Coastwide Labs has Grown from a Portland Garage to a Regional Force with 11 Locations and Over 150 Associates 

 

In its 68-year history, Coastwide Laboratories has grown and prospered with a focus on service and supply to a regional network of customers. From the vision of the four men who founded two separate companies, to the merger of their enterprises, Coastwide Laboratories today continues to build on a history of innovation, marked by the following milestones:

 

1937 — After working together for a janitorial supply company and taking part of their Depression-era pay in supplies, Portlanders Roy Paulsen and Frank Roles decide to start developing their own cleaning products in Paulsen’s garage. They call their company Paulsen & Roles.

 

1940 — Paulsen & Roles moves from Paulsen’s house to Union Avenue at Broadway.

 

1945 — The growing business moves again, to the corner of N.E. Seventh and Hancock in Portland.

 

1945 — Brothers Cecil and Frank Swanson start their own business, Coast Wide Supply, in Seattle.

 

1977 — After the death of his partner, and with the business generating annual sales of $500,000, Roy Paulsen sells the business to former Pacific Lutheran University professors Grant Watkinson and John Martilla. They keep the original company name. People in the industry predicted they would be out of business within two years. “We thought it would be nice to have our own peanut wagon,” Watkinson says.

 

1980 — With 18 employees, Paulsen & Roles opens the Albany Branch.

 

1983 — With 36 employees, Paulsen & Roles purchases Barco Supply in Medford and Klamath Falls.

 

1989 — Paulsen & Roles becomes the largest suppliers of commercial janitorial and sanitary products in Oregon.

 

1991 — Paulsen & Roles rents a store and opens its Beaverton branch.

 

1993 — Paulsen & Roles leases part of the old Eugene Planing Mill building in downtown Eugene and opens its fifth branch.

 

1995 — Paulsen & Roles secures its 30th contract for stockless supply.

 

1996 — Paulsen & Roles begins formal corporate Quality Journey with drafting of a new Mission Statement and creation of a Quality Council.

 

1997 — Based on sales, Paulsen & Roles moves into the top 10 percent of all privately held janitorial supply companies in the United States.

 

1998 — Paulsen & Roles joins with Coast Wide Supply Co. in Seattle and creates a new, larger and stronger company. The merged company changes its name to Coastwide Laboratories.

 

1999 — In August, Coastwide Laboratories purchases Alpha & Omega in Olympia, which brings company strength to 145 associates and 10 branches.

 

1999 — On March 25, company co-founder Roy Paulsen dies at age 88.  On March 28, Frank Swanson dies.

 

2000 — Coastwide partners with more than 80 single-source, stockless customers, including many of the major corporate names in the Pacific Northwest.

 

2002 — Coastwide opens its 11th store in Wilsonville, OR.

 

2003 — Coastwide Laboratories wins BEST Business Award for Sustainable Earth™ product line.