Graco history

The company continued to expand, helped by the 1957 introduction of the airless spray gun.

1958: Company introduces Hydra-Spray, the first airless paint spray unit.

The company acted quickly to create an infrastructure to manage worldwide growth, forming the first export department in 1960, followed by the first international sales division with subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, South America and Canada.

He was succeeded in turn by David A Koch in 1962.

In 1965, Gray Company developed an electrically-powered airless-spray system which freed painting contractors from bulky compressors.

By 1969, when Gray Company went public and changed its name to Graco, it had annual sales of $33 million.

1970: Chicago-based H.G. Fischer & Co., a finishing and electrostatics business, is acquired.

Graco reached $50 million in sales in 1971, just five years before celebrating our 50th anniversary.

Net sales for 1974 rose only 6.3 percent, and net earnings fell 50 percent.

The slide continued in 1975 with a significant drop in revenues.

Graco sales more than doubled over four years, and earnings reached a high of $10 million or $4.45 per share in 1979.

By 1980, sales had climbed to $100 million.

In 1981, the company established a joint-venture, Graco Robotics, Inc. (GRI), with Edon Finishing Systems of Troy, Michigan, in order to develop a robotics paint-finishing system.

In 1982, Graco sales and earnings were hit by a combination of poor market and economic conditions, but the company continued to pump research and development dollars into the slowly progressing robotics venture and even increased its ownership from 51 to 80 percent.

Aristides had served as vice-president of manufacturing operations since 1985 and led the $20 million, five-year conversion of Graco's two sprawling Minneapolis plants to a cellular operation with work groups producing components or products from start to finish.

ISO 9000, which set business practice standards, was adopted by the International Organization for Standardization in 1987.

Graco's 1988 domestic sales were flat, while a 31.7 percent increase in international sales was attributable to its traditional products, such as portable airless-spray painters.

International sales slowed in 1990, but increased United States sales in architectural coating and cleaning equipment helped Graco achieve both record sales and earnings for the year; net revenues were $321.3 million, and net earnings were $17.7 million.

Forty percent of Graco's 1992 sales had been in the international marketplace where certification was increasingly expected.

George Aristides, a 20-year Graco veteran, was promoted to president and chief operating officer in June 1993.

In 1994, Graco restructured its operations in the Pacific and in Europe.

Net earnings grew by 31 percent to $36.2 million in 1996 on little change in revenue, which was up just 1 percent to $391.8 million.

Revenues increased 6 percent in 1997, reaching a record $423.9 million, but net earnings surged 24 percent, to $44.7 million, thanks to Aristides's efforts to permanently reduce expenses.

In February 1999 James Earnshaw was named president and CEO of Graco, with Aristides becoming vice-chairman.

After an outside search for a new leader, the company hired David A. Roberts as president and CEO in June 2001.

Sharpe, which had 2002 revenues of $11 million, produced spray guns and related parts and accessories for the automotive refinishing market, a new sector for Graco.

In early 2003 Graco used some of its cash hoard to buy back 2.2 million shares of its stock from the founding family, spending $54.8 million to do so.