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Mercury Paint |
Prospective buyers of condos in luxury high rises in, say, Williamsburg are drawn to aesthetics like counter tops, cabinet work, floors and, of course, the views. While attention may be paid to the color of the walls, buyers aren't concerned about paint quality and certainly not where it's produced. The roof garden may be a selling point, but not the paint.
Most locavores consume food grown or produced within a 100 mile radius and tout the benefits of their shrinking carbon footprint and keeping small local farms in business. Developers, contractors and building owners benefit similarly with green, energy efficient buildings. The nationally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system defines regional building materials as those manufactured within 500 miles. There's no requirement or reward for construction of properties with materials manufactured right in New York City. Ultimately, the driving force is cost - of building and maintaining. The story's the same for renters and buyers in Brooklyn.
But I produce Made in Brooklyn Tours and after I moved back to Bensonhurst, I decided to color my new home with paint Made in Brooklyn. Color me Brooklyn.
Freddy gave me a fascinating tour of the factory bustling with activity despite the winter weather. High-lows buzzed about stacks of cans while paint in a variety of colors swirled in several five hundred and thousand gallon vats. When Mercury Paint started in 1947 there were about thirty other manufacturers of paint in New York City alone. Today the industry as a whole is dominated by five enormous players each with revenues well over $1B. In New York City, Mercury acquired the Amsterdam and Sapolin brands and is the last one standing.
At the start of the tour, I was introduced to the equivalent of a wine taster in the paint industry. A "shader" precisely mixes and matches colors. Freddy assured me that computers and other special instruments are no match for their human eyes. Next I met a chemist responsible for R&D and the formulation of entirely new paints for specific projects and private labels. Paint is tested for thickness, dry time and weight/gallon. I felt a little like James Bond visiting Q's lab when the chemist demonstrated a new fire retardant paint he's developing by taking a blowtorch to a piece of cardboard covered with it. Many Mercury employees came in through the Doe Fund - a nonprofit providing career assistance for those with histories of homelessness, incarceration, and substance abuse. Manufacturers tend to have less turnover and this seemed to be true at Mercury Paint. Everyone I met was local and employed there for several years.
