What is Graco?
Mr. Roberts: On a cold February day back in 1926, the Gray brothers were attempting to service an automobile. One of the elements of servicing a car was to grease the suspension and drive components and this was done with a hand-operated grease gun. Obviously grease doesn’t move too easily in the cold weather and after struggling while servicing this automobile, they decided that there had to be a better way. The result was the invention of the pneumatic grease gun and, as they say, the rest is history. Over the next 80 years, Graco evolved into a leading fluid handling company. While we still pump grease and oil, the business has expanded into a variety of fluid handling applications. As an example, we supply the equipment that is used to paint the new Airbus 380, sell spray equipment to paint the interior and exterior of houses, and pump the caramel into Hershey Kisses. The diversity of the business has helped soften economic slowdowns that occur occasionally. In 2004, 45% of our bus
