Editorial
Front Page - Friday, July 30, 2010
Southern Industrial Coating Solutions makes green available in a variety of colors
David Laprad
Ben Hixson of Southern Industrial Coating Solutions poses next to several shelves of the company’s environmentally friendly paint. The owners of Southern Autobody Supply introduced waterborne paint to Chattanooga in 2008 and are now seeking industrial clients under a different name.
- David Laprad
Forget about painting Chattanooga red; Southern Industrial Coating Solutions wants to paint it green. That doesn’t mean popular attractions in Scenic City will soon be sporting a glossy coat of Fairway Mist; rather, local companies now have the option of using paint that contains fewer compounds that harm the environment.
Ben Hixson of Southern Industrial explains:
“Paint consists of three components. There’s the pigment, which gives it its color; there’s the resin, which is the liquid plastic portion of it; and there’s the solvent, which keeps the resin in a liquid state and enables you to transfer it onto a surface,” he says.
“Most solvents contain VOCs, or volatile organic compounds. When you spray paint onto a surface, the solvent evaporates and goes into the atmosphere, where it does bad things to the ozone. The solvent in a waterborne paint contains fewer VOCs, so most of what goes into the atmosphere is water.”
Southern Industrial is a new venture of Paul Rhudy and Steve Bower, owners of Southern Autobody, which sells paint to auto body shops in Chattanooga. When Rhudy and Bower introduced environmentally friendly paint to the city in 2008 through Southern Autobody, their customers were leery of its quality.
Hixson says such concerns were unfounded, as waterborne products are as durable as traditional paint. “The solvent has nothing to do with the durability of a paint. It’s just there to liquefy the resin,” he says.
Southern Industrial’s customers don’t have to choose between going green or saving green, either, as Hixson says the environmentally friendly paint the company sells costs only two to three percent more than traditional paint. He wants Southern Industrial’s clients to know, however, that the company still stocks traditional paint.
Within the next several years, Hixson expects state law will require the use of waterborne paint, as is the case in California. “Right now, it’s not required in Tennessee. It will probably make its way here by 2015,” he says.
That will give Southern Autobody’s customers time to purchase the equipment required to use environmentally friendly paint. “Our automotive customers had to bear a significant expense up front because they had to convert a lot of their equipment, such as different spray guns. In most cases, the inside of a spray gun isn’t stainless, so water would rust it,” he says.
Hixson says the outlay of capitol is worth it, though, both from a marketing standpoint and because “it’s the right thing to do.”
“There is some marketing value in switching to waterborne paint because people are interested in things that are less harmful to the environment. At the same time, you’re doing something positive for the city,” he says.
Rhudy and Bower founded Southern Autobody in 1992, borrowing $5,000 on a 90-day note to purchase enough merchandise to fill an old van. At the time, Rhudy sold merchandise out of the van to body shops while Bower took care of the paperwork.
In 1994, Southern Autobody hired a driver to deliver merchandise. In addition, Rhudy and Bower started visiting customers to take orders in person. At this point, Southern Autobody consisted of a barn, an old tractor-trailer, and some cell phones.
In 1996, Southern Autobody opened its first retail location in Ringgold, Ga. Three years later, Rhudy and Bower moved the company to 6000 Ringgold Road. The following year, they began selling PPG paint. In 2005, Southern Autobody purchased Auto Color in Chattanooga and became a Platinum PPG distributor. By 2006, the company’s annual sales exceeded $5 million. The next year, Rhudy and Bower consolidated its Chattanooga stores into one facility on Rossville Avenue.
In 2008, Southern Autobody introduced PPG’s environmentally friendly paint to the Chattanooga market. “At first, PPG wouldn’t give it to us because they said they were too busy converting shops in California. But we kept hammering them, and they eventually let us have it,” Hixson says.
Southern Autobody sold enough waterborne paint in 2009 to keep 8,000 pounds of VOCs from entering the atmosphere. Now, as Sothern Industrial, they’re setting their sights on a different market. “We’ve done a lot of work in the industrial market, but none of it has been environmentally friendly until now,” Hixson says.
To spread the word about going green to potential clients, Southern Industrial is doing demonstrations and presentations throughout Chattanooga. Hixson says the company has already secured some “green” industrial work, and hopes to sign more contracts in the future.
“We can sell our clients either kind of paint, but we recommend going green because that’s where Chattanooga is headed. The quality is just as good, there’s only a slight difference in cost, and it’s going to improve your image, but most important of all, it’s good for the city,” he says.
To learn more, visit www.greenrepairnow.com.
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