Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | July 4, 2022 11 Business Strategy Element 119 founder and President Andrew Zeppa (in the foreground, to the left) stands with his growing team in the company's Cheshire office. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Hiring Spree Element 119 growing ceramic coating business off new business, defense contracts By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com W hen Element 119 founder and President Andrew Zeppa began making ceramic coatings in his garage in 2010, the idea was simply to respond to a request-for-proposal from Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky was looking for a company to develop a coating that would make it easier for the Stratford- based aerospace giant to clean the outside surface of its helicopters. Sikorsky put out a national RFP; Zeppa won the bid and Element 119 was born. "At that point, the company pretty much took off," said Element 119 Chief Operations Officer Mark Sullivan. "[Zeppa] was making these coatings in his garage." Now, more than a decade later, the 30-employee (and growing) company serves clients in 80-plus countries and has contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense to make custom coatings for military applications. Sullivan said business really began to take off in 2017, as new contracts led to more hiring. Sikorsky restricted Zeppa from selling his coatings to others, but after a few tweaks to the formula, Element 119 developed a differentiated product it could market to the public. The ceramic coating Element 119 makes, under its System X brand, is used in the aerospace, auto and marine industries. Element 119 officials are bullish about their product. For example, they say a System X coating used on a car, in place of a typical wax finish after a detailing or wash, essentially makes it so a driver never has to do a deep clean of their vehicle's outside surface again. "You can literally go to your house and just grab a garden hose — low pressure, no nozzle or anything — let it flow over and all the dirt just falls away off the vehicle," Sullivan said. "We're putting car washes out of business." Sullivan said the company's biggest initial challenge was brand recognition. After Element 119 came out with its ceramic coating and started to pick up steam, other companies with cheaper, lesser quality products began to enter the market. Differentiating System X from competitors is important, he said. "It was really hard at first to keep up with them," Sullivan said. "But that huge challenge of suddenly having these big companies come into the market turned into an advantage because they were getting the word out for us, and our ceramic coating was absolutely killing theirs in the market. When people tried us versus them, it wasn't even close." Expansion-minded State officials announced in June that Element 119 was awarded a grant of up to $242,000 from the Department of Economic and Community Development to support expansion projects at its two facilities — a manufacturing plant in Thomaston and offices in Cheshire — contingent on the firm hiring at least 36 new full-time jobs. According to Sullivan, that hiring spree has begun and Element 119 has already added at least 16 new positions within the last year. When the company began talking to state officials about a grant in 2021, it had 14 employees. "We've been hiring as fast as we can," Sullivan said. David Bertnag, Element 119's government relations specialist, said the company can easily adapt coating formulas based on a clients' particular needs. That's allowed it to develop products specifically for the U.S. Air Force and potentially the Navy in the future. Partnerships, and money from the federal government via branches of the military, help fund research and development for the products Element 119 makes. Company officials declined to disclose annual revenue. "The sky's the limit for us at this moment," Bertnag said. "The government side itself has a lot of opportunity." Element 119 plans to make improvements to its Cheshire office and add a new bottling line and lab technology equipment at its Thomaston plant, according to Zeppa. That work is already underway. Zeppa said his company is "growing fast" and continuing to make investments to its facilities. He's also happy to continue operations in Connecticut, he said. "The state has been very supportive of the company, and we look forward to continuing our growth in the great state of Connecticut for many years to come," Zeppa said. AT A GLANCE Company: Element 119 Industry: Ceramic coatings Top Executive: Andrew Zeppa, Founder & President HQ: Manufacturing plant, Thomaston; office, Cheshire Employee count: 30 Website: www.element119.com Contact: 860-358-0119

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