There are many ways to measure business success, from customer attraction and retention to productivity and revenue growth, yet one of the most important is how a company treats its employees, suppliers, and industry partners.
At Specialty Technology and Research, Inc., better known as STAR, Inc., licensees are cared for like family and supported at every step. Founded in 1986, Columbus, Ohio-headquartered STAR has long worked on a licensee model. With a web page dedicated to Owning a STAR Seal Plant, the company outlines the many benefits of becoming a licensee. These include the provision of plant layout details, detailed engineering drawings, research and product development, technical support, quality control and assurance, technical training, and even marketing.
“It’s like a big family, and we always value the support of the licensees that we have,” says Girish C. Dubey, STAR Seal’s CEO and Founder. Dubey continues overseeing the company’s success in the pavement preservation industry and today, STAR has about 150 staff members in North America, 15 plants, and three international facilities, in Australia, China, and Mexico.
Designed for success: technology licensing
Compared to conventional franchising, STAR’s unique Technology Licensing program is much more cost-effective and is designed to set up licensees for success. As the company states, “Our sole responsibility is to support our member companies and their customers. STAR’s diversified management capabilities and strategies are highly focused and specifically designed to serve our members ensuring their future growth.” Backed by the strength of STAR, licensees benefit from negotiated prices for equipment and raw materials, connections with suppliers, directions on plant layout, equipment, staffing, and more.
“We always listen intently to all our licensees,” states Dubey of STAR, which holds monthly telephone conferences with all plants, discussing product and process development, equipment and raw material requirements, industry demand, and suggestions for improvement. These meetings are always productive, with plenty of ideas on how to prioritize projects. “There is nothing flowery; it is all meat and potatoes,” says Dubey, which makes sense because STAR licensees are on the front lines. The first to receive customer feedback, they receive full technical support and production processing support. Like a big family, every aspect of the business is discussed openly and honestly.
Built on sealcoating expertise
Long before founding STAR, Dubey studied chemistry, earning Master’s Degrees in Inorganic Chemistry from India’s Upadhyay Gorakhpur University and Polymer Chemistry from Wright State University. This saw him take on the role of technical manager at marine paint specialist Hempel before creating STAR and launching his first basic sealcoatings. These were followed by a line of additives to boost sealcoating performance and other products like STAR Supreme, STAR Aviator, and Better and Best.
“STAR Seal is the basic workhorse of the industry,” explains Dubey. “The Better grade is professional grade with better performance, and then there is Supreme. Our specialty product, STAR Aviator, is designed to meet FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) specifications for airports.”
Today, STAR is behind about three dozen different products, including sealcoatings, color coatings, crack fillers, traffic paint, primers and specialty products, and additives. Knowing its market extremely well, STAR doesn’t sell sundries like brushes, brooms, nozzles, or cleaning compounds. “Our focus is on technologically superior products in coatings and additives. That’s our main business,” states Dubey.
Along with legacy products like STAR Triton, STAR Spectrum, and STAR-Seal Refined Tar Sealers, the company has introduced two exciting products. One of them is Star LTCA, which stands for Low Temperature Cure Additive. This unique product is formulated to optimally cure in cooler temperatures, when sealcoating is usually not done. “With this additive, now you can take it down to 40°F, so that opens these seasons a bit more and gives a couple of weeks on both ends,” says Dubey. “The industry is so seasonal that this gives contractors a big advantage, having more weeks to do work early spring or late fall.”
Last year saw the company introduce STAR MAX-GRIP. An additive, STAR MAX-GRIP is based on specialty polymer latex and bonding agents and “is designed to reduce drying and cure times by 50 percent or more and improve adhesion of sealcoatings. Additionally, STAR MAX-GRIP improves the oil and chemical resistance of the sealcoating.”
As its name implies, STAR MAX-GRIP demonstrably improves the adhesive properties of sealcoating, especially in challenging areas like polished aggregates. Parking lots and driveways are asphalt mixed with aggregates and paved; over time, with age and usage, aggregates in the pavement become polished or slick, and it is hard for coatings to bond to slick surfaces. A polymer latex-based additive fortified with bonding agents, STAR MAX-GRIP is ideal for areas that must be resistant to chemicals and oil.
“It’s like painting a mirror,” Dubey explains. “Nothing will stick to it. This additive is great in those areas and all over, especially in areas experiencing more traffic, like exits and entrances.”
Marketing moves
STAR, Inc. and Girish Dubey have always excelled at marketing. Going back to the beginning, the company presented at industry conventions and shows and had a presence in magazine and print advertising. And as a sealcoating specialist, Dubey has written many technical papers. With marketing shifting largely away from print media, STAR has stepped up its online presence through its blog, which discusses advances in sealcoating, explores new products, and highlights projects completed by licensee plants. “People are talking more about our products, and it is working,” comments Dubey. “We have sharpened our marketing strategy and are putting more focus into certain aspects of that. We are launching a branding campaign for our name, which will be synonymous with quality, service, and integrity.”
As part of the branding program, the company is launching a new website dedicated strictly to persons interested in expanding into manufacturing, https://starsealmanufacturing.com/. People in the sealcoating industry tend to start small, keep growing, and, with the right support, reach a point where they have sufficient volumes of sealcoating and want to manufacture themselves, with STAR’s strong support. Others being approached include companies who do paving and subcontract the sealcoating to others. “So there are two pathways,” says Dubey. “People who do paving maintenance is a natural extension, but with hands-on experience in the industry.”
With considerable international turmoil at present, the company is emphasizing licensing opportunities in the United States instead of overseas, and is targeting locations along the eastern seaboard, the west coast, and the Midwest. There are many U.S. opportunities, and STAR is eyeing areas where it doesn’t currently have representation.
Another way STAR Seal supports its licensees is through its internal online magazine, which is distributed to all plants. The magazine showcases products and licensee activities, and contains articles on technical aspects of sealcoating, plant operations, and equipment. Plants are encouraged to share the magazine with their customers so they know about new products and activities.
At present, about 90 percent of STAR’s business is in commercial products, with the remaining 10 percent residential. Some businesses using STAR sealcoatings include big-box stores, commercial properties, industrial complexes, and homeowners associations. “Our aim is to enhance the performance of sealcoating, with very effective add-on offerings to the sealcoating,” states Dubey. Incorporating the right additives—even comprising just one or two percent of the product—makes the difference between a sealcoating performing and not performing. As Dubey explains, “We are always looking to do things in a different way and take full advantage of the known chemistry of ingredients.”
Proud of STAR Seal’s 40th anniversary, Dubey and his team are planning promotions and celebrations, which will include recognizing the company’s many plants. “STAR is like a big family, and we always value the support of the licensees that we have, and we definitely want to show our appreciation,” he says. “2025 was one of our best years, and 2026 is tracking to be even better than last year. We are in the process of promoting for new plant locations, so I’m hoping we’ll have a couple of new plants next year.”