In 1958, Armand Pépin founded this company specializing in the manufacture of paint, initially for residential purposes and today for industrial manufacturers.
At the head of the family business have succeeded Armand, Paul and today David Pépin who will one day pass the torch to his son Francis who today occupies the position of operations director. The latter has been a shareholder of the company for a year.
Francis Pépin is well equipped to follow in his father’s footsteps since he holds a master’s degree in management from the prestigious British university London School of Economics (LSE). “I worked summers in the family business. I have been there full-time since 2019,” says Francis Pépin.
David Pépin, president of Industries Pépin, explains his company’s change of direction to carve out a place in the industrial painting sector. (Stéphane Champagne/La Voix de l’Est)
From residential to industrial
Over the years, this manufacturer has repositioned itself to carve out a place in new markets, always in the field of paint manufacturing.
“Faced with a price war for the residential and commercial sectors, in 1988, we made a change of direction by winning a contract for Auto Point [aujourd’hui propriété de Carquest, un réseau américain de distribution de pièces automobiles]», Mentions David Pépin.
Over the years, Pépin Industries has developed sought-after expertise in the manufacturing of paint applied to metal parts.
Large vats of paint are awaiting quality control approval to move to the product packaging stage. (Stéphane Champagne/La Voix de l’Est)
“In 2002, we received a call from the boss of NAPA – distributor of spare parts, accessories and automobile spare parts – to inform us that the tests of our paints were conclusive and that we were going to become their supplier under the name of Napa across the country,” says the company manager.
The paints developed in the company’s research and development center are found, for example, on blowers, gas cylinders, truck bodies and containers.
Compete with multinationals
“In our field, we are able to compete with multinationals. Today, we offer products adapted to the environmental standards that are imposed on certain manufacturers,” explains David Pépin.
The 90,000 square foot factory located on Miner Street in Cowansville has 80 employees.
One of the six chemists develops paint recipes in the Pépin Industries research and development center. (Stéphane Champagne/La Voix de l’Est)
Pépin Industries’ sales are shared 80% in Canada and 20% in the United States and Mexico. Annually, Pépin Industries produces 3.6 million liters of paint.
Very specialized paint products, according to David Pépin, Quebec has only one other competitor in Quebec.
Friday evening, the company commemorated with its staff the 65th anniversary of Industries Pépin.
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