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.Airgas Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter McCausland founded the company in 1982. Through approximately 400 acquisitions and internal growth, Airgas has built the largest national distribution network in the packaged gas industry. More than 14,000 employees work in more than 1,100 locations includes branches, cylinder fill plants, production facilities, specialty gas laboratories, and regional distribution centers to serve a diversified customer base. Airgas markets through multiple channels, including its own branches and outside sales force, a Strategic Accounts Team focused on large customers, distributors and resellers, telesales, catalog and eBusiness channels.

L. B. Foster Company engages in the manufacture, fabrication, and distribution of products and services for the rail, construction, energy, and utility markets in the United States. It operates in three segments: Rail Products, Construction Products, and Tubular Products. The Rail Products segment provides heavy and light rail, relay rail, concrete ties, insulated rail joints, rail accessories, and transit products to industrial plants, contractors, railroads, mines, and mass transit systems. This segment also offers rail accessories, including trackwork, ties, track spikes, bolts, angle bars, and other products to install or maintain rail lines; rail products comprising insulated rail joints and related accessories for the railroad and mass transit industries; and transit products consisting of power rail, direct fixation fasteners, coverboards, and special accessories primarily for mass transit systems. In addition, it provides new and relay trackwork, and engineered concrete railroad ties for the railroad and transit industries. The Construction Products segment offers sheet, pipe, and bearing piling products; fabricated highway products, such as fabricated structural steel, bridge decking, aluminum and steel bridge rail, and other bridge products to the contractors of state, municipal, and other governmental projects; and precast concrete buildings for national, state, and municipal parks. The Tubular Products segment provides fusion bond and other coatings for corrosion protection on oil, gas, and other pipelines; supplies special pipe products, such as water well casings, column pipes, couplings, and related products for agricultural, municipal, and industrial water wells; and sells micropiles for construction foundation repair and slope stabilization. L. B. Foster company sells its products through outside sales, inside sales, and customer service representatives. L. B. Foster Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1992 as an industrial, oil, and food products supplier, ITERA moved into gas markets in 1994. ITERA had interests in chemicals, construction, finance, insurance, securities, and agriculture, but shed most of these to focus on gas production and marketing. ITERA Group Ltd. company has teamed up with Gazprom to develop infrastructure to deliver gas condensate from production sites. Executives, including CEO Igor Makarov, control ITERA Group Ltd. company. Rags to riches -- Russian style. ITERA Group, Russia's largest private gas trader, delivers natural gas via pipeline to several former Soviet republics. It also produces natural gas in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region in Western Siberia.

GasTerra was formed in 2005 when Nederlandse Gasunie split off the gas trading arm from its main gas transport business. In 2009 GasTerra B.V. signed a long term gas supply (until 2030) with Distrigas ensuring the continous flow of low-calorific gas to Belgium. The Dutch government owns half of GasTerra (10% directly and 40% indirectly through state-owned gas and mineral producer Energie Beheer Nederland), while Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell each indirectly hold 25% of the company. Psst! Wanna buy some natural gas? GasTerra (formerly Gasunie Trade & Supply) can hook you up. GasTerra B.V. buys wholesale natural gas, primarily from Dutch fields, then wholesales it throughout Western Europe.

Nash Finch Company operates as a food distribution company. Its Food Distribution segment sells and distributes various nationally branded and private label grocery products and perishable food products to approximately 1,700 independent retail locations in 28 states across the United States. It also provides services, including promotional, advertising, and merchandising programs; installation of computerized ordering, receiving, and scanning systems; retail equipment procurement assistance; accounting, budgeting, and payroll services; consumer and market research; remodeling and store development services; and supply chain through Internet services. The company's Military segment distributes grocery products to the United States military commissaries and exchanges in the United States and the District of Columbia, Europe, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Azores, and Egypt. Its Retail segment operates corporate-owned stores primarily in the Upper Midwest, in the states of Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. These corporate-owned stores operate under the Sun Mart, Econofoods, AVANZA, Family Thrift Center, Pickin Save, Family Fresh Market, Prairie Market, and Wholesale Food Outlet banners. This segment's conventional grocery stores offer grocery products and services, such as fresh meat counters, delicatessens, bakeries, eat in cafes, pharmacies, dry cleaners, banks, and floral departments. In addition, these conventional stores provide check cashing, fax services, and money transfer services. This segment also operates a corporate-owned pharmacy and a convenience store. As of January 2, 2010, the company served 115 retail stores under the IGA banner and 75 retail stores under the Food Pride banner. It also operated 47 conventional supermarkets, 5 AVANZA grocery stores, 1 Wholesale Food Outlet grocery store, and 1 other retail store. The company was founded in 1885 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Colorado Boxed Beef Company is a leading wholesale supplier of fresh and frozen meat with about a half-dozen processing and distribution facilities in the US. The company packs and ships beef, pork, veal, and lamb under such brands as Angus Ranch, Bridgewater Farms, New Generation, and Cedar Creek. Colorado Boxed Beef also supplies cheese, seafood, and other related products. It serves retailers, foodservice suppliers, and restaurant and hospitality operators in the Southeastern US. Its other customers include cruise ship lines and the US military. The family-owned business was founded in 1975 by Richard and Edith Saterbo.

Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc.,the second-largest retailer-owned cooperative in the US (behind Wakefern Food Corporation), AWG supplies more than 1,900 member-stores in about 25 states with a wide array of grocery items from its eight distribution facilities. In addition to its wholesale operation, AWG offers a variety of business services to its members, including marketing and merchandising programs, shelf management, insurance, and store design. The firm also operates about 10 grocery store brands, including Country Mart and Homeland; it also owns a small number of supermarkets. AWG was founded by a group of independent grocers in 1924.

Independent natural gas producers looking for a good return on their investment need search no further than Enserco Energy, which purchases natural gas from wholesale producers and then trades the energy on the wholesale market. It provides procurement, storage, transportation, and operations management services. It has access to more than 260 billion Btu/day of interstate pipeline capacity and storage in excess of 7 billion cu. ft. Denver-based Enserco, which sees itself as the "marketing arm down the hall" for the independent producer, is a subsidiary of the Black Hills Corporation and operates primarily in the western US. Enserco Energy, Inc. conducts business annually with more than 600 energy firms.

With a name like Smith you might think it's all about generics, but H. D. Smith Wholesale Drug is more than that. H. D. Smith Wholesale Drug supplies pharmaceuticals (brand name and generic), over-the-counter supplements, and other health care products to pharmacies, hospitals, and retailers. It also provides inventory management services for government agencies, including most branches of the military, veterans clinics, and federal prisons. In addition to supplying drugs, H. D. Smith offers a variety of marketing and merchandising services including point-of-purchase signage, store design, direct-to-consumer advertising programs, and loyalty program implementation.

The Patel brothers founded Waymade Healthcare in 1984, building off of the pharmacy business began by Vijay Patel in 1975. You might think the Patel brothers have it made in a big way, but they're not resting on their laurels. The owners of Waymade Healthcare, Vijay and Bhikhu Patel grew up impoverished in Kenya, but today oversee one of the UK's leading pharmaceutical distribution firms. Waymade Healthcare supplies pharmacists and hospitals in the UK and abroad with branded and generic prescription drugs. Its subsidiary Amdipharm (launched in 2002) develops novel pharmaceuticals.

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