Buffalo, NY—U-C Coatings LLC, headquartered here, is celebrating its 50-year anniversary in 2021. “Since our founding in Buffalo in 1971, we have been proud to serve the wood products industry,” stated CEO Eric Degenfelder. “Wood is a beautiful, sustainable resource, and we offer solutions across the value chain: from logs, lumber and plywood to finished products such as flooring, decking, and siding.
“This anniversary is a good time to look back at all we have done, and look forward for the good things to come,” Degenfelder said. U-C Coatings’ roots started in the eastern Hardwood industry, with the invention of Bates® glue release by Red and Norm Murray for furniture makers and wood fabricators. Shortly after that U-C Coatings invented Anchorseal®, specially designed to end-seal lumber for protection from checking, and then the company invented Gempaint® – formulated for strong color and hiding in lumber branding.
Over the following years U-C Coatings continued to expand its solutions with ShadeDri, Flitchsavers, Log Dawgs and other specialty products to help its customers process and protect wood. U-C Coatings’ manufacturing in Buffalo expanded accordingly from a few drums per day early on to over two million gallons per year today.
“Our drive to expand led to acquisitions that fit well with our strategy of wood protection,” Degenfelder said. In 2016 U-C Coatings acquired the Seal-Once® product line of environmentally friendly waterborne stains and sealers for decking, siding, docks, and log homes. Since then, the company has introduced new products and spread the Seal-Once line from its origins in New England to across the country.
U-C Coatings acquired Contechem® in late 2018, which brought sapstain and mold protection, and strengthened the firm’s presence in the western U.S. U-C Coatings’ latest acquisition of Eco Chemical® in 2019 added several new stain and coatings technologies, with a strong customer base in value-added prefinished wood applications such as decking and fencing. This acquisition expanded the company’s manufacturing capability on the West Coast with their plant in Seattle.
“While our products are outstanding, people are the core of our company,” Degenfelder observed. “As we have grown, U-C has maintained our culture of customer focus, teamwork, integrity and mutual respect. Our team brings industry experience with strong capabilities in product knowledge and service. Even during the COVID pandemic, our team has responded well to service and supply our customers while expanding our business.
“We thank our customers for our long-standing relationships, friendships, sense of community and support throughout our history,” Degenfelder continued. “Looking forward, our mission is to protect, enhance and conserve forest resources while supporting the expanding use of wood. We continue to invent products for wood protection and beautification that help customers increase productivity, and bring exciting products to market. Our markets are expanding across Hardwood and softwood lumber, pressure treated wood, plywood, engineered wood, furniture, cabinets, flooring, and many more. U-C Coatings truly is ‘The Leader in Wood Protection.’ ”
To learn more, go to www.uccoatings.com.
