St. Paul, MN
www.ecolab.com

Sales: $4.5 billion for institutional cleaning products.

Corporate sales: $13.1 billion.

Key Personnel: Douglas M. Baker Jr., chairman and chief executive officer; Larry L. Berger, executive vice president and chief technical officer; Alex N. Blanco, executive vice president and chief supply chain officer; Darrell Brown, executive vice president and president, Europe; Angela M. Busch, senior vice president, corporate development; Thomas W. Handley, president and chief operating officer; Michael A. Hickey, executive vice president and president, global institutional; Bryan L. Hughes, senior vice president and corporate controller; Roberto Inchaustegui, executive vice president and president, global services and specialty; Laurie M. Marsh, executive vice president, human resources; Michael C. McCormick, executive vice president, general counsel and assistant secretary; Stewart H. McCutcheon, executive vice president and chief information officer; Timothy P. Mulhere, executive vice president and president, regions; Joanne Jirik Mullen, chief compliance officer and assistant secretary; Daniel J. Schmechel, chief financial officer and treasurer; Elizabeth Simermeyer, executive vice president, global marketing and communications and life sciences; Jill S. Wyant, executive vice president and president, global food & beverage, healthcare and life sciences.

Major Products: Cleaning and sanitizing products and services for the industrial and institutional markets. 

New Products: Acquisitions—UltraClenz electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring systems and dispensers, Anios healthcare and hygiene.

Comments: Corporate sales declined 3% last year. But sales within the institutional business rose 7%, due to volume and pricing gains. The company said North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific all had good growth.

Ecolab regularly makes “best of” lists, but 2016 was particularly rewarding, as the company was named one of the world’s most admired companies, most ethical companies, best corporate citizen, best companies for leaders, greenest companies, sustainable companies and best places for LGBT equality. It was also named to the FTSE 4Good Index and is a US EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year.

For the first quarter of 2017, corporate sales rose 2% to more than $3.1 billion, as global institutional sales rose 3%. Within this sector, sales of institutional products rose 2%, and specialty products and healthcare products each increased 5%.