Rutherford B. Hayes was president and Thomas Edison was granted a patent for the phonograph the year two Akron-area businessmen, J. Martin Beck and Edward G. Kubler, founded APV Engineered Coatings under the name Akron Varnish Works. From a small manufacturing site in the heart of downtown Akron, the company produced a small line of wood varnishes and black enamels for a variety of goods.
Today, 140 years after its 1878 founding, the company that is now APV Engineered Coatings has evolved to become one of the nation’s leading manufacturers and engineers of niche industrial coatings and advanced chemical products for factory- and field-applied applications. The company also contract-manufactures products for some of the largest paint and coating manufacturers. APV creates products that touch virtually every aspect of people’s lives.