Linde's business is lighter than air and bigger than everyone else's. Operating in more than 100 countries, it is the world's largest producer of industrial and medical gases. Linde also has an engineering unit that builds process plants for companies in the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and gas manufacturing industries; the gases unit accounts for about three-quarters of its sales. A third division provides logistics and supply chain solutions to a broad range of commercial and industrial sectors, including electronics, grocery, retail and gas. The company is active worldwide but does about half of its business in Europe.

Not only can you paint the town red with Benjamin Moore paints, you can stain and finish it as well. In addition to ready-mixed colors -- sold under such brands as Benjamin Moore Paints, Moorcraft, and Benwood -- the company can match almost any shade with roughly 3,300 colors. Benjamin Moore also makes industrial coatings and coatings for manufacturers of furniture and roof decking. The company sells its paints through a dealer network of about 4,000 independent paint and decorating stores, most of which are in North America. Benjamin Moore became a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 2000.

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.

Lucite International has its roots firmly planted in plastics. The top producer of acrylic monomers (ahead of Rohm and Haas, Degussa, and Asahi Kasei) with quarter-share of the world market, Lucite International has a history that dates back to the discovery of methyl methacrylate (MMA) by an ICI chemist in 1934 and DuPont's opening of the first US plant three years later. MMA is the main building block of acrylic materials. The company's brand names include Lucite, Perspex, and Lucite Tufcoat. Charterhouse Capital, which had owned 78% of Lucite, first put it up for sale in 2006, meeting with no success. It finally managed to bring off a sale to Mitsubishi Rayon two years later.

There's always room for gelatin. At least that's what GELITA hopes. The company is the world's #1 producer of gelatin, with a 25% share of the market. GELITA's products are used in food and pharmaceuticals, as well as photographic and specialty products (from fertilizers to pet food to cleansing agents). Collagen found in the skin, hair, and bone of slaughtered animals (deemed safe for human consumption, naturally) is the base material for gelatin, valued not only for its high percentage of protein but also for its thickening, adhesive, and emulsifying properties. After producing gelatin under the GELITA name for more than 70 years, Deutsche Gelatine-Fabriken Stoess formally changed its name to GELITA in 2005.

Elkem is one of Norway's largest industrial companies and aims to become a global supplier to the silicon products and solar energy industries. Its products include ferroalloys, silicon metal, carbon, and microsilica. In addition, Elkem produces hydroelectric power for Norway's power market and is involved in energy trading in the Nordic market. It is also developing its own technology for highly purified silicon, to be used in solar cells. Elkem is a subsidiary of Norwegian industrial conglomerate Orkla.

Rohm and Haas is the one to blame if you can't get that paint out of your hair. The company divides its operations among six units, the largest of which is the paints and coatings materials group, which makes additives and binders used by paint makers. There's also the packaging and building materials group and the primary materials division, which makes acrylates. (Those businesses operate within the Specialty Materials segment.) The electronic materials segment makes photoresists and materials for printed wiring boards. Rohm and Haas exited its salt business in 2009 when it sold Morton Salt to German chemicals company K+S for about $1.7 billion. Dow, the nation's largest chemicals maker, owns the company.

Meghmani Organics is a leading producer of pesticide chemicals used by pesticide manufacturers and pigments used by manufacturers of printing ink, plastics, paint, textiles and leather, paper, and rubber. The company's customers are primarily multinational corporations and include Ciba Holding, Flint Ink, and FMC Agricultural Products. More than 50% of its pesticide products and over 80% of its pigment products are exported. The company was founded in 1986 and has offices in Belgium, China, and the US.

SNF Floerger is the world's leading manufacturer of synthetic flocculants, laying claim to 38% of the global market. Synthetic flocculants are used in water treatment -- they clarify water by combining with suspended solids. SNF Floerger also makes other products, including superabsorbants and thickeners. The company has more than 30 subsidiaries and operations in more than 130 countries around the world, including SNF Inc. in the US, France, South Korea, and China. It has 18 plants worldwide that serve some 30,000 customers, who in turn serve more than 250,000 end users.

Sionix Corporation engages in the design, development, and marketing of automatic water filtration systems primarily for small water districts. Its products include Dissolved Air Flotation used in water and wastewater treatment; and Sionix Elixir water treatment system, a self-contained water treatment system or pre-treatment process using ordinary air with minimal chemical flocculent aids. The company’s systems are used in municipalities, industrial, emergency response, military, and small residential communities. Sionix Corporation was founded in 1985 and is based in Anaheim, California.

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.