Jay Tharp, Nazdar Marketing Communications Director12.20.22
Ideas born over a cold one aren’t to be taken seriously are they? Well, they are when you’re talking about John Pottage Sr. and Ed Owens. On a blustery Chicago night in 1922, the pair sat together enjoying a beer at their favorite Bohemian bar, ruminating about their futures. When the conversation turned to a unique and obscure decorative process known as screen printing, they hit upon an idea: starting a company to provide screen printing ink.
Immediately, Pottage committed $1000 to the venture, and the conversation shifted to naming the enterprise. As they contemplated this question, they noticed a coaster on the bar imprinted with the word “Nazdrovia,” the Bohemian word for success. Today – and 100 years and millions of dollars later- these events have grown into Nazdar, North America’s largest screen-printing ink manufacturer and one of the largest of all ink companies in the nation.
Although Pottage and Owens dreamed up Naz-Dar (which lost the hyphen years later, after several name transitions), they had limited involvement with the firm after its inception. Owens briefly ran the company and hired its first chemist, Welling Parmele, who helped develop Naz-Dar’s first ink – a formulation for printing P-O-P items and identity logos on automobile tire covers. Soon after, his brother Howard was hired to handle sales for the fledgling operations.
Howard had a knack for the screen-printing ink business, and he became president of Naz-Dar in 1925 – a position he held for 28 years. Not only did he strive to make Naz-Dar a successful ink manufacturer, he also explored new ink types and applications for screen printing and marketed Naz-Dar’s products nationwide.
As a testament to Parmele’s life work and contribution to the industry, the Screen Printing Association (now Printing United) inaugurated the Howard Parmele Award for lifetime achievement in the industry, in 1955. For many years, this award was recognized as the industry’s highest honor and is presented annually in recognition of an individual’s achievements and contribution to the industry.
As time passed, Naz-Dar earned a reputation for meeting the needs of screen printers through specialized products. For example, explosive growth in the plastics market during and after World War II created a flood of new applications for screen printing, and Naz-Dar was instrumental in developing new inks for materials that emerged. During the 1950s and 1960s, Naz-Dar sales had increased to approximately $400,000 annually.
Over the next two decades, Naz-Dar focused on developing a national and international distribution network, including Naz-Dar East (Pennsauken, NJ), Naz-Dar West (Garden Grove, CA), and licensing agreements in France, Belgium, and Australia. Their network of independent distributors was burgeoning as well. Scientific research centers also gained importance for the company as more screen printers faced an array of printing challenges and demanded highly specialized ink systems.
In 1977, Thrall Enterprises acquired Naz-Dar, positioning the company to expand globally. By that time, Naz-Dar had branch offices coast-to-coast and recorded approximately $8 million in annual sales. Jeff Thrall continued these expansion and development efforts when he was named company president in 1980.
“The screen-printing industry was experiencing many of the changes affecting other parts of the economy,” explained Jeff. “It’s become more service oriented. The customers need products faster and more specifically tailored to their individual needs and production schedules. Naz-Dar is responding in the way that we develop and manufacture inks and in the range of peripheral products and service that we offer through a strong network of knowledgeable and experienced distributors.”
Naz-Dar, which acquired KC Coatings in 1982, became Naz-Dar/KC and expanded its offerings with KC’s innovative products such as jet-drying poster inks, heat-set enamel inks for outdoor signage, and screen printing systems for aircraft interiors. It also developed the first UV-curable screen printing ink in the marketplace. Throughout the ‘80s, Naz-Dar acquired multiple midwestern US specialty graphics businesses. In the late 1980s, the company was re-branded and became Nazdar.
In 1994, Nazdar broke ground on a new 110,000 sq. ft. corporate headquarters, manufacturing, and R&D facility in Shawnee, KS, USA. Today, the facility is the central hub for all Nazdar business functions and manufacturing.
Other company changes included the 2001 launch of their Digital inkjet products, which provided graphics products and technical support around the world. As part of this initiative, Nazdar purchased Lyson Ltd. in Stockport, England in 2006 and acquired Easterday Fluid Technologies in 2012. Lyson, a leading manufacturer of inkjet inks, and Easterday, a manufacturer of coding and marking inks, were strategic leaps forward for Nazdar digital inkjet future.
In 2005, Nazdar launched its Narrow Web (Flexographic) inks business, hiring business development and chemist talent to bring its strong inks and coating capabilities to bear on this vast market opportunity. This portion of their business has seen continual growth and development in the Digital/Inkjet realm.
Today, Nazdar manufactures and sells hundreds of thousands of cartridges and liters of inks around the world annually to both end-users and OEM manufacturers.
The Nazdar Company manufactures the most comprehensive selection of UV, UV-LED, water-based and solvent-based screen printing inks, narrow web inks, and wide-format digital inks obtainable from a single source. Nazdar manufactures hundreds of millions of dollars of inks that are primarily used by printers in the Point of Purchase (POP), Banner, Container, Industrial, Metal, Nameplate / Membrane Switch, Packaging, Roll Label, Sign, Ad Specialty, and Textile decorating markets.
Through all this growth, Nazdar has continuously implemented sustainable solutions in the development and distribution of products, as well as providing guidance to our customers in their own sustainability efforts. Printing products inherently come with challenges; however, Nazdar remains committed to overcoming these obstacles and minimizing its ecological footprint.
