INVISTA has a fibrous outlook on life. A global leader in textile and polymer manufacturing, INVISTA is composed of four business units -- Apparel, Intermediates, Performance Surfaces and Materials, and Polymers and Resins -- and its portfolio includes brand names CoolMax, Stainmaster, Lycra, and Thermolite. Its products are used in clothing, plastic packaging, automobile airbags, and pharmaceutical ingredients. DuPont sold INVISTA to Koch Industries in 2004. Koch then merged the company with its own fibers unit, KoSa, leaving only INVISTA remaining. INVISTA operates worldwide.

JFC Technologies makes the chemicals that make up modern medicine. The company develops and manufactures a variety of pharmaceutical ingredients and applied materials, supplying customers with anywhere from milligrams to multiple tons of ingredients used in making their own products. JFC's chemicals are used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and nutritional supplements. The company began operations in 1970 as Jame Fine Chemicals. Besides its manufacturing plant and headquarters in New Jersey, JFC also opened a 50,000 square foot pharmaceutical plant in Ningbo, China.

Seltzer Companies packages and distributes specialty chemicals and other ingredients used in nutritional supplements, food, and cosmetics. Through its Seltzer Ingredients division, it sells a full line of amino acids, vitamins, esters, and a variety of natural and artificial colors. Customers include both domestic and overseas manufacturers. The company also offers custom blending through its Seltzer Nutritional Technologies (SNT) division. Seltzer is a subsidiary of UK dairy processor and food group Glanbia.

Mexican conglomerate Alfa is a big player in four different industry segments. Alpek, a global petrochemical concern with an emphasis on synthetic fibers (Akra Polyester, DAK Americas, Nyltek, Indelpro, PTAL, Temex) accounts for about 40% of sales. Alfa's other operations consist primarily of refrigerated-foods manufacturer and distributor Sigma Alimentos (Yoplait yogurt, Oscar Mayer), aluminum auto part maker Nemak (engine heads and blocks), and telecom company Alestra. Alfa has alliances with more than 20 companies (such as AT&T, Ford, and Kraft) around the world. It operates more than 75 production facilities throughout the Americas, Asia, and Europe, though Mexico provides almost half of its sales.

The Comex Group keeps adding colors to its palette. The company manufactures and distributes architectural paints and coatings through five regional operations/brands (Color Wheel, Frazee, General Paint, Parker Paint, and Kwal), and Duckback, a specialty coatings division. It sells its products mainly in the western US -- though it added Florida to its territory with the 2006 acquisition of Color Wheel -- and western Canada. Each brand formulates its products especially for the climate in its home region. The company comprises the US and Canadian operations of Mexico's largest paints maker, Comex.

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, and Rhein adds up to more than some flowing water in Germany. Rhein Chemie manufactures chemical additives for rubber, lubricants, plastics, and polyurethane from its home base in Germany and half a dozen other locations in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Its rubber chemicals go into tires, wire and cable products, and belts and hoses. Rhein Chemie's lubricants are used to make metalworking fluids, greases, and turbine and compressor oils. Finally, its engineering plastics include polycarbonates and polyurethanes. The company is a subsidiary of LANXESS and operates in the US through Rhein Chemie Corporation.

Eastman Chemical Company, a chemical company, engages in the manufacture and sale of chemicals, plastics, and fibers in the United States and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Coatings, Adhesives, Specialty Polymers, and Inks (CASPI); Fibers; Performance Chemicals and Intermediates (PCI); and Specialty Plastics. The CASPI segment manufactures resins, specialty polymers, and solvents that are used in the production of paints and coatings, inks, adhesives, and other formulated products. The Fibers segment offers Estron acetate tow and Estrobond triacetin plasticizers used in cigarette filters; Estron natural and Chromspun solution-dyed acetate yarns for use in apparel, home furnishings, and industrial fabrics; and cellulose acetate flake and acetyl raw materials for acetate fiber producers.

Stepan Company engages in the production and sale of specialty and intermediate chemicals. The company operates through three segments: Surfactants, Polymers, and Specialty Products. The Surfactants segment offers products that are principal ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning products, such as detergents for washing clothes, dishes, carpets, floors, and walls, as well as shampoos, body washes, fabric softeners, and toothpastes. Its other applications include biodiesel, germicidal quaternary compounds, lubricating ingredients, emulsifiers for spreading agricultural products, and plastics and composites. The Polymers segment provides phthalic anhydride, which is used in polyester alkyd resins; plasticizers for applications in construction materials and components of automotive, boating, and other consumer products; and polyols that are used in the manufacture of laminate insulation board for the construction industry, as well as sold to the appliance, coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers markets. The Specialty Products segment offers flavors, emulsifiers, and solubilizers used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. It principally operates in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Northfield, Illinois.

Inditherm makes a heat-conducting polymer used for temperature protection for pipelines and storage. It is also used in products such as clothing and medical supplies. Applications include patient warming and muscle heat therapy for the medical market; critical temperature management for mining, utilities, and manufacturing companies; and underpitch heating for sports stadiums (such as the training grounds for Premier League clubs Chelsea and Aston Villa). Inditherm's Speedheat product is used instead of heat packs for sports injuries. Storage products include heated jackets for drums, storage tanks, and intermediate bulk containers. The company was founded in 1998 by Pat O'Grady, who still owns a small stake.

Turtle Wax would have been one of those kitchen table success stories, except Ben and Marie Hirsch concocted their polish in the bathtub. In the 1950s they changed the name of their company from Plastone Polish to Super Hard Shell and later to Turtle Wax. Now led jointly by their daughter Sondra Healy and son Denis John Healy Jr., the family-owned firm makes more than 1,250 products, including car waxes, polishes, and cleaners and sells them in 90 countries. Other products include engine treatments, vinyl and leather protectants, and odor removers. Turtle Wax also supplies bulk chemicals to car washes and operates some 20 car washes in the Chicago and Kansas City areas.

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