Calico Coatings Building New Facility

Calico Coatings Building New Facility Calico Coatings Inc. announced a major expansion of its plant in Lincoln County, North Carolina. Founded in 1997, Calico is the leading supplier of highly engineered precision coatings for bearings and other rotating components in racing, high-performance applications, marine, offshore drilling, agricultural and industrial markets. Calico's coating business will occupy a new USD $1.5 million, 20,000 square foot facility in the Balsom Ridge Business Park. The location includes a bearing warehouse. To close the deal, Lincoln County approved approximately $28,000 in incentives over the next five years. Groundbreaking was in January, and Calico expects to be moved in by the end of 2007. The company's bearing coating options range from Teflon to ceramics to other thermal and dry film lubricants. They are designed to reduce friction, increase speed and improve the reliability of bearings and other components exposed to extreme conditions. The coatings are extremely thin to provide the necessary protection and performance. For example, Calico's NASCAR engine bearing lineup is offered with a CT-1 dry film lubricant coating thickness of either .0002" or .0004". They are the only company manufacturing, modifying, and coating engine bearings meeting NASCAR's new 2" minimum ID main bearing rule. Externally applied coatings can also protect and improve performance -- the CT-7 coating applied to a ship's hull can dramatically improve efficiency by smoothing flow and also preventing barnacle and debris buildup. The CT-6 coating is used on ejection seat parts to protect against the heat of the ejection charge. Its CT-8 coating is anti-corrosive for offshore use, and can be applied to a wet surface.