Naperville-based Nalco focuses on helping customers reduce energy, water and other natural resource consumption. And while the company has been profiled a lot recently for new worldwide initiatives taking place as far away as Russia, India and Brazil, one component remains constant: the better the company performs globally, the more secure the company will be locally.
“That’s the way we look at it,” said Charlie Pajor, senior manager of communications for the company. “We’re constantly looking at global markets and looking to expand our business and services throughout the world, which doesn’t necessarily add jobs here in Naperville. But the increased development and re-industrialization in places like Russia means that there are opportunities for our company to expand throughout the world, which makes our presence here in Naperville more secure.”
Earlier this month, Nalco announced a joint venture between itself and LUKOIL, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated oil and gas companies. Largely based in Russia with a main source base in Western Siberia, the two companies will work together to design customized chemical programs and provide complete chemical management services. In addition to serving LUKOIL, the joint venture will sell oilfield programs and products to other oil and gas producers in West Siberia.
Pajor calls Russia one of the target groups in its “BRIC+” growth strategy — an acronym for Brazil-Russia-India-China plus other target areas where Nalco is looking to expand, including the Middle East and the Caspian Sea.
“There has been a lot of redevelopment in Russia and a need to reduce the water, energy and air environmental footprint,” Pajor said. “We’ve developed the process for chemical treatment of oil and gas and selling it to LUKOIL for their use. We also plan to use this technology in other growth areas we have targeted.”
Pajor notes that the energy service division of the company initiatives is in Sugar Land, Texas, just outside of Houston, and serves the global oil and gas production industry. The research facility there clearly doesn’t impact the about 1,000 employees Nalco has here in Naperville, but Pajor said increasing sales and resources in other regions helps those areas, just as foreign businesses in Naperville have boosted our local economy.
“There is always the potential for new jobs here, but right now, we’ve made the conscious decision to increase hiring and development in other regions,” he said. “A lot of what we do is based on developing relationships with local people, much like foreign businesses have done here. We don’t make a product like a car or a toaster or a television set. We have a chemical system that reduces air, water and fuel consumption, and the use of our technology is more locally applied.”
Honors, too
Nalco was also recognized as one of the nation’s top suppliers of chemical programs for the pulp and paper industry, according to a recently released 2010 Brand Awareness Preference Study conducted by Paper360 degrees magazine. The study found that Nalco was the most preferred supplier in two specific subcategories, including retention aids and pulp antifoams. The company also received high supplier preference scores for coating additives, microbiocides and sizing. Results were based on more than 700 responses to the annual survey.
“We’re not No. 1 in sales in that business, but this recognition gives us the opportunity to build our business in that market,” he said.
For a final kudos, in mid-December Nalco also was named by Selling Power magazine as one of the best companies to sell for in the United States, based on the criteria of compensation, training and career mobility. This year marks the third consecutive year the Naperville-based company has ranked among the top 50 in the nation, based on the hundreds of companies the magazine’s editors reviewed.
Nalco actually finished in a tie for second place in the manufacturing sector, which places it among the top 25 firms this year. Other notable companies in the top 25 included 3M, Microsoft, Abbott Laboratories, Cisco Systems, International Paper, IBM and Dell.
Pajor said Nalco remains “proud to be a part of Naperville” and the fact that the company has been recognized for the third time as a top company to work for in sales “should not be overlooked.”
“Our relationship with our global sales engineers is key to the success of our company, and this recognition shows we’re a good company to work for,” he said. “We’ve established high standards as a place to work and having this recognition allows us to compete for people out there looking to do this type of job. We think it’s a very competitive market.”
Naperville headquarters
The company’s place in Naperville is secure also.
“We’ve had our headquarters here for 25 years, and our research and development laboratories since the late 1970s,” Pajor said. “We feel that it’s important to be in a town like Naperville. There is a pool of good workers here to choose from as openings occur from time to time. We’re proud to be headquartered here.”
Local business leaders recognize Nalco as a major player in making Naperville a world-class business community.
“Nalco is a world-class company that is enormously important to Naperville,” said Patrick Skarr, vice president of advocacy for the Naperville Chamber of Commerce. “The employees for the company are enormously skilled and have helped establish the company as a world-class business. They’ve contributed positive growth here and added to our quality of life.
“We’re fortunate to have the world headquarters located here, which has also provided a great show piece for the talent we have here in Naperville.”
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