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Ecolab history
Ecolab company history timeline
Ecolab was founded by Merritt J. Osborn in 1923 and is headquartered in St Paul, MN.“
M.J. called his product Absorbit and, in 1923, he formed a company and called it Economics Laboratory.
Merrit J. Osborn, founder of the originally named Economics Laboratory, abandoned his occupation as a Michigan salesman and organized a specialty chemical manufacturer in 1924.
1926 EL receives its first patent for Floroscene, a concentration indicator for Soilax.
Economics Laboratory entered the equipment sector in 1928 with the introduction of its first product dispenser; this marked the beginning of the company's 'systems' approach to meeting its customers' needs.
1928 EL patents its first detergent dispensing system for commercial dishwashing machines.
1928 E.B. Osborn, one of M.J.’s two sons, joins EL after graduating from Dartmouth College.
1929 Wall Street crash begins the Great Depression.
1931 Doctor John “Doc” Wilson becomes EL’s first scientist; launches research department.
1932 Product demonstrations become standard part of sales.
1933 Satin Wax™ for floors is introduced, as the company broadens its product portfolio.
1934 Soilax floor and wall cleaner is marketed to consumers through paint and hardware stores.
1934 EL returns to profitability after two years in the red.
1934 E.B. Osborn is named national sales manager, with a sales force of 34.
1935 E.B. Osborn turns EL sales people into dishwashing consultants.
1936 EL profits reach $760.
1937 EL sales force covers 35 United States cities.
1937 EL pays first dividend: $1 per share.
1942 Sales exceed $1 million.
1942 E.B. Osborn is named vice president and general manager.
1944 New factory opens in Chicago.
1946 E.B. Osborn produces EL’s first sales film, “Dishwashing Dividends,” part of the company’s innovative approach to sales.
1948 EL introduces Glass Magic™ for use in mechanical, brush-type glass-washing machines.
1948 Future president Fred T. Lanners, Jr., joins EL as research chemist.
1948 M.J. Osborn welcomes new employees with this message:
1949 EL introduces Electrasol™ dishwashing detergent for the consumer market; celebrates 25th anniversary.
1950 Company holds nearly 230 patents.
In the 1950’s the company’s product line grew to include consumer detergents and institutional cleaning specialties for restaurants, food processors and dairies.
By purchasing the Magnus company in the early 1950’s, Economics Laboratory gained access to the industrial specialty market.
1951 M.J. Osborn is elected chairman of the board.
1951 Dairy division is established.
1952 Dip-It™ stain remover is introduced.
1953 International operations begin: the Institutional division, serving the hospitality and lodging industry, begins selling in Canada and Hawaii.
1953 Finish™, a chlorinated dishwashing detergent, is introduced to the consumer market.
1953 EL opens its third plant, in Santa Clara, California.
1954 EL introduces the first rinse injector system for automatic dishwashing as well as RinseDry™.
1954 EL’s sales, advertising and executive offices move to New York City.
1955 EL completes “Flying Saucers” and “Spotlight on Breakage,” films to aid the sales force.
1956 Soilax AB, a fully owned subsidiary, is formed in Stockholm, Sweden.
The company grew large enough by 1957 to become a public corporation.
1957 Industrial division is established to market cleaning and sanitation products to customers in the industrial sector.
1957 Al Schuman, a future CEO, joins EL as a junior salesman in New York City.
1958 Consumer division introduces Liquid Soilax™.
1958 EL opens new plant in Dallas, Texas.
1958 Employee Stock Purchase Plan is adopted.
1958 EL expands into Mexico.
1959 EL plant opens in San Jose, California; Santa Clara plant is sold.
1960 Founder M.J. Osborn dies at age 81.
1960 International division is created under the leadership of Fred T. Lanners, Jr., who would later become CEO.
1960 The company counts more than 700 patents held cumulatively over its history, a reflection of ongoing investment in innovation.
The mid-1960’s marked a high point in the company’s history as earnings grew 16% every year.
1961 EL acquires Beloit, Wisconsin-based Klenzade and its clean-in-place (CIP) technology.
1962 Plant and headquarters are built for International division in Toronto, Canada.
1963 Construction begins on EL’s first European production plant, in Stockholm, Sweden.
1964 EL acquires Magnus Chemical Company, Inc., a leader in aviation, marine, pulp and paper, petrochemical and industrial cleaning; provides entry to the industrial specialty market and leads to formation of an industrial division.
