We are all familiar with some famous companies and innovative products born out of someone burning the midnight oil in their garage and ending up producing a product that changed their market. EMC, or Engineered Marine Coatings, (www.emcllc.net) is well on its way to making its mark in the marine paint market after doing just that.
Founded by college friends Brad Martin and John Boswell, EMC has produced a new line of hybrid paints unlike anything produced before. Boswell had a small center console that needed repainting and approached Martin (his old college roommate who was a triple major including chemistry) asking him to produce a paint that would be easy to apply and would serve his purpose. Martin formulated what he thought would be a perfect paint in his garage and Boswell applied it. It worked so well and looked so good that people who saw the paint asked where they could get it. The entrepreneurial spirit in Boswell kicked in as they realized they might be on to something.
Approaching yards and potential customers on lunch breaks, weekends and evenings they slowly built up a client base, all while holding down full-time jobs. They would walk into a boat yard and tell them if they didn’t believe how good this new paint was they should just try it. When they did they loved it. Boswell said “We come in with easy to apply high solids, one-to-one mix ratio product that anybody can mix and spray. The resins do the flowing so you don’t need to reduce it to get that mirror finish. I can put the gun in an experienced painter’s hand and the first time he sprays it is gorgeous. He doesn’t have to do a lot of tweaking and figuring things out with this reduction or that accelerator.” Boswell goes on to say that rolling, brushing and tipping this paint is also much easier and has better results than other products on the market.
Now that both founders are building the business full time they have seen tremendous growth, with sales increasing more than five times year over year. The secret to their continuing success is their innovative and unique paint – a polyurethane acrylic hybrid that has the durability, pop and shine of a polyurethane and the reparability of an acrylic. It boasts an easy one-to-one mix which does not need reducers or accelerators because their resins are liquid at room temperature, unlike any of their competition. This translates to less solvents, better flow and coverage per coat of paint. EMC claims their paint can build the same mils of thickness in two coats that would take three with their competition.
Boswell also claims their paint retains its gloss and color better than other products on the market. With accelerated testing their competition retained 70% gloss after 3,000 hours (the usual stopping point that equates to 4-5 years in South Florida), EMC paints was at a 91% at that point and continued to 10,000 hours with a gloss of 87%. If the paint needs repair due to an accident, blending is very easy and can be done even years after application. With their product there is no need for waxes or buffing, and flaws after painting (if any) can be easily wet sanded and buffed out for a perfect finish.
With EMC’s product line expanding out to hybrid varnish and clear coats with similar qualities to their paint, their future looks bright. Boswell says, “Introducing a technology that hasn’t been seen on the market yet and following that up with customer service, that is an unbeatable formula.” It seems they are making an impact “One boat yard at a time.”
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