To Shield, Defend and Protect
Contego International, Inc. products provide barrier to fire
No job is too big or too small for Contego International, Inc. (Contego) because preventing things from burning is always a good thing.
Contego, founded in 2001 and headquartered in Rochester, Indiana, manufactures a passive fire-barrier coating known as an intumescent. When exposed to high heat or flame, the paint swells to as much as 400 times its film thickness, forming a thick insulating blanket and a hard char surface barrier that stops fire by removing access to its fuel or, in the case of steel, retarding the rise in temperature that would cause the steel to fail. The formula is simple: no fuel, no fire.
The water-based barrier cures quickly, is easy to apply and cleans up with soap and water. It is resistant to mold and bacteria, safe for food preparation areas and not harmful to people or pets. “In fact, it’s the only intumescent to ever comply with Google’s ‘Red List,’ the most stringent standard ever for nontoxicity,” says Tony Scott, Executive Vice President for Corporate Development at Contego. It can be applied to wood and wood byproducts, concrete, drywall, structural steel, aluminum and polyurethane insulation and other substrates. Application requires only a thin coat, keeping cost per square foot low. Because the paint increases protection from fire, commercial clients may realize decreased insurance costs. Contego’s products are extensively tested by fire-testing laboratories that are audited, accredited and certified by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and consistently meet or exceed multiple code requirements.
“It is very much like paint,” Scott says. In fact, he adds, you can’t tell the difference between a heavy-body paint and intumescent paint—unless there’s a fire. “Fireproofing has always been a need,” Scott says, “but for many years the only thing that was available was cellulosic material that looked like oatmeal or rough concrete.” Contego’s product is white, dries smooth and can be painted over.
The list of Contego’s global customers includes Disney, Ford, Honda, General Electric, Boeing, Marriott, Ace Hardware, Hyatt, P&G, Georgia-Pacific and various government agencies. “The market is anything that burns,” Scott says. “We once were fairly complacent about the risk of fire, but nobody feels complacent anymore. Everyone feels vulnerable these days. We now know that stuff happens that you never envision.”
Contego gets its name from the Latin word meaning to shield, defend or protect. The company’s intumescent coating is formulated to meet the most rigorous standards and is continually tested and retested.
Spectacular Growth
With the guidance of its founders, the company has grown revenue to just under $10 million a year, Scott says. Also, Contego has had to double its manufacturing capacity three times in the past six years. There are now manufacturing plants in Silver Lake, Indiana; Calgary, Canada; Haifa, Israel; and Guangzhou, China. The company plans two additional plants—one in Abu Dhabi and another in the southwestern United States.
The company has grown without advertising, salespeople or trade shows, Scott says. “The preponderance of sales over the years has been either direct word-of-mouth referral or somebody goes web surfing and finds us,” Scott says. “We have good partners. Our partners do most of the selling for us.”
Contego is structured efficiently and has only eight key employees, including the U.S. manufacturing plant, Scott says. The international plants are joint ventures. “The way we’ve got manufacturing set up is really interesting. It is really ‘push the button’ and it just runs. We can do a tremendous amount of production with a very limited staff.”
Scott is one of four founders of Contego, and all remain involved with the company. Todd Beehler, a former banking executive, serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Dan French has a background in chemistry and agriculture and, as Chief Operating Officer, is responsible for manufacturing and quality programs such as ISO 9001. John Schwartz, an author and former CEO of several companies, runs international operations.
Sept. 11 Changed Everything
“The original goal was to help a young start-up get going,” Scott says. The company officially launched in August 2001, just weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks. “Shortly after we got involved was 9/11, so we made the rare move of staying involved because of the critical importance of what we saw in a changing world.” All of the founders have formed, developed and then sold a variety of companies, Scott says, but Contego was different.
In fact, Scott says, “If the steel at the World Trade Center could have been adequately protected for just a little longer, it might not have fallen.”
Fire-retardant coatings have been around much longer than Contego. The company owes its success to evolving technology, Scott says. He adds, “It’s not that we are a little pack of geniuses up here. It is just that we formulated our product 20 years after everyone else.” Some types of coatings that are now standard didn’t even exist 10 years ago, he says. Technology is enabling Contego to create new types of coatings at reasonable costs.
The company’s biggest project so far has been 1.1 million gallons for the Saudi Arabian railway system, providing coating to protect the steel used for all of its stations. “Using Contego saved the railway $15 million,” Scott says. “Compared to virtually anything else, Contego needs a thinner coat, and therefore less product, to get the same rating on the same materials.” Because of this, the massive project also required less labor.
The rail system required steel that did not look like it had been fireproofed, Scott says, and it needed to be coated in different metallic colors. “They needed something that could be painted and then moved to a different location to be erected, because if they had to come back after everything was constructed and apply this coating, they would have had a huge problem. That part of the world has sandstorms. You spray stuff and you’re going to get sand in it,” he explains.
Contego’s smallest project was 12 ounces for the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, which wanted to protect a backdrop from catching fire from high-intensity lights. “So I’m picturing this huge operatic venue,” Scott says. “No, it was just 1 square foot that they had to worry with, so we just sent one of our free sample jars.”
Contego’s product usually comes in 5-gallon buckets, 55-gallon drums, 275-gallon totes and 4,200-gallon tankers. Scott offered a free sample, but the orchestra insisted on paying. “So I said, ‘Just make a note that the next time somebody from Contego is near the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, they can get two tickets at will call.’ That was 12 years ago and still nobody has been to the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, but technically there was an agreement.”
Contego spends a good bit of time providing fireproofing guidance to people—and sometimes even recommends other products or advises against using products altogether in certain circumstances. Scott says, “We have directed people to other products if they are a better match. And we also just help get people completely out of requiring something of any kind.”
Officials at a massive Minnesota shopping mall were told the building needed thousands of gallons to protect foam insulation in the ceiling, which housed six air-handling units. The only fire risk factor in the ceiling was the air-handling units, Scott says. So, Contego suggested that they build a little room around each of the air-handling units, seal them off, fireproof the inside and install smoke and fire detectors that could be monitored. “That cut their requirement from 7,500 gallons down to like 120 gallons,” he notes.
The founders are also committed to sharing their business expertise with start-ups and nonprofits, generally on a pro-bono basis, Scott says. “The reason we do it is part of a giveback, and, with extremely rare exception, we don’t stay involved. We come in, we help out, we lift them up and we move on.”