RDAbbott Established
R.D. Abbott Co., Inc. (RDAbbott) was founded by Robert David Abbott after he retired from The C.P. Hall Company, the forerunner of Hallstar.
December 14, 1948
R.D. Abbott Co., Inc. (RDAbbott) was founded by Robert David Abbott after he retired from The C.P. Hall Company, the forerunner of Hallstar.
1958
To support the booming industry, Mr. Abbott later teamed up with fellow members of The Los Angeles Rubber Group, Inc. (TLARGI) to develop a rubber technology curriculum at the University of Southern California (USC). The curriculum supported Bachelor of Science and master’s degree programs. Unfortunately, Mr. Abbott passed away during the curriculum’s inaugural year in 1958.
1958
Carl Hoglund, Mr. Abbott’s right-hand man, starts leading RDAbbott.
1958
Carl Hoglund helps to commercialize Chemlok®, a novel adhesive technology patented in 1956 by Dr. Donald Alstadt—Mr. Hoglund’s former schoolmate and chemist at LORD Corporation (now Parker Lord). This same year, RDAbbott becomes LORD Corporation’s first chemical distributor.
1962
1966
Johnny Arensmeyer, owner of Veraco Die, joins RDAbbott and the companies merge. Veraco patented a very innovative moving die system for extruding tire tread. Veraco dies are still used today for the rapid prototyping of new tread designs.
1979
1979
Johnny Arensmeyer extends company ownership to Bob and Eloise Baatz, two long-time employees. Johnny stays in ownership with them until 1992.
1980
RDAbbott helps to develop the first aqueous rubber-to-substrate products
1992
Johnny, Bob, and Eloise retire and sell company to Jerry Wicker, formerly of C.P. Hall. Jerry will go on to expand RDAbbott’s product lines to include dispersions, additives, modifiers, colors, and fillers.
2001
Keith Thomas starts leading RDAbbott and expanding it into various high-value polymers, as well as geographically across North America.
October 2005
With help from RDAbbott, proposed changes to SCAQMD Rule 1168 for Adhesive and Sealant Applications are adopted. This rule was later amended in 2017.
2007
New distribution agreement is signed with Dow Corning (now Dow) for silicone products in U.S. and Canada.
2008
New distribution agreement is signed with 3M for select advanced materials.
July 20, 2012
RDAbbott moves its California headquarters from Santa Fe Springs to Cerritos.
2015
2015
New distribution agreement is signed with Dow Corning for silicone products in Mexico.
June 2015
New distribution agreement is signed with Dow Corning to distribute their medical device elastomers throughout North America.
July 2015
New distribution agreement is signed with LANXESS Corporation to sell Tire and Specialty Rubber (TSR) rubber products throughout the continental United States. The prior agreement was for the western United States.
October 2015
RDAbbott fully characterizes LSR materials using a suite of chemorheology measurements for 14 grades across Dow Corning’s XIAMETER® Brand RBL 9200 and RBL 2004 LSR Series.
May 2016
RDAbbott teams up with Dow Corning and 3M to develop a new silicone technology that is both strong and light weight. With this new technology, a 1/3 weight reduction is achievable with a final specific gravity less than 1.0.
August 2016
New distribution agreement is signed with Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc., to distribute Cariflex™ isoprene rubbers throughout North America.
2017
Novation Solutions, an Ohio-based dispersions manufacturer, is purchased by RDA Holdings. Novation Solutions is known in the market now as NovationSi.
2017
RDAbbott helps to develop 3D Liquid Additive Manufacturing (LAM) technologies from German RepRap using Dow liquid silicone rubber.
January 2017
RDAbbott is appointed as Cancarb Limited’s agent for Thermax® brand Thermal Carbon Black in the United States and Canada.
March 2017
New distribution agreement is signed with LORD Corporation to sell LORD® In-Mold Bonding (IMB™) Adhesives throughout North America.
May 2017
RDAbbott’s new logo and website are introduced to the market.
October 2017
RDAbbott teamed up with Cancarb Limited and ARLANXEO to explore architectural sealing advancements using Thermax N990 and Keltan EPDM with new rubber glazing compounding technology to improve cost efficiency, processability, and durability.
January 2018
November 2018
June 2019
June 2019
New distribution agreement is signed with LORD Corporation to include Canada.
October 2019
RDAbbott teams up with Cancarb Limited and ARLANXEO to explore elastomer sealing performance advancements using Thermax® N990 and X_Butyl® Bromobutyl designed for hydrogen fuel system technologies.
November 2019
RDAbbott is named one of Rubber News’ Best Places to Work.
2020
RDAbbott remains open as an “Essential Business” for critical distribution and lab services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
January 2021
RDAbbott helps to develop electrically conductive silicone compounds for medical devices applications.
January 2021
New distibution agreement is signed with ARLANXEO for select polymers throughout all of Mexico.
July 2021
New distribution agreement is signed with 3M Advanced Materials division to include Canada.
October 2021
RDAbbott opens a new 127,000 sq. ft. facility in Barberton, Ohio, for its NovationSi headquarters and Eastern Materials Science and Logistics Hub.
November 2021
RDAbbott helps to develop antimicrobial protection for silicone medical and dental devices.
November 2021
RDAbbott is named one of Rubber News’ Best Places to Work for the second time.
May 2022
RDAbbott educates American public TV audiences about the rubber industry through Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid production.
May 2022
RDAbbott moves its California headquarters from Cerritos to Garden Grove.
August 2022
RDAbbott and NovationSi debut their 4-day “Manufacturing with Silicone Workshop.”
June 2023
New distribution agreement is signed with Cancarb Limited to be their exclusive, full-service distributor in Mexico.
Global Headquarters:
R.D. Abbott Co., Inc. (RDAbbott)
11958 Monarch Street
Garden Grove, CA 92841
Phone: 562.944.5354
Fax: 562.944.5374
