to produce other solvent based coatings such as baking enamels, polyesters, two part polyurethanes, high solids polyesters and polyurethanes, conductive coatings, alkyd primers, selective plating coatings, and epoxy liners for those markets which still require them. However we recognize that compliant coatings are more important than ever, due to stringent regulations and the need for a cleaner environment A look to the future sees John L. Armitage & Co. as a major factor in the specialty coatings market, again due to advanced technology in meeting ever-tightening governmental regulations. The company's current technology is constantly being improved and updated as a direct result of our customers' stringent quality specifications and standards.