manufacturing pharmaceuticals founded 1977 headquarters albany oregon u.s. key people robert l. smith founder steven d. smith ceo vern w. smith vp website www.teclabsinc.com tec laboratories inc. is a manufacturer of over the counter pharmaceutical dermatological preparations . the company was founded in 1977 by a former mead johnson executive chemical engineer robert l. smith and is headquartered in albany oregon . the company s products including its flagship poison oak scrub tecnu are sold in approximately 47 000 retail outlets which have sold over 53 million units as of the spring of 2014 . contents 1 history 2 products 3 company culture 4 references 5 further reading 6 external links history edit in the early 1950s during the cold war chemist dr. robert smith invented a waterless skin cleanser for the removal of radioactive dust . 2 3 in 1962 smith relocated his family from indiana to oregon where his wife evelyn smith discovered that the cleanser by then named tecnu for technically new 4 had another use . after an exposure to poison oak to which she knew she was allergic she washed the affected areas with tecnu and did not get a rash . 4 5 after more testing the cleanser was proven successful at removing the rash causing oil found in the resin urushiol of the native plants poison oak poison ivy and poison sumac from skin clothing and pets fur . 6 smith also learned that the cleanser removed grease pitch sap and even skunk odor . 3 additional testing was conducted by the oregon state university forestry department . 2 tec laboratories flagship product is tecnu a cleanser which prevents the oils which cause poison oak rash from bonding to the skin . in 1977 dr. smith established tecnu enterprises to manufacture his tecnu scrub for commercial distribution . initially housed in the family s garage in corvallis oregon the firm soon moved to a more permanent manufacturing facility in neighboring albany . 4 in the mid 1980s the company name was changed to tec laboratories inc. as of march 2014 tec laboratories occupies a 58 000 square foot building in albany employing 35 people on a year round basis with additional workers hired during the busy summer season . 4 the company estimates that it has sold 53.3 million units of its various products from the company s establishment in 1977 through the spring of 2014 with some 47 000 retail outlets carrying the company s wares . 4 the company is now run by two sons of the company s founder with steven smith serving as ceo and vernon smith serving as vice president . 4 7 products edit the product line of tec laboratories has gradually grown to include additional over the counter skin preparations insect repellents head lice treatments 8 and wound care preparations . the firm has expanded from a manufacturer of specialty lines sold mainly to safety suppliers to products that are now available in chain drug stores and other outlets throughout the united states . 9 the company s products all manufactured in albany include tecnu outdoor skin cleanser tecnu extreme poison ivy scrub tecnu rash relief spray licefreee non toxic lice killing hair gel calagel medicated anti itch gel 10 hour repellent and corticool 1 % hydrocortisone gel . 10 licefreee was launched in 2011 and was developed by an employee of tec after she was displeased with the bug spray smell emitted by an existing product to treat head lice . 4 11 by 2013 licefreee s sales increased to become more than 35 percent of tec s total sales resulting in a 48 percent increase in size for the company . 11 in april 2011 one of the company s products staphaseptic first aid antiseptic pain relieving gel a topical disinfectant and pain reliever found by an oregon state university study to be more effective than two more common products against community associated mrsa 12 13 was the subject of a warning letter from the united states government s food and drug administration . 14 the letter charged that as presently formulated labeled and promoted this over the counter otc product violates provisions of the federal food drug and cosmetic act and was an unapproved new drug owing to claims made about the effectiveness of some of its ingredients . 14 the company was given 15 days to respond to the warning letter . 13 15 a product recall was not anticipated . 15 by 2014 tec labs trademarked staphaseptic name had been discontinued from the company s product roster and a product called tecnu first aid gel introduced . 10 similarly the company s flagship product tecnu has never been demonstrated by independent research to be any more effective at preventing poison ivy oak poisoning than simpler methods such as gentle scrubbing with soap and water or rubbing alcohol . company culture edit the firm s mission statement is tec labs is a pharmaceutical institution that fosters a culture of innovation trust joie de vivre and esprit de corps . its supervisors are called coaches a change made in 1997 when the company moved away from traditional top down management and toward self directed work team 16 and it practices open book financial management . 17 the company makes use of a so called appreciation station in its main hallway to which employees can post thank you notes for their co workers . 4 the firm also designates a percentage of its pre tax profits for its employee profit sharing plan paying out 9 000 per worker during calendar year 2013 . 4 the firm has received the hall of fame award from oregon business magazine for making that publication s oregon top 100 small businesses list for 12 years . 4 7 the company is selected frequently as one of oregon s 100 best companies to work for including one of the 100 best green companies to work for in oregon 18 19 and has won numerous business and industry awards . 