Finishes Unlimited Mourns Loss of Company Founder - Posted 6/27/07
Henry (Hank) Godshalk, who founded Finishes Unlimited with his wife Zoe in 1970, has passed away. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Headquartered in Sugar Grove, IL, Finishes Unlimited is a producer of water-based industrial coatings and recently introduced a line of 100% solids UV industrial coatings. Prior to founding the company, Godshalk was a research chemist at DuPont Co. Inc. and was part of the research team that introduced metallic paint to the automotive industry. He and Zoe, who has a degree in economics, started the business to produce paint for companies whose paint volume requirements were too small for the larger paint manufacturers.
The company focused on the development of water-reducible coatings for companies seeking to comply with air quality regulations. These coatings have much lower Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) and hazardous air pollutant (HAPs) levels than solvent based coatings. Mr. Godshalk trained his wife as a coating technician and she became very instrumental in the development of the company’s water based coating products. In 1993, the Godshalk’s Godshalk decided to cease production of solvent based paint and manufacture only water-based coatings.
Under their leadership, the company developed and produced both air dry and bake enamel waterborne coatings with formulations for use on a variety of substrates including glass, wood and metal. Godshalk frequently made presentations about water reducible coatings and was interviewed by or authored trade magazine and professional journal articles on this topic.
In 2004, an employee group purchased the company from the Godshalks. Ken Burton, Ken Burton, previously the company’s vice president, marketing became president. Hank Godshalk continued as chairman of the board.
In 2006, Hank and Zoe Godshalk and Ken Burton accepted the Illinois Governor’s Pollution Prevention Award in recognition of the contribution the company’s coatings made to reduce pollution and improve the economy of its home state.
The company’s website address is at www.finishesunlimited.com.
Headquartered in Sugar Grove, IL, Finishes Unlimited is a producer of water-based industrial coatings and recently introduced a line of 100% solids UV industrial coatings. Prior to founding the company, Godshalk was a research chemist at DuPont Co. Inc. and was part of the research team that introduced metallic paint to the automotive industry. He and Zoe, who has a degree in economics, started the business to produce paint for companies whose paint volume requirements were too small for the larger paint manufacturers.
The company focused on the development of water-reducible coatings for companies seeking to comply with air quality regulations. These coatings have much lower Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) and hazardous air pollutant (HAPs) levels than solvent based coatings. Mr. Godshalk trained his wife as a coating technician and she became very instrumental in the development of the company’s water based coating products. In 1993, the Godshalk’s Godshalk decided to cease production of solvent based paint and manufacture only water-based coatings.
Under their leadership, the company developed and produced both air dry and bake enamel waterborne coatings with formulations for use on a variety of substrates including glass, wood and metal. Godshalk frequently made presentations about water reducible coatings and was interviewed by or authored trade magazine and professional journal articles on this topic.
In 2004, an employee group purchased the company from the Godshalks. Ken Burton, Ken Burton, previously the company’s vice president, marketing became president. Hank Godshalk continued as chairman of the board.
In 2006, Hank and Zoe Godshalk and Ken Burton accepted the Illinois Governor’s Pollution Prevention Award in recognition of the contribution the company’s coatings made to reduce pollution and improve the economy of its home state.
The company’s website address is at www.finishesunlimited.com.
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