1964 The Merritt J. Osborn Research & Development Center opens in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
1964 Solid Jet-Dry™ is introduced: provides benefit of rinse additives to consumers whose automatic dishwashers do not have a built-in rinse injector.
1965 Score™, a new liquid commercial cleaner combining chlorine and high-strength alkali and polyphosphates, is developed and launched as institutional customers indicate preference for liquid over powder detergents.
1967 EL opens new plant in Woodbridge, New Jersey.
1967 First employee Ida Koran dies.
The new top executive joined Economics Laboratory in 1968 as vice president of the company’s consumer division.
1970 International sales exceed $30 million across 40 countries.
1970 Corporate and Public Affairs department is established in response to new laws on consumerism, pollution and human and civil rights.
1970 The rapid pace of innovation is reflected in the more than 2,200 patents held globally over the history of the company, up from just 700 10 years earlier.
In the early 1970’s, despite the fine company performance, Economics Laboratory attempted to expand its business by offering several new service and equipment packages.
1971 EL reduces the use of phosphates in its detergents, a development that helps the company address environmental concerns and offer products to meet increasingly strict environmental regulations.
1972 E.B. Osborn is elected chairman; Fred Lanners is named president.
1972 Company acquires Star Filter Company, leading maker of coffee pot filters for home use, and Raburn Products, maker of dishmachine racks and dishroom carts.
By 1973 Economics Laboratory was divided into five divisions.
1973 E. B. Osborn is elected chairman and CEO; EL celebrates 50th anniversary.
Magnus’ primary business, the selling of cleaning and specialty formulas to numerous industries, including pulp and paper, metalworking, transportation, and petrochemical processing, contributed to $12.1 million in sales during 1973.
1974 EL acquires Fraser Laundry Systems of Memphis, Tennessee, an institutional laundry business.
1974 EL completes plant in Joliet, Illinois – its largest to date.
1975 EL opens first satellite research center, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1975 EL ranks 500th on the annual list of Fortune 500 companies.
1977 International division establishes area headquarters in Latin America and Hawaii.
In 1978 the company underwent a number of changes as the profit margin dipped to ten percent.
E. B. Osborn, son of the founder Merritt J. Osborn, ended his long tenure as chief executive officer in 1978 so that Lanners, the first nonfamily member to achieve such high executive status, could assume the new title.
1979 Eco-Line™ is launched to target the food distribution market.
1979 Company surpasses $400 million in sales; conducts business in more than 50 countries.
1979: Apollo Technologies is acquired.
1980 EL acquires Apollo Technologies for $71.3 million and forms the industrial group.
Over its history, Ecolab has held more than 6,300 patents cumulatively, up from nearly 4,100 in 1980.
In 1981 Philip T. Perkins assumed the title of president and chief operating officer.
1981 Solid Power™, a patented solid detergent capsule for institutional customers, is introduced.
1982: Richard C. Ashley is named CEO but soon after is killed in a car accident.
1982 Fred Lanners retires as CEO.
1982 Richard C. Ashley is elected CEO. The first senior leader to be recruited from “outside” EL, he is tragically killed in a car accident soon after his appointment and before beginning to lead the company.
1983 The Consumer division introduces Scrub Free™, a heavy-duty bathroom cleaner that becomes the company’s most successful new product introduction ever.
Early in 1983 Pierson M. “Sandy” Grieve, a 55-year-old executive from the consumer goods company Questor, filled the vacated position.
In 1984, Ecolab acquired pest elimination leader Lystads, Inc., of Grand Forks, North Dakota.
By 1986 $55 million in assets had been sold, including the pulp and paper division, the domestic portion of Magnus, the coffee filter business, and several plants.
1986 The first “Ecolab” pin for all employees is introduced.
1986 Institutional division headquarters, located in New York City for more than three decades, relocate to St Paul, a move designed to consolidate Ecolab’s corporate offices under one roof and build a more cohesive organization.
1986 Ecolab acquires Airkem Professional Products and forms new Janitorial division.
In 1986, the company changed its name from Economics Laboratory to Ecolab Inc. and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1987, Grieve would take the company in two directions at the same time in regard to the consumer market.
In 1987, the company formed a textile care division.
