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Flame Control Coatings Inc. produces fire-retardant and heat-resistant paints for commercial use. The private company had close to $1.4 million in 1984 sales, and has a growth rate of 300 percent a year. Flame Control's paints wholesale for as much as $80 a gallon.

Rich Products Corp. manufactures a variety of frozen food products and sells them primarily to the food service industry. Their patented Freeze Flo process must be applied separately to each product, so the company remains research-oriented. Their latest product is ice cream with whole fruit. The private company exceeded $540 million in sales last year.

The Niagara Falls plant of Allied's Prestolite Battery Div. has been sold to Tulip Corp. Renamed Niagara Molded Plastics, the plant will continue operation as part of the private Tulip Corp.'s battery manufacturing operations. Current management has been retained in the plant which employs 144 hourly and 33 salaried workers.

Robert Ferrari is a private investigator. His activities range from collecting information on spouses for divorce cases to multi-million dollar insurance or business takeover investigations. His company has offices in Buffalo, Orlando, and Toronto. He is licensed by the state and by Canada.

Ford Gum and Machine Co. sends out 15 tons of gum every day. The gum is sold almost exclusively through 2000 franchisors, who have 8000 to 10,000 distributors in the U.S. and parts of Ontario, Canada. Distributors purchase gumball machines and gum from Ford.

Lancaster-based Eagle Coach Work Inc. sells replica kits of classic Jaguar automobiles. President Thomas Hill says that 2 to 3 of the $8000 kits are sold each week. Since car sales are 60% of the business, revenues are estimated to be between $800,000 and $1.2 million in sales.

Privately-held J.H. Williams Industrial Products Inc. of Buffalo will merge with Chicago-based SK Hand Tool Corp. Williams makes wrenches and other non-power hand tools for the industrial market. SK Hand Tool makes hand tools for retail sale.

Whiting Roll-Up Door Manufacturing Corp. has purchased the Chicago-based manufacturer of swinging doors, Met-L-Wood Corp. Co-owner Donald Whiting said the merger will bring the company to $15 million in sales annually. The company will add truck door manufacturing to its roll-up door business.

Buffalo-based Color Corp. produces 90 percent of indigo dye used in jeans. Bought from Allied Chemical in 1977, Buffalo Corp. now has a staff of 320 employees with good industrial relations. Hillside Capital Corp., Buffalo Color's parent company, calls the key decisions.

McDonald Products Corp. is a major manufacturer of high-quality office and architectural accessories. Their current annual sales exceed $10 million. The company was purchased by four McDonald officers in 1982. Their products are distributed throughout the world through an independent sales network, and through catalog sales.

David Korzak, president of Niagra Falls-based Beir's Department Store, plans to move Beir's into the off-price retail market. However, the department store will retain the traditional services of a full-service department store. It plans to continue catering to a fluctuating tourist trade and retain its Niagra Falls customer base.

Rochester-based telecommunications company A.C. Teleconnect Corp. has acquired A.C. Raymart Inc. The acquisition expands A.C. Teleconnect into land mobile communications and bypass systems allowing it to set up toll-free lines.

Curtis Screw, manufacturer of screw machine products, has practiced special quality control techniques for the last four years. Employees are a part of the teams that continuously monitor factory production and suggest improvements or changes. They practice just-in-time delivery methods for their customers, and had a return rate of .67% for parts in 1984.

Spaulding Fibre Co., a supplier of custom plastics and insulating materials, has solved many of the difficulties of doing business in Canada by opening a Canadian subsidiary. Mike Komar, marketing VP for the Canadian company, lists cost savings in tariff reductions, dollar valuation differentials, and market size as reasons to operate in Canada.

B.E.L.-Tronics Ltd., manufacturer of radar-detection equipment, has experienced 90% growth a year for the last three years. Management attributes this partly to opening a U.S. subsidiary which includes a distribution and dealer sales operation in Wichita, Kansas, and a mail-order division in Buffalo.

The Buffalo-based seller of orthodontic products and services, Great Lakes Orthodontic Laboratory Inc., has an annual 10% to 20% increase in sales. The company's success is partly attributable to its educational programs to train orthodontic technicians at the lab. The school has trained close to 2000 people so far.