adhesives
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The Chemicals Behind Flight Are Usually Invisible. GracoRoberts Built a Business Around Them.
A tube of sealant can hold up an aircraft repair just as surely as an engine part. GracoRoberts has spent decades turning those small, specification-heavy materials into a global distribution, technical service and ecommerce business.
The Old Name on the Can Just Went Independent
A 150-year-old paint name got its independence back in a $550 million deal. Now the company behind Glidden, Olympic and Liquid Nails has to prove a heritage brand can move fast.
3M
The Post-it Note is the famous part. The more revealing story is the science hidden in factories, fiber connections, race cars and ordinary drawers - a portfolio built to make other products work better.
R.S. Hughes Co., Inc.
R.S. Hughes Co., Inc. is a privately held, employee-owned industrial distributor founded in 1954. From its Sunnyvale, California headquarters it runs more than 40 stocking warehouses across the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica, carrying over 350,000 products - adhesives, abrasives, tapes, safety gear, labels, electrical and shipping supplies - for aerospace, OEM, and MRO customers. Its Saunders division provides custom cutting and converting, and the company pairs deep local inventory with trained product specialists.
Bob McCollum
Bob McCollum is the long-serving CEO and driving force behind R.S. Hughes Co., Inc., an employee-owned industrial distributor headquartered in Sunnyvale, California that has grown into a $527 million enterprise spanning North America. A University of Michigan alumnus and former college quarterback, McCollum spent decades building RS Hughes into one of North America's top 50 industrial distributors, known for its culture of integrity and genuine care for employees. He has been recognized for significant philanthropic contributions to the University of Michigan athletics program, endowing the quarterbacks coaching position with a $2 million gift in 2022.