In 2005 UWGP completed the construction of and began operating an ethanol facility that manufactures 40 million gallons of ethanol a year. It has since expanded the plant to a capacity of more than 50 million gallons. It's not going against the grain to turn farm crops into motor fuels. Certainly not for United Wisconsin Grain Producers (UWGP), which like many other agribusinesses in the Midwest and Great Plains, is pushing grain-based ethanol as a viable and renewable fuel additive. Ethanol is an alcohol fuel produced by fermenting converted starch from corn with yeast. Most ethanol is blended with unleaded gasoline and other fuel products.

If you want to paint the town red, it's a "Dunn" deal. From two manufacturing facilities in California and Arizona, Dunn-Edwards makes numerous paints and coatings, as well as paint-related products ranging from ladders to spray equipment. The company operates 100 retail outlets and caters to architects, designers, home builders, and property managers in the Southwest; it also serves do-it-yourselfers, though professionals account for 90% of sales. Founded in 1925 by Frank Dunn, Dunn-Edwards is owned lock, stock, and bucket by the employees and the Edwards family. Among the places coated with Dunn-Edwards paint are the Staples Center and Mann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Jones-Blair makes coatings with a Southern accent. That is, y'all, it makes industrial and construction coatings and epoxies from its US locations in Louisiana, Texas, and Tennessee and its one Canadian service center in Alberta.The company's high-performance industrial coatings division makes acrylic-urethane, alkyd, and acrylic coatings for decorative and protective applications, including automotive manufacturing, oil-field service, imaging, signs, and woodworking. Jones-Blair's Neogard division produces elastomeric coatings (waterproofing and roof, floor, and wall coating systems) used in construction.

Lake Area Corn Processors produces ethanol and its byproduct, distillers grains, which are used in livestock feed. Through its Dakota Ethanol unit, the company produces about 48 million gallons of ethanol per year. Dakota Ethanol had worked in tandem with Broin Companies, a manufacturer of ethanol processing plants, until Lake Area Corn Processors bought out Broin's minority stake in Dakota Ethanol in 2006. The following year, the company acquired a stake in its ethanol distributor, Renewable Products Marketing Group.

Chevron and Phillips Petroleum (now ConocoPhillips) formed 50-50 joint venture Chevron Phillips Chemical Company in 2000. Among the largest US petrochemical firms, the company produces ethylene, propylene, polyethylene, and polypropylene -- sometimes used as building blocks for the company's other products such as pipe. Chevron Phillips Chemical also produces aromatics such as benzene and styrene, specialty chemicals such as acetylene black (a form of carbon black), and mining chemicals. The company has several petrochemicals joint ventures in the Middle East, including Saudi Chevron Phillips Company (50%) and Qatar Chemical Company (not quite 50%).

PURE Bioscience engages in the development and commercialization of silver ion bioscience technologies principally in the United States. The company offers silver dihydrogen citrate-based antimicrobials. The silver dihydrogen citrate technology is an electrolytically generated source of stabilized ionic silver that would serve as the basis for various products in diverse markets. It also provides Axen and Axen30 hard surface disinfectant products for commercial, industrial, and consumer applications, including restaurants, homes, and medical facilities. PURE Bioscience sells its products to retail, commercial, and institutional customers through distributors. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in El Cajon, California.

Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC) is second only to Chinese Petroleum Corporation for oil refining in Taiwan. The company produces refined petroleum products (jet fuel, liquid petroleum gas, and gasoline) and petrochemicals (ethylene, propylene, and butadiene) from its naphtha cracking operations. It owns gas stations through subsidiary Formosa Oil. FPCC also sells electricity and steam from its co-generation plants. Its engineering and maintenance divisions carry out planning, construction, and daily maintenance services on behalf of group companies.

Rit-Chem. The family-run business is a go-between company that imports, exports, markets, and contracts for custom, high-quality, and hard-to-find chemicals. Its imports are primarily chemicals that are no longer made in the US, chemical preparations custom-produced for Rit-Chem, or chemicals of a higher quality than are typically made domestically. The company was founded by president Henry Rittel, who remains at the helm of business.

Esschem manufactures acrylics, glass, and silicones used as raw materials for medical devices with dental, audiological, cosmetic, and orthopedic applications. The company's resins and polymers also are used by the pharmaceutical, specialty chemical, and electronics industries. Esschem's specialties include custom synthesis and blending, esterification, polymerization, and purification. The company is owned by the Justi Group (controlled by the founding Just family) and works with a group of affiliates to provide plastics, silicones, and glass raw materials worldwide.

Austin Chemical does just fine, even without the bionic capabilities of Steve or the accessibility to great barbecue of the capital of Texas. The company supplies excipients, intermediates, APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients), and specialty chemicals to the pharmaceutical, nutritional, and agrochemical industries. It also provides development, packaging, marketing, and logistical services. The company supplies more than 8,000 products from some 115 manufacturers. In addition to its Chicago-area headquarters, Austin Chemical maintains operations in China and India.

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