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Biography
After graduation, Ray Southwell joined Weyerhaeuser in Longview, Washington as a process engineer. In 1960, he joined the H. B. Fuller company in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he developed polymers for paper coatings and honed his skills as a polymer chemist. He returned to Oregon in 1969 and founded Specialty Polymers, which now occupies four buildings on five acres in Woodburn, and includes a sister facility in South Carolina.
The company sells more than 150 different water-based polymers to customers that include some of the largest paint and coatings companies in the world. Southwell still serves as President of the company and works in the lab every day. Specialty Polymers remains a family-owned business, with his son and daughter actively involved in the company.