1988 The Institutional group is reorganized as the Ecolab Services group, headed by Allan L. Schuman, future CEO.
1989 Ecolab ranks 71st on Fortune magazine’s “100 largest diversified service companies.”
1989 Douglas M. Baker, Jr., future chairman and CEO, joins Ecolab as a senior marketing manager in the Institutional Division.
With the sale, Ecolab had to take a $263 million writeoff against 1991 earnings.
Ecolab and the German fast-moving consumer goods firm Henkel KGaA formed a 50:50 European joint venture called 'Henkel-Ecolab' in 1991 to expand into European and Russian markets.
1992 Al Schuman is elected president and chief operating officer.
1992 Ecolab defines its business strategy as “Circle the Customer – Circle the Globe.” The strategy aims to surround customers with a growing array of cleaning and sanitizing products to address a wide range of needs and to serve them in markets around the world.
In 1987, Ecolab purchased the lawncare servicer provider ChemLawn for US$376 million. It sold the acquisition in 1992 to ServiceMaster for US$103 million as it couldn't turn ChemLawn into a profitable business.
By 1994, 22 percent of Ecolab's net sales originated outside the United States.
1994 The company begins presenting the Ecolab Pin to each new employee hired, a symbol of membership on the team.
1994 Ecolab acquires Kay Chemical, a leading cleaning products supplier to the quick-service restaurant market, one in which Ecolab has long sought a position.
1995 CEO Sandy Grieve retires.
1995 A Water Care Services division is formed following several acquisitions to provide water treatment programs to institutional and industrial customers.
1995 Klenzade is renamed the Ecolab Food & Beverage division.
1995: Allan L. Schuman is named CEO.
In February 1996 Ecolab purchased Huntington Laboratories, Inc. of Huntington, Indiana, a supplier of janitorial products to the healthcare and education markets.
Michael E. Shannon--who had served as vice chairman and chief financial officer--became chairman of the board at the beginning of 1996.
A maker and marketer of cleaning and sanitizing products for the Australian and New Zealand institutional, healthcare, and industrial markets, Gibson had fiscal 1996 sales of $122 million.
1996 Acquisition of the Monarch division of H.B. Fuller Company increases size of Food & Beverage division.
1997 GeoSystem™ 9000, the third-generation of institutional solid detergents, is introduced.
1997: Company acquires Australia-based Gibson Chemical Industries Limited for $130 million; company enters the commercial car wash cleaning products sector.
1998 Ecolab celebrates 75 years in business.
1998 Ecolab acquires Danbury, Connecticut-based GCS Service, Inc., gaining entry into the commercial kitchen equipment repair business.
1999 Sales exceed $2 billion.
1999 Ecolab acquires Blue Coral Systems, a subsidiary of the Pennzoil-Quaker State Company, further building market share in the commercial car wash segment.
In 2001, it bought out its partner Henkel's 50% stake.
2002 Ecolab launches EcoSure™ food safety management, providing audits of food safety procedures in foodservice and hospitality facilities across the United States
2004 A Healthcare business unit is created to enable greater focus on this important growth market.
In 2004, Douglas M. Baker, Jr. was named chief executive officer.
In 2005, the company opened a new global research, development, and engineering center in Eagan, Minnesota.
2006 Ecolab wins the Black Pearl Award for Corporate Excellence in Food Safety and Quality, presented by the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP).
In 2006, he also was named chairman of Ecolab's board of directors.
In 2006, Ecolab won the Black Pearl Award for Corporate Excellence in Food Safety and Quality, presented by the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP).
2007 Ecolab is included in Ethispheres’ first World’s Most Ethical Companies list, which recognizes companies who exemplify transparency, integrity, ethics and compliance in their business practices.
Ecolab is one of only seven companies to receive Ethisphere recognition every year since the list began in 2007.
In 2007, Ecolab acquired Microtek Medical Holdings, Inc., expanding its infection prevention expertise and offerings to hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
2008 Ecolab launches Apex™, a new warewashing platform that adds dishmachine performance metrics to its advanced product and dispensing technology.
In 2008, Henkel sold all of the 73 million shares, nearly a 29.5% stake it held in Ecolab, ending the two-decade-long partnership.
2009 Sales grow to $5.9 billion.
2010's Bold acquisitions enable big growth and greater impact on clean water, safe food, abundant energy and healthy environments, the company’s four areas of strategic focus.
2010 Ecolab launches DryExx™, a dry lubricant for glass packaging conveyors in the beverage, brewery and food processing industries.
