COVER STORY | ADVERTORIAL
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Just a small view of RAE’ s massive inventory!
Accounting to a customized implementation of NetSuite, giving the company an enterprise-grade platform capable of scaling alongside its rapid growth. She plays an active role in investment decisions, ensuring RAE’ s capital is deployed strategically and with an eye toward the long term. Perhaps just as importantly, she is a steadfast guardian of the culture Donna built— the values, the work ethic, and the people-first philosophy that have defined this company for five decades. If the first fifty years belonged to Donna, the next fifty are being shaped, in no small part, by Samantha. Donna’ s other children— Sherry, Guy, and Lisa— each hold key roles within the company as well. Guy now leads RAE’ s internal marketing department alongside Julie, a fulltime content provider who manages both the RAE ProStores and the 1-800-STENCIL websites. Together, they drive a digital presence that has turned a suburban Chicago paint company into a supplier capable of reaching customers in Australia, Tibet, Mongolia, Canada, and UK. Invaluable sales support and customer service are backed by longtime family friends Mark and Jessica Keele and Lizzy Cichowicz. All three have been part of the RAE family in one form or another for over 20 years. With their experience, they possess an unparalleled depth of knowledge and industry expertise. This long-standing commitment translates directly into seamless service, trusted advice, and a level of continuity that our clients have come to rely on year after year.“ As you can see, we truly are a family business,” says Donna.“ And I mean that in every sense of the word. These are not just employees— they are my family, and this company is their future as much as it is mine.”
Product Leadership, Proven Performance
The breadth of RAE’ s product and service offering today would be almost unrecognizable to the contractors who placed those first orders back in 1976— and yet the DNA is identical. RAE supplies traffic and zone marking paints of every variety, thermoplastic pavement marking materials, MMA paints and application training, preformed markings, 3M marking tapes, masonry and graffiti cover-up paints, stencils through 1-800-STENCIL, Graco Plural Component Spray equipment, and glass beads. As the exclusive U. S. dealer for the CEMAR Road Dryer, RAE ensures its contractor customers can work in conditions that would otherwise bring a job to a halt. The company’ s five fully stocked warehouses remain central to its competitive advantage.“ Most paint suppliers don’ t inventory their paint the way we do,” Samantha has long maintained. More stock means fresher paint, faster delivery, and no compromise on quality— the same logic that made RAE successful in year one still applies in year fifty.
The Next Fifty Years
The pending move to a facility three times the size of current production is more than a logistical upgrade. It is the physical embodiment of where RAE is headed: more capacity, more product lines, more employees, and a stronger platform from which to serve the evolving needs of pavement marking contractors across the country and around the world. With Donna still driving strategy and culture, Kurt advancing product development, and Samantha managing the financial backbone of the enterprise, the Gruenberg family succession is not a future event— it is happening right now, organically, the way things tend to happen in a family business that actually works.“ Having a lasting reputation is more important than short-term profit,” Donna Gruenberg reflects.“ We stand by our products 100 %. Our customers, our distributors, and our long-term future depend on it.” The product pipeline reflects that same forward momentum. In 2026, RAE will be releasing a new comprehensive floor coating line, expanding the company’ s reach beyond pavement and into the industrial and commercial flooring market— a natural extension of the expertise RAE has built over five decades. This launch underscores what has always set RAE apart: the willingness to invest in what comes next, not just what works today. Fifty years in, RAE Products & Chemicals Corp. is not resting on its legacy. It is building on it— one family member, one product, one satisfied customer at a time. If history is any guide, the next fifty years will be just as impressive.
“ I can see RAE with continued success for 50 more years, and more.”— Donna Rae Gruenberg
For more information on Rae’ s products and services, please visit https:// rae-products. com.
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