16 20 references edit multnomah county library all locations a b fryer bronwyn december 1 1998 . no false moves . inc. retrieved july 13 2014 . a b labar ryan squirrel . tecnu inventor dr. robert smith dies at 88 . bike magazine . retrieved july 13 2014 . a b c d e f g h i j moody jennifer march 30 2014 . a rash of innovation a half century ago a yard full of poison oak in corvallis lit the fuse on a pharmaceutical power . corvallis gazette times . pp . a1 a5 . online version an itch to innovate sparked tec labs albany democrat herald march 30 2014 . burris gary . the story of tecnu and tec laboratories inc. . tec laboratories . what is poison ivy poison oak . cincinnati children s hospital medical center . a b kirkpatrick maria l. march 4 2011 . happyemployees drive enterprise . corvallis gazette times . retrieved july 13 2014 . flinder david ; de schweinitz peter january 15 2004 . pediculosis and scabies . american family physician . teclaboratories breaks into chain drug market . chain drug review . october 8 1990 . p. 34 . a b tec labs products . tec laboratories . a b albany mom develops head lice solution . albany oregon kal . october 1 2013 . retrieved july 13 2014 . uceda santiago january 23 2008 . first line of defense . oregon state university . retrieved july 13 2014 . a b latrop steve april 22 2011 . fda questions product labeling . albany democrat herald . retrieved july 13 2014 . a b breen charles m april 18 2011 . inspections compliance enforcement and criminal investigations tec laboratories inc. 4 18 11 . public health service food and drug administration seattle district . a b terry lynne april 20 2011 . fda warns albany company against false claims on label of over the counter pain relief gel . the oregonian . a b workplaces that work . chemical and engineering news . 85 43 67 72 . october 22 2007 . doi 10.1021 cen v085n043.p067 . williams christina july 2005 . mission accomplished . oregon business magazine . hall bennett . atop spot tec laboratories again listed among oregon s best employers . corvallis gazette times . retrieved july 13 2014 . 100 best green companies to work for in oregon . oregon business . may 31 2012 . retrieved july 13 2014 . smith has built a successful development testing and marketing laboratory for consumer products such as insect repellent and poison ivy salve . oregon business . further reading edit gilje shelby august 30 1995 . nature s itchy little message leaves of 3 let them be . the seattle times . christie tim july 7 2004 . got poison oak you can fight back . eugene register guard . agamemnon maverick ed . 2011 . tec laboratories . ord publishing . isbn 9786137990537 . palca joe october 18 2012 . spray lights up the chemical that causes poison ivy rash . boise state public radio . external links edit official website ivy oak and sumac american academy of dermatology v t e pharmaceutical companies of the united states abbott laboratories acorda therapeutics actavis aderis pharmaceuticals adolor corporation alcon alexion pharmaceuticals alkermes allergan alza amgen amylin pharmaceuticals ariad pharmaceuticals aryx therapeutics avax technologies baxter international biocryst pharmaceuticals biogen biolex biovest biovista bradley pharmaceuticals bristol myers squibb cancervax century pharmaceuticals cephalon ceragenix pharmaceuticals combe incorporated cortex pharmaceuticals cotherix covance covidien cubist pharmaceuticals cutter laboratories cytosport cytrx danco laboratories dnaprint genomics epix pharmaceuticals eli lilly and company elorac endo pharmaceuticals ethicon endo surgery ethicon inc. forest laboratories galena biopharma genvec genentech genta gilead sciences hospira imclone systems institute for oneworld health intercept pharmaceuticals ista pharmaceuticals ivax corporation janssen biotech johnson & johnson kinetic concepts king pharmaceuticals kinray kv pharmaceutical leiner health products mallinckrodt martek biosciences corporation s. e. massengill company mckesson corporation mcneil laboratories melior discovery mentholatum merck & co. miles laboratories mylan myriad genetics naurex nereus pharmaceuticals northwest biotherapeutics norwich pharma services novabay pharmaceuticals nuvelo organon international ortho pharmaceutical ortho mcneil pharmaceutical osi pharmaceuticals ovation pharmaceuticals par pharmaceutical parke davis perrigo pfizer pharmaceutical product development prasco laboratories procter & gamble proteon therapeutics purdue pharma qualitest quark pharmaceuticals regeneron repros therapeutics rib x pharmaceuticals sarepta therapeutics savage laboratories schering plough g. d. searle & company sheffield pharmaceuticals smith kline & french spectrum pharmaceuticals sterling drug tanox tap pharmaceutical products tec laboratories teva pharmaceutical industries tiens biotech group titan pharmaceuticals trevena inc trubion upjohn upsher smith laboratories valeant pharmaceuticals ventria bioscience vertex pharmaceuticals verus pharmaceuticals vion pharmaceuticals inc. viropharma west pharmaceutical services wyeth zonite products corporation list of pharmaceutical companies retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title tec laboratories & oldid 742865450 categories 1977 establishments in oregonalbany oregonamerican companies established in 1977pharmaceutical companies of the united statesprivately held companies based in oregoncompanies based in albany oregonhidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters 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 6 october 2016 at 08 20 . text is available under the creative commons 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