3rd Generation Family Business on Maintaining Growth

There probably weren’t many people who enjoyed the polar vortex this winter – but Marc Blackman did.

Blackman, the CEO of Gold Eagle, makes well-known products like Sta-Bil and HEET, which is a gas-line antifreeze solution.

“I had never heard the word ‘polar vortex’ until this year, and I loved it,” said Blackman in a Conference Room interview with FBN’s Jeff Flock. “It was a great thing. No one likes cold weather, but it’s sure good for business.”

Blackman is the third-generation CEO of Gold Eagle, which has been around for 82 years. And while it might be tempting to focus solely on key products such as Sta-Bil (a storage product) and HEET, Blackman says he’s always looking to grow the business – either by introducing new, more highly specialized product versions or by acquiring exciting new brands.

“We’re a company that protects, preserves and performs,” said Blackman, who said he’s on the hunt for products that fit into this mindset. “We found a brand called 303 Products … a very well-known but small company at this point that just does incredible things with protecting surfaces [such as vinyl fabrics].”

By acquiring other brands, Blackman said Gold Eagle is better able to achieve its goal of helping consumers protect and preserve the things they love.

“We’ve expanded from being inside the engine to being full-protection elsewhere,” he said.