Our Story
NEEDS-BASED INNOVATION SINCE 1934
Pushing towards better is in LA-CO Industries’ DNA. In 1934, Dr. Lester Aronberg founded the Lake Chemical Company in Chicago, IL, USA with the philosophy of delivering high-performance products precisely engineered for specific industrial applications. Now entering its fourth generation of ownership, the company carries forward Dr. Aronberg’s vision to make LA-CO Industries’ brands the preferred choice for marking, temperature indication, identification and chemical products, by providing value to its customers.
REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS:
REAL PAINT IN STICK FORM
In 1934, Lake Chemical Co. (now LA-CO Industries, Inc.) creates Stick-O-Paint as its first product and the marking solutions category is born. The innovation of capturing real paint in stick form fueled growth for the company and created the industrial marking category. The Stick-O-Paint would evolve into the Markal® branded Paintstik® - a legendary name in marking products today.
GROWTH WITHIN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY
In 1945 LA-CO Industries expanded its growing line of Markal® industrial marking products into the farm/agriculture market with the launch of the All-Weather® Paintstik®, a livestock marker. The All-Weather® product line was specifically designed to fit the needs of farmers and would soon become the market leader.
OUR NAMESAKE BRAND
Throughout the 1940’s, LA-CO Industries expanded into the plumbing market with the launch of the PipeTite® thread compound under a new namesake brand. The LA-CO® brand Soldering Flux was introduced in 1945 and soon becane a plumbing market leader. Years later, the LA-CO® brand Slic-Tite® Teflon Thread Compound Paste would be launched. Industry professionals around the world would soon rely on LA-CO® brand products to do their jobs faster, better and safer.
A REVOLUTION WITH VALVE-ACTION LIQUID PAINT
| In 1987, LA-CO Industries introduced the company’s first liquid paint marker, the revolutionary Markal® Valve Action® Paint Marker, which soon became an industrial market leader and the #1 product for LA-CO Industries, Inc. |
OUR MARK ON TIME
