company history

EMCO sales reached $185 million and our ISO 9001 certification was renewed.  We purchased a new warehouse/production building 0.3 miles from our main production facility, so we now have over 515,000 square feet of floor space. We also opened our first satellite warehouse to service the St. Paul/Minneapolis area on a daily basis.  We built and opened a new laboratory of 11,600 sq ft (including a separate product retain room), replacing our old lab.  With the construction of the new lab we now have the ability to do drawdowns and sulfur analysis, plus we installed a small paint booth for spraying test panels for analysis and capability studies.  In addition, we built a new powder fill room for packaging pearlized pigments into small containers.

EMCO sales reached $172 million and we opened a new Distribution Center adding 50,000 square feet of storage to bring our total space to 460,000 square feet.

EMCO sales reached $134 million and we became the 19th largest chemical distributor. We established a Fine Ingredients Division to serve the food and pharmaceutical industries. In addition, we installed a 60,000 gallon mini tank farm/blend area.

EMCO sales reached $119 million. We expanded our distribution territory to serve Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, as well as, Illinois.

EMCO sales reached $109 million, ranking 22nd in U.S. and still the largest single site distributor in the USA. Obtained ISO 9001:2000 certification for the Custom Packaging Division. Awarded North Chicago's Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year. Employed 216.

EMCO reached $97.5 million. Obtained Site Class Verification for NACD's Responsible Distribution Process.

EMCO sales reached $92.7 million. Obtained Management System Verification for NACD's Responsible Distribution Process.

EMCO sales reached $86.5 million, ranking 21st in the U.S. and largest single site distributor in the USA. Employed 179.

EMCO sales reached $73.5 million, ranking 23rd in the U.S. and tops for largest single site distributor in the USA. Created Specialty Chemical Division. Employed 176.

EMCO sales reached $61.3 million. Created Waste Division. Employed 163.

EMCO sales reached $49.4 million. Built explosion-proof fill room for Custom Packaging Division. Employed 156.

EMCO sales reached $37.4 million. Purchased adjacent building, expanding plant square footage to 325,000. Created Custom Packaging Division. Employed 102.

Renamed company as EMCO Chemical Distributors, Inc. and relocated business to 118,000 square foot facility at 2100 Commonwealth Avenue in North Chicago. Sales hit $25 million, ranking company nationally among chemical distributors. Employed 70.

Continued business expansion, adding plant space as well as bulk storage tanks.

Moved business from home to 4,000 square foot plant at 2240 Commonwealth Avenue in North Chicago. Company consisted of 1 employee and 1 delivery truck.

Edward Polen started E-M Co., filling chemical orders and packaging chemicals into small containers out of the garage at his Highland Park home.

Edward Polen leaves Boston, as a pharmicist for Walgreens to take a salesman's position at Big Ben Chemicals and Solvents in Chicago and remains at Big Ben until its sale in 1971.