Nazdar understands that its future success will come from focusing on all aspects of Sustainability: People (Customers and Employees), Planet (the Environment), and Prosperity.
Nazdar says, “Nazdrovia!” and here’s to another 100 years of health and happiness.
Immediately, Pottage committed $1000 to the venture, and the conversation shifted to naming the enterprise. As they contemplated this question, they noticed a coaster on the bar imprinted with the word “Nazdrovia,” the Bohemian word for success. Today – and 100 years and millions of dollars later- these events have grown into Nazdar, North America’s largest screen-printing ink manufacturer and one of the largest of all ink companies in the nation.
Although Pottage and Owens dreamed up Naz-Dar (which lost the hyphen years later, after several name transitions), they had limited involvement with the firm after its inception. Owens briefly ran the company and hired its first chemist, Welling Parmele, who helped develop Naz-Dar’s first ink – a formulation for printing P-O-P items and identity logos on automobile tire covers. Soon after, his brother Howard was hired to handle sales for the fledgling operations.
Howard had a knack for the screen-printing ink business, and he became president of Naz-Dar in 1925 – a position he held for 28 years. Not only did he strive to make Naz-Dar a successful ink manufacturer, he also explored new ink types and applications for screen printing and marketed Naz-Dar’s products nationwide.
As a testament to Parmele’s life work and contribution to the industry, the Screen Printing Association (now Printing United) inaugurated the Howard Parmele Award for lifetime achievement in the industry, in 1955. For many years, this award was recognized as the industry’s highest honor and is presented annually in recognition of an individual’s achievements and contribution to the industry.
As time passed, Naz-Dar earned a reputation for meeting the needs of screen printers through specialized products. For example, explosive growth in the plastics market during and after World War II created a flood of new applications for screen printing, and Naz-Dar was instrumental in developing new inks for materials that emerged. During the 1950s and 1960s, Naz-Dar sales had increased to approximately $400,000 annually.
Over the next two decades, Naz-Dar focused on developing a national and international distribution network, including Naz-Dar East (Pennsauken, NJ), Naz-Dar West (Garden Grove, CA), and licensing agreements in France, Belgium, and Australia. Their network of independent distributors was burgeoning as well. Scientific research centers also gained importance for the company as more screen printers faced an array of printing challenges and demanded highly specialized ink systems.
In 1977, Thrall Enterprises acquired Naz-Dar, positioning the company to expand globally. By that time, Naz-Dar had branch offices coast-to-coast and recorded approximately $8 million in annual sales. Jeff Thrall continued these expansion and development efforts when he was named company president in 1980.
“The screen-printing industry was experiencing many of the changes affecting other parts of the economy,” explained Jeff. “It’s become more service oriented. The customers need products faster and more specifically tailored to their individual needs and production schedules. Naz-Dar is responding in the way that we develop and manufacture inks and in the range of peripheral products and service that we offer through a strong network of knowledgeable and experienced distributors.”
Naz-Dar, which acquired KC Coatings in 1982, became Naz-Dar/KC and expanded its offerings with KC’s innovative products such as jet-drying poster inks, heat-set enamel inks for outdoor signage, and screen printing systems for aircraft interiors. It also developed the first UV-curable screen printing ink in the marketplace. Throughout the ‘80s, Naz-Dar acquired multiple midwestern US specialty graphics businesses. In the late 1980s, the company was re-branded and became Nazdar.
In 1994, Nazdar broke ground on a new 110,000 sq. ft. corporate headquarters, manufacturing, and R&D facility in Shawnee, KS, USA. Today, the facility is the central hub for all Nazdar business functions and manufacturing.
Other company changes included the 2001 launch of their Digital inkjet products, which provided graphics products and technical support around the world. As part of this initiative, Nazdar purchased Lyson Ltd. in Stockport, England in 2006 and acquired Easterday Fluid Technologies in 2012. Lyson, a leading manufacturer of inkjet inks, and Easterday, a manufacturer of coding and marking inks, were strategic leaps forward for Nazdar digital inkjet future.
In 2005, Nazdar launched its Narrow Web (Flexographic) inks business, hiring business development and chemist talent to bring its strong inks and coating capabilities to bear on this vast market opportunity. This portion of their business has seen continual growth and development in the Digital/Inkjet realm.
Today, Nazdar manufactures and sells hundreds of thousands of cartridges and liters of inks around the world annually to both end-users and OEM manufacturers.
The Nazdar Company manufactures the most comprehensive selection of UV, UV-LED, water-based and solvent-based screen printing inks, narrow web inks, and wide-format digital inks obtainable from a single source. Nazdar manufactures hundreds of millions of dollars of inks that are primarily used by printers in the Point of Purchase (POP), Banner, Container, Industrial, Metal, Nameplate / Membrane Switch, Packaging, Roll Label, Sign, Ad Specialty, and Textile decorating markets.
Through all this growth, Nazdar has continuously implemented sustainable solutions in the development and distribution of products, as well as providing guidance to our customers in their own sustainability efforts. Printing products inherently come with challenges; however, Nazdar remains committed to overcoming these obstacles and minimizing its ecological footprint.
Nazdar understands that its future success will come from focusing on all aspects of Sustainability: People (Customers and Employees), Planet (the Environment), and Prosperity.
Nazdar says, “Nazdrovia!” and here’s to another 100 years of health and happiness.
