STRATCO was founded in 1928 by Mr. C. W. Stratford, in Kansas City , Missouri .  In those days, the USA "hub" for lubricating greases was Kansas City . Stratford designed and patented a mixer, known as the STRATCO^® Contactor™ reactor, for mixing lubricating greases. The first Contactor reactor, installed in 1929, is still operating today!

The story goes that C. W. Stratford and one of his friends in the oil industry were on a train to New York in the 1930s. The conversation turned to using the Contactor reactor to mix products for other industries. War efforts during this era were generating a critical need for large volumes of high octane aviation fuel. Stratford and several major oil companies co-developed the Alkylation process.

C. W. and Mr. Westinghouse were friends, and the Government called upon them for Alkylation equipment and technology. Refiners installed our Contactor reactors utilizing either sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) or hydrofluoric acid (HF) as the catalyst. STRATCO would go on to maintain aggressive research and development in the Alkylation process, concentrating on using H₂SO₄ as the catalyst.

• 1970's: Ward A. Graham, a chemical engineer with Stratford Engineering for 18 years, bought controlling interest of the company and began to rebuild and expand with the new name of Stratford/Graham Engineering. Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Graham passed away less than two years later. His daughter, Diane Graham , was elected Chairman of the Board in 1981 and then President in June of that same year.
• 1980's: Diane becomes the sole owner of STRATCO, Inc. STRATCO qualifies as a woman-owned company.
• STRATCO added process and mechanical improvements to existing technologies and equipment designs. Research and Development efforts were increased to include mixing products for companies in numerous industries: foods, pharmaceutical ointments, nutritional drinks, asphalt, soaps and lotions. We conducted research for companies using their own formulations or STRATCO's own, depending on client needs.
• In Alkylation, a trend toward the sulfuric acid catalyzed process occurred in this era, with STRATCO's Effluent Refrigerated Process as the premier option. With the global demand for safe, environmentally friendly process technologies, STRATCO licensed 85% of all Alkylation units installed worldwide.
• 2002: Diane Graham sells the Alkylation Division to DuPont
• 2004: STRATCO offers equipment design and process technology/improvements in addition to Alkylation and lubricating grease, including modified asphalt that uses used tire chips and a biodiesel process that is environmentally friendly with zero NO x emissions.

For additional information about STRATCO, contact info@StratcoGlobal.com