United Gilsonite Laboratories (UGL) prevents leaky roofs and warped decks. The company manufactures paint and wood and masonry finishing products including cement paints, caulking compounds, wall patching materials, and waterproofing products. Its brand names include DRYLOK and ZAR. Founded in 1932 by Gerald Payne, UGL has four manufacturing centers in Illinois, Mississippi, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. It sells more than 80 products through 15,000 dealers, including hardware stores and home repair centers, in the US and abroad.

Makhteshim-Agan Industries (MAI) manufactures generic forms of crop protection chemicals. Its products include herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. Its first proprietray crop protection product was Rimon, which is not toxic for humans. Formed by Koor Industries' 1998 acquisition of two separate public companies, the agrochemicals company has operations worldwide. Through subsidiaries MAI is also involved in food and nutraceuticals, though the agrochemicals account for nearly all of its sales. The company has increased its focus on the North American market; the region now accounts for about a fifth of its total sales. Koor has been selling its shares in the company and has reduced its stake to about 40%.

CEPS, formerly known as Dinkie Heel, invests in a handful of specialty businesses. Its Davies Odell business makes body armor, protective underwear, matting for equestrian and dairy use, and a range of footwear repair products. CEPS' Friedman's is a specialist textile importer. The company acquired Friedman's, an importer and distributor of Lycra materials used in dancewear and swimwear, in 2005. The company's Sunline Direct Mail unit is engaged in the the polythene wrapping of mail packs. CEPS has been operating since 1930.

Kyzen -- derived from the Japanese word "kaisan," which means continuous improvement -- is trying to improve the performance of electronics with its specialty cleaning products. The company offers environmentally safer cleaning chemicals (alternatives to ozone depleting chemicals) for semiconductor, optics, and aerospace components, including aluminum tubes, electronic assemblies, medical implants, optical lenses, silicon wafers, and solid rocket motors for the space shuttle. Its Metalnox products are solvents that are specially formulated to remove tough soils used in metal finishing; Optisolv is a line of chemical cleaners for glass and plastics. Kyzen sells via a direct sales force to customers worldwide.

Effective technology has helped EFTEC market its products. Founded in 1985 as a joint venture between EMS-CHEMIE and H.B. Fuller's automotive division, EFTEC manufactures sealants, adhesives, and coatings for use by OEMs in the automotove industry. The company also supplies products to the automotive after-market for repairs, and to the bus and train industries. EFTEC has locations throughout Asia, Europe, and the US (through EFTEC North America). In 2007 EMS bought out Fuller's half of the joint venture for $80 million.

HELM U.S. (a subsidiary of Germany-based HELM Aktiengesellschaft) distributes specialty and industrial chemicals from chemical producers to industrial customers in the Americas. Founded in 1976, the company specializes in distributing raw materials for producers of thermoset resins and coatings. Typical products include both liquid (acetone, acrylates, methanol, propylenes, xylenes) and solid (borax, fumaric acid, melamine, titanium dioxide) chemicals. The company also offers logistics services such as chemical tanker chartering, documentation, and import and export regulatory assistance.

Airgas, Inc.(NYSE: ARG), through its subsidiaries, is the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases and related hardgoods, such as welding supplies. Airgas is also a leading U.S. distributor of safety products, the largest U.S. producer of nitrous oxide and dry ice, the largest liquid carbon dioxide producer in the Southeast, and a leading distributor of process chemicals, refrigerants and ammonia products.

N-Viro International Corporation owns and licenses N-Viro Process, a patented technology to treat and recycle wastewater and other bio-organic wastes, utilizing certain alkaline and mineral by-products produced by the cement, lime, electric utilities, and other industries in the United States. Its N-Viro Process stabilizes and pasteurizes the wastewater sludge, reduces odors to various levels, and neutralizes or immobilizes toxic components. This process generates N-Viro Soil, a product which has a granular appearance similar to soil and has various commercial uses, including agricultural lime, soil enrichment, top soil blend, landfill cover and capping, and land reclamation. The company also offers N-Viro Fuel, a patented biomass alternative energy fuel. It manages N-Viro Process facilities under contracts. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Toledo, Ohio.

Oil-Dri Corporation of America engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of sorbent products in the United States and internationally. It offers cat litter products, including coarse and scoopable products under the Cat’s Pride and Jonny Cat brand names; industrial and automotive sorbent products comprising clay-based sorbent products, such as Oil-Dri branded floor absorbent, which are used for floor maintenance in industrial applications to provide a non-slip and nonflammable surface for workers; and bleaching clay and clarification aid products under the pure-Flo, Perform and Select, and Ultra-Clear brand names that are used in bleaching, purification, and filtration applications. The company also provides agricultural and horticultural products consisting of granular and powdered mineral absorbent products under the Agsorb, Flo-Fre, Terra-Green, and Pro’s Choice brand names, which are used as carriers for crop protection chemicals, agricultural drying agents, bulk processing aids, growing media components, and sports field products; and animal health and nutrition products for livestock feed industry under the ConditionAde, Pel-Unite, and Pel-Unite Plus brand names. Its customers include mass merchandisers, wholesale clubs, drugstore chains, pet retail outlets, dollar stores, retail grocery stores, distributors of industrial cleanup and automotive products, and environmental service companies, as well as processors and refiners of edible oils, petroleum-based oils, and biodiesel fuel; manufacturers of animal feed and agricultural chemicals; and marketers of consumer products and sports turf users. Oil-Dri Corporation sells its products through sales force, food brokers, and distributors, including industrial, auto parts, safety, sanitary supply, chemical, and paper distributors, as well as catalogs. The company was founded in 1941 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

If people turn to Bayer for what ails them, why can't plants? Bayer CropScience, a part of German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant the Bayer Group, is a leading producer of agricultural chemicals. The company's Crop Protection unit makes fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides. Bayer CropScience also operates units that focus on non-crop chemicals (such as consumer lawn care products) and genetically modified seeds. The company ranks as the #2 crop protection firm worldwide, behind Syngenta, and operates on six continents. It has been building up both its seeds business and bioscience unit in the last years of the decade.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.