King Industries balances family ownership, specialty-chemistry innovation, global growth, and workforce-development strategies
When Robert Joshua King co-founded King Industries in 1932, the world was deep in the Great Depression. Commercial aviation was just starting out, the semiconductor hadn’t been invented yet, and the markets that would shape modern manufacturing, such as electronics and advanced coatings, were years from emerging.
Now, after nearly a century in business, the Connecticut-based specialty chemicals manufacturer is gearing up for its fourth generation of leadership. King Industries is still family-owned and has grown far beyond its rubber chemistry roots. Today, the company serves customers in lubricants, coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers, foam, composites, and specialty electronics. Over four generations, King Industries has weathered wars, globalization, industry shifts, new regulations, and rapidly evolving technologies. Through it all, the company keeps building on its core strengths: chemistry, technical expertise, and long-term safety and environmental stewardship.
Shenton King, Vice President of Commercial Operations and part of the fourth generation, feels that strong sense of continuity. When he thinks about what the founders might say if they saw the business now, culture and innovation – not market share or expansion – is top of mind. “I think they would be speechless,” Shenton says. “They would be so proud of where the third generation, my father, Dick King has taken the company and how it’s positioned for further growth. I know they’d be happy to see that the business and the King name remain in good hands with my brothers, Robert and Chris, and me. Most of all, they’d be proud of the values that guide our operation, like extreme care for employees, the environment, our community, and the notion that nothing can stop a good idea.”
These values continue to shape King Industries as it invests in manufacturing capacity, expands globally, and develops new chemistries for emerging applications. For Shenton, stewardship is hands-on. He and his team lead commercial strategy, and champion growth initiatives through customer relationships and projects, all during a time of global supply chain shifts, and fluctuating industrial and regulatory priorities.
Shenton’s connection to the company runs deep. “I officially started working here in 2002, so I’m coming up on 25 years. But really, I got my start as a teenager, painting fire hydrants and safety railings for summer work in the maintenance department, which led to other jobs in the warehouse and production floor – so, I’ve basically grown up here at the plant. We all did – all five of my siblings, it’s just what we did as kids – we came to the plant with Dad.” And now, Shenton couldn’t be happier with his three children often accompanying him to work.
During his career, Shenton has seen King Industries expand into new technologies, markets, and regions, all while staying family-owned. It started with sulfonic acid chemistry for the rubber industry, moved into corrosion prevention and lubricant additives, and then into coatings, electronics materials, and other specialty applications like composites and foam chemistry. Instead of growing by acquiring other companies, King Industries develops new opportunities from the expertise it already has or simply makes the decision to invest in a new area to explore.
Shenton elaborates: “We always explore new outlets or applications, and not just for our existing chemistry in adjacent markets, but also in new previously unknown or untapped applications. In development, one of the most effective strategies is to take what you have into new applications by spotting chemistry related challenges that speak to your technology’s potential – mechanistically. That’s what we do and what we stick to – it’s in our DNA.”
Expansion
In Waterbury, King Industries is building new manufacturing capacity to meet growing demand for advanced lubricant technologies, industrial, and automotive markets for synthetic applications. “Expanding our capabilities in Waterbury is about addressing the opportunities we see ahead for our NA-LUBE® series of alkylated naphthalenes,” Shenton explains. Geography matters a great deal in King Industries’ growth strategy. “Our commitment to manufacturing in the United States has been a blessing when considering the sensitivity around IP theft and competition. It also allows us to hyper focus and dial in processes – ultimately delivering that specialty niche function and quality directly to the customer. If business continuity, consistency, and growth are in your vision – for a technically driven company like King – staying stateside is what works, and having good distribution partners who understand your value in their product mix is key.”
Regarding some more niche applications, Shenton elaborates: “Southeast Asia is a great market for us, especially in the specialty electronics world, where it’s clearly the hub for electronics production.” However, domestic government-backed efforts to strengthen state-side semiconductor and electronics manufacturing like the CHIPS Act, are shifting the landscape in North America, while in Europe, there are troubling situations due to the constricting nature of the regulatory landscape – not only in electronics, but for industrial chemical and functional fluid manufacturing in general. And of course, all challenges create opportunity for King.
