Washington Business Spring 2015 | Page 50

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