2010 Ongoing investment in innovation is reflected in the more than 17,600 patents the company has held across its history.
In July 2011, Ecolab announced a merger with Nalco Holding Company, Inc., an industrial water technology firm.
In May 2012, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, through his investment vehicles Cascade Investment and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation increased his stake of 10.8% in Ecolab to 25%.
In August 2012, Ecolab opened its Taicang, China, manufacturing plant.
In October 2012, Ecolab entered an agreement to acquire Champion Technologies, a global specialty chemical company.
2012 Tom Handley, a nine-year Ecolab veteran, is elected president and chief operating officer.
2012 Major research, development and engineering centers around the world are consolidated to foster collaboration and leverage the company’s scientific and technical expertise.
2012 A new Ecolab pin is launched, blending design elements of both Ecolab and Nalco to represent a unified, focused and engaged organization.
The $2.2 billion transaction closed in April 2013.
2013 Ecolab sells its Vehicle Care business to Zep Inc. for $120 million.
2013 A Nalco Champion business unit is established to focus on the global energy market.
In November 2014, Ecolab, working with TruCost, launched the Water Risk Monetizer.
2014 Solid chemistry is used with 3D TRASAR™ Technology for the first time.
2015 Ecolab purchases a 17-story headquarters building in St Paul and begins moving corporate associates to the new building.
2015 Ecolab introduces the next generation of 3D TRASAR™ Technology for Cooling Water.
2015 Ecolab launches Restora™, a laundry formulation that removes medical adhesives, such as those on heart monitoring pads.
2015 Nalco Champion opens new headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas.
2015 Fortune magazine names Ecolab to its list of companies that are “changing the world,” a nod to organizations that are “doing well by doing good,” and to its list of “fastest-growing companies to watch.”
Based in Lille, France, Anios served customers in 85 countries and had 2015 sales of approximately US$245 million.
In July 2016, Ecolab made a minority investment in Aquatech International, LLC of an undisclosed amount.
In August 2016, the company opened a Latin America regional headquarters in Miramar, Florida.
In October 2016, Ecolab acquired the assets of UltraClenz, a developer of electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring systems and dispensers.
2016 Ecolab introduces Synergex™ Sanitizer and Disinfectant, an addition to the company’s antimicrobial solutions for dairy, food and beverage and brewery customers.
The US$800 million transaction closed on February 1, 2017.
2017 Ecolab acquires Abednego Environmental Services, adding offerings that help automotive customers recycle water, reduce energy use and reduce waste.
2017 Ecolab is recognized by Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, as one of the most community-minded companies in the United States
2017 Ecolab sells its Equipment Care business to Audax Private Equity, a Boston, Mass.-based private equity firm.
2018 Ecolab receives World Environment Center’s 2018 Gold Medal Award for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development.
2019 Ecolab acquires Chemstar Corporation, a United States-based supplier of food safety and cleaning and sanitizing solutions focused on the grocery and food retail markets.
2020 Ecolab announces its membership in the new Water Resilience Coalition, an industry-driven initiative of the United Nations Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate.
2020 Ecolab is named to the Water Security and Climate A lists by CDP, the nonprofit global environmental disclosure platform.
2020 Ecolab separates its upstream energy business, which is renamed ChampionX. ChampionX combines with Apergy, creating a scaled, global leader in production-optimization solutions.
2020 Ecolab launches its next generation of sustainability goals.
"Ecolab, Inc. ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 22, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/ecolab-inc-1
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Ecolab competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nalco Holding Company | 1928 | $3.9B | 11,500 | - |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1886 | $88.8B | 134,500 | 1,524 |
| Avery Dennison | 1935 | $8.8B | 32,000 | 285 |
| General Mills | 1866 | $19.9B | 35,000 | 158 |
| Cintas | 1968 | $9.6B | 40,000 | 2,484 |
| The Dow Chemical Company | 1897 | $43.0B | 54,000 | 149 |
| Danaher | 1969 | $23.9B | 80,000 | 1,347 |
| UnitedHealth Group | 1977 | $400.3B | 300,000 | 8,660 |
| Lubrizol | 1928 | $6.5B | 8,300 | 189 |
| Medline | 1910 | $11.7B | 28,000 | 698 |
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Ecolab may also be known as or be related to Ecolab, Ecolab Foundation, Ecolab Inc, Ecolab Inc. and Economics Laboratory.