is a fourth generation family owned and operated company based in elk grove village il . the company sells the markal paintstik and also has a product line that includes a variety of plumbing and speciality chemical products and various marking products for industrial welding and livestock purposes as well as niche products . the company markets products under four brands la co provides plumbing products for plumbing and hvac professionals . 1 markal offers both permanent and temporary marking products for industrial needs . 1 all weather provides marking products for the farm including paintstik sprays and ear tag markers . 1 tempil offers temperature indication technologies . 2 contents 1 history 2 the lester aronberg foundation and scholarships 3 acquisitions 4 international presence and expansion 5 popular products 5.1 la co 5.2 markal 5.3 all weather 5.4 tempil 6 references 7 external links history edit dr. lester aronberg founded la co industries inc as the lake chemical company in 1934 . the chicago based chemist built the company around the stick o paint . this was dr. aronberg s solution to making industrial manufacturing marking neater and more efficient . this revolutionary product took paint and reformulated it into a handheld stick . 3 the stick o paint would eventually evolve into the markal b paintstik and would lead to the expansion of the company . by the 1940s the paintstik was being used in the world war ii efforts 3 and la co industries inc was continuing to put out new products and product lines . plumbing products and chemicals were now being produced under the brand la co. the first product in this line was the pipetite stik which put thread compound in stick form . during this time on the markal side dr. aronberg created several more varieties of paintstik for any niche market that asked . one of those markets spawned the final brand for la co industries inc. the all weather brand began in 1945 4 with the all weather paintstik designed for livestock marking . this brand would later evolve into livestock spray paints and ear tag markers . the company continued to grow and bring new products to the market in the plumbing and marking categories . in 1950 the company introduced la co regular flux which was the first water soluble all weather flux . the company continued to put out new products and in 1971 la co produced slic tite . this thread sealant revolutionized the plumbing industry by putting polytetrafluoroethylene or ptfe in the sealant . this allowed the pipes to be easily screwed together . 5 as the la co plumbing brand of the company grew so did the markal marking brand . in 1987 markal went outside of the solid stick paint model and started producing a liquid paint marker called the valve action paint marker . this paint marker quickly became a top selling product as it was very popular in the automobile industry as well as several other industries . 6 in 1999 the plumbing brand introduced the heat barrier spray cool gel to help reduce fires while soldering and brazing . the company also worked to increase consumers knowledge on cool gel by producing an educational video on the uses and importance of heat protection . 7 the most recent product introduction was the 2008 release of the pro line hp which was designed as a quick drying alternative to the valve action paint marker . a number of things were happening outside the manufacturing plant and chemistry lab as well . in 1980 la co industries inc awarded the counterman s pledge plaque to city countermen in the plumbing business to show continued support to the plumbing industry . as the company continued to grow and expand they outgrew several buildings in downtown chicago and in 1994 left the city for their current home in elk grove village il . in 2007 la co industries inc launched their biggest national promotion pick up and win . this promotion awarded the randomly selected buyers of la co products with prizes and one grand prize winner walked away with a new ford f 150 truck . more recently la co industries inc celebrated a milestone celebrating their 75th anniversary in 2009 . also in 2009 the company became an international company with the acquisition of intrama sas in blyes france . the year 2010 started out strong for la co industries inc. as well . the company walked away with a 2010 ahr expo innovation award for cool gel . 8 on january 1 2013 la co industries acquired tempil the foremost manufacturer of innovative and precise temperature indication technologies for the welding supply chain and process integrity and healthcare sterilization markets . the lester aronberg foundation and scholarships edit dr. aronberg was more than a chemist . he was also a philanthropist to many jewish organizations including the hebrew university of jerusalem in jerusalem israel and the weizmann institute in rehovot israel as well as the board of jewish education of metropolitan chicago . in the early 1970s the lester aronberg foundation was established and through a donation to the hebrew university of jerusalem in 1979 the lester aronberg chair in applied chemistry was formed . 9 in the 1980s the foundation established several scholarships in aronberg s name the dr. lester aronberg fund 10 the dr lester aronberg scholarship established in 1981 11 the dr. lester aronberg fund for research in human immunology 12 the lester aronberg memorial student aid endowment fund and the lester aronberg foundation student aid endowment fund for the pearch program . 9 acquisitions edit in november 2009 la co industries inc. acquired majority ownership of intrama s.a.s. based out of blyes france intrama is a leading industrial marking products manufacturer and distributor . the companies have built a cross distribution relationship over the past several years because of the ease at which the companies marking brands work together . this acquisition has also allowed la co industries to expand the overseas presence of the company and allowed them to utilize intrama s overseas facility . la co industries plans to have the two companies completely merged in the next several years . in 2011 intrama s.a.s officially became la co industries europe sas . 5 on january 1 2013 la co industries acquired tempil . 13 since 1938 tempil has been a leader in advanced and accurate temperature indication technologies by developing innovative customer driven solutions for effective temperature measurement . la co industries is excited about the growth opportunities within the industrial and welding channels as well as the immediate access to the healthcare sterilization and process integrity industries . tempil s product line includes temperature indicating sticks electronic surface thermometers infrared thermometers medical sterilization inks weldable primers heat absorbing coatings and compounds and temperature indicating labels strips inks and liquids . international presence and expansion edit continued success over the years has led la co industries inc to expand their presence throughout the world . with distribution in central and south america asia middle east europe and africa and totaling over 60 countries la co industries is continually working to expand their reach to as many markets as possible . through new market entry and new product development la co industries is working to expand the company and increase opportunities for growth and development of the la co markal all weather and tempil brands . with the acquisition of intrama s.a.s. in blyes france la co industries gained access to overseas facilities . 5 these facilities will help the company to grow their brands as world leaders . popular products edit la co edit cool gel lifter wipes oxy tite regular flux paste slic tite markal edit b paintstik dura ink permanent and dry erase pro line hp pro wash valve action paint marker all weather edit all weather paintstik all weather stock shot all weather twist stik tempil edit bloxide pyromark tempilabel tempilaq tempilink tempilstik references edit a b c la co industries celebrates 75 years . supply house times january 16 2010 . www.supplyht.com tempil.com a b la co industries 75th anniversary brochure first choice in livestock markers all weather . allweathermarker.com . a b c plumbing sealants and fluxes la co . laco.com . high performance industrial markers for metal production shipbuilding automotive assembly welding markal . markal.com . cool gel videos . laco.com . 2010 ahr expo innovation awards . ahrexpo.com . a b lester aronberg chair in applied chemistry report by prof. yoel sasson june 2008 the board of jewish education of metropolitan chicago file not found weizmann institute of science . weizmann.ac.il . weizmann wonder wander homepage weizmann institute of science news . weizmann.ac.il . tempil acquisition press release external links edit official website official markal webpage official all weather webpage official tempil webpage retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title la co industries & oldid 686136247 categories companies established in 1934elk grove village illinoismanufacturing companies based in illinois navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 17 october 2015 at 07 05 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view