Meet Kevin Minissian of Norchem Corporation in Alhambra/El Sereno

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Minissian.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In 1970, at 19 years old, I immigrated to California with my family from Yerevan, Armenia. At that time, Armenia was a part of the U.S.S.R, and the decision had been made within our family to put the oppressive regime behind us. My aunt, a missionary, who had married an American Air Force pilot, lived in California and had offered us refuge. With most of us not knowing more than 5 words of English, we all traveled from Armenia to Greece, from Greece to New York by boat, and then took a flight to Los Angeles where we finally settled in Pasadena. Having left Armenia just before graduating from the Polytechnic University, I immediately enrolled to finish my studies while working a night shift at the local Huntington Hospital to support our family and pay for my education. I used all the money I made to put myself through college and not long after earned my Bachelor’s in Biochemistry from Cal State, Los Angeles. Thereafter, I began applying for R&D chemist positions at biopharmaceutical companies. After finding minimal opportunities in the space due to lack of demand, I needed to do something that would utilize my chemistry skills.

One day, while near a hotel in Buena Park, I saw a person trying to sell cleaning chemicals to a woman who worked there. Afterward, I approached this person to understand what he was selling and to who. I told him I would like to learn more about it and he became willing to hire me to sell for him. The next day I started delivering housekeeping and institutional cleaning chemicals to a local hotel. Since I had the chemical background, I started thinking of how to create better formulas. It was then that I decided to open my own small lab with the money I made and began developing surfactants. Through my relationship with the hotel’s General Manager, I was able to convince the management of the hotel to give me a shot at the business. After a week of trial testing, I earned the business and thus began my 15-year path toward starting Norchem. In 1989, Norchem Corp was incorporated as a chemical company providing environmentally sustainable laundering chemical programs to the commercial textile care market. In that time, wastewater discharge regulations by the EPA were beginning to tighten on materials being discharged by plants. The industry was being financially squeezed by discharge regulations set by local POTW’s.

By the 1990’s, I had started developing water filtration and water recycling system technology to conserve this precious resource and provide a solution to this growing problem. This technology would eventually become the staple of wastewater treatment and water reclamation for the industry. Today, we are a full-service clean technology company that operates two divisions: wash chemical solutions and technology for textile care and advanced wastewater technologies for industrial reuse. With 50 dedicated employees, including members of my family, serving customers nationwide, I am feeling confident in our company’s future and continued growth. Our company’s long-term vision is to be amongst the leading innovators of wash chemistry and wastewater treatment and management technologies not only for the commercial laundry space but also for various industrial water reuse applications.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As you can tell by now, my journey began from circumstances that weren’t easy, and I didn’t make it any easier by choosing such a niche and challenging industry. But since then, the growth of the company has flourished on recognizing the certain things that we could and continue to make easier. We have invested a great deal of time and money in R & D to develop not only Green Chemistry to protect the environment but also to assist our customers in meeting regulations for sewer discharge as well as reducing water and sewer costs by cleaning the water for recycling. Hiring skilled people for a very specialized industry is always a challenge. As a businessman, I made many sacrifices to make sure the company remains healthy and thriving so that one day I’ll be confident to pass the solutions and innovation to the next generation.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Norchem Corporation – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
For 40 years, the values instilled into Norchem’s customer initiatives derive from a commitment to providing top of the line service and high-quality, high-performance solutions that minimize harsh environmental impact. As such, Norchem has established itself as the most inventive and trusted laundry chemical technology partner for healthcare, hospitality, food service and uniform rental laundries to date. Norchem’s customer-centric approach means putting our client’s needs ahead of our own and providing personalized Customer Care where we investigate the root of our customer’s challenges that often extend beyond just the chemical processes.

Because of this holistic approach, Norchem has earned a reputation for “disruptive” innovations that address the dynamic nature of commercial laundry cleaning. We are a pioneer of some of the industry’s most revolutionary innovations, like our cold-water laundry cleaning systems and being the first to introduce ceramic membrane filtration technology in the early ‘90s to recycle process water and reduce pollution to our waterways. Our state of the wastewater filtration and reclamation systems and our electro-oxidation disinfection technology further guarantees a competitive advantage to our customers by minimizing downtime and effectively exceeding their water quality expectations. As Norchem’s reach has grown, so has our ability to serve nationwide. Norchem’s national HQ is in Los Angeles, CA with additional manufacturing and distribution in Chicago, IL for improved logistics and customer support.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We aim at pushing the envelope for what it means to be more sustainable for the industry, continuing to develop new products through R & D, and expanding our market to the rest of North America, Central America and Europe. At the top, we will continue to do what we know best: Innovation.

Contact Info:

• Address: 5649 Alhambra Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90032
• Website: www.norchemcorp.com
• Phone: 323-221-0221
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/norchemcorp
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/norchem-corp/

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