Even as new opportunities open, King Industries keeps its approach to customer engagement consistent. Technical expertise drives the commercial model, with chemists playing key roles across the company. This setup lets conversations go far beyond purchasing; they’re about formulation challenges, application needs, and performance goals. “The real bread and butter of King’s effectiveness is to sit down with a formulator; paints, lubricants, foam, you name it. That’s where we exchange information freely and solve problems together on a molecular level.”
Sustainability
Today, many of the discussions begin with performance requirements and end with questions about sustainability. Customers increasingly evaluate environmental impact alongside performance, creating new expectations and opportunities for chemical suppliers.
Instead of treating sustainability as a separate box to check, King Industries builds it into many steps of its new product development process, bringing it into conversations with customers. “We make it a point to consider bio-based alternatives for raw materials, and we look at everything related to sustainability,” Shenton notes. “Customers are always interested in products that help reduce their carbon footprint. For us, that translates into supplying or designing a high-performance additive that drastically improves customer’s production process efficiency. While initial customer focus may be on the carbon footprint rating of a product, the formulator or engineer quickly realizes that our additive’s performance in their paint or lubricant systems makes much more of an impact on their carbon footprint than a product’s carbon footprint rating alone. From reducing paint oven cure temperatures, to extending lubricant changeout intervals – high performing chemical additives like ours help the world reach its sustainability goals more than anyone really knows.” Shenton also wholly believes that within all sustainability challenges lies a common thread and the likely answer to all sustainability woes. He states: “While some chemistries, like PFAS, absolutely contribute to many of our problems in this world, it will be novel and elegant chemistry solutions from companies like King that will pull us away from those problems.”
Innovation is Key
Internally, innovation is supported by a program called Idea X, which encourages employee contributions and career path development across the business. The aim is to create a framework where ideas can emerge from production, maintenance, engineering, commercial teams, or laboratories.
The challenge isn’t just coming up with new ideas; it’s building an environment where ideas can come from anywhere. “We have a strong culture of sharing ideas and making time for people to pursue them. As generating genuinely new ideas gets tougher, having a process like this is great for a small company like ours to remain nimble and relevant.”
Despite investment in facilities, technology, and product development, Shenton knows the company’s future depends on people. Like other manufacturers, King Industries must transfer operational know-how to a new generation. “We’re investing a huge amount of time and energy into training, education, career development, and retention,” Shenton highlights.
King Industries takes the same long-term view when it comes to safety. Process safety management, ISO certifications, environmental monitoring, emergency response, and workforce training all make up a core part of the company’s identity. “I applaud any company’s process safety management system that can stand with ours. Safety is our number-one priority for employees and our community.”
A look to the future
As King Industries expands its manufacturing footprint, develops new chemistries, and deepens its presence in electronics and specialty materials, it continues to operate much as it has for generations: balancing growth with stewardship, innovation with continuity, and long-term relationships with long-term thinking.
Although markets will change, technologies will evolve, and new opportunities will emerge, the task, as it has been since 1932, is to keep solving and delivering. “We’ve always managed to address changing market dynamics through new product development, expanding product lines, and expanding our knowledge most importantly,” Shenton concludes. “That’s what we’ve done for generations, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.” Innovating and problem solving in areas like synthetic base oils, polyurethane resin performance, catalysis, corrosion protection, and anti-wear are only the tip of the iceberg for what this wonderful company is capable of. Innovating and problem solving for the world’s largest and most advanced coatings, adhesive, lubricant, and foam companies is what we live for and love to do – and we’re great at it. Our people are just incredible.”
When asked about the future, Shenton shares his thoughts: “As far into the future as we can see, we know it is bright because research and new product development are ultimately driven by caring end-use consumers who understand the right balance between chemistry and performance. As consumers demand higher performance from more sustainable formulations and production processes, our goal is to help lead that journey and continue pushing the boundaries of what chemistry can achieve.”
