HK Research

"HK Research was founded by Richard and Jan Higgins in 1980 to fill a niche in the FRP and Cultured Marble industries. A gel coat that would perform at the next level was needed. The first ever 100% NPG® Isophthalic gel coats, like our HydroShield®, were an instant success. In 1995 we opened our new fully-automated plant in Hickory, North Carolina, the only one of its kind in the world. With our climate-controlled raw material storage, HK can accomplish an amazing 40,000 lbs. throughput per hour – 320,000 lbs. per shift. Working from a central Control Room, HK production managers pump raw materials to a series of high capacity dispersing/mixing vessels, and after a long series of filtration, directly into drums for shipment. 2002 marked the year HK became the second largest producer of gel coat materials in the world. In fact, HK has the capacity to meet all of North America’s gel coat needs, and then some. Today, we are America’s leading gel coat company. But streamlined production is certainly not our primary goal. It’s just a luxury that allows us to devote more energy to R&D. Look at our record- it speaks for itself."