doing business as
Eco Chemical
Environmentally friendly
paints and coatings provide
a winning business formula.
founded: 1991
headquarters: Seattle
what it makes: Water-soluble wood stains, industrial
coatings, and TempLine Field Coatings, a removable paint for
synthetic and natural grass athletic fields.
back story: Co-founder Mark Cheirrett started the
company 25 years ago because he strongly believed that waterborne paints were the future of the industry. After working
with toxic chemicals for many years, he saw their negative
health consequences first-hand and thought there must be a
better way. So he went to work inventing one.
claim to fame: The company’s initial products were
targeted at pressure-treated lumber manufacturers. Although
non-toxic water-based wood stains and other coating products
remain a core product line, Eco Chemical also developed an
entirely different market — athletic field marking — after
helping to solve a problem for the hometown football team.
the problem: Soon after the opening of CenturyLink Field
in 2002, the Seattle Seahawks discovered they needed a better
way to quickly and safely remove football markings from the
artificial field turf in order to repaint the field for Seattle
Sounders soccer games. They reached out to Eco Chemical
to engineer a solution that would stay in place during a wet,
windy game, but could also be easily removed when it was
time to repaint the field.
the solution: Eco Chemical’s TempLine system includes
both natural grass and synthetic turf paints that hold up to
wear and tear during rough and tumble games and extreme
weather, and environmentally friendly paint removers that
allow it to be quickly and safely removed when it’s time. In
addition, the company has developed its own line of power
equipment for removing turf paints. Eco TempLine is now
the preferred turf marking paint on synthetic NFL and college
fields throughout the U.S. and Canada.
— Jason Hagey
50 association of washington business