October 2013
| Business World Magazine | 247
arates Underwood from others. At U.S.
Steel, Underwood was on the front line of
developing new paint technology. He was
involved in formulating new coatings that
led to the effective bonding of paint to
galvanized steel; processes which spurred
applications like the silver metallic coat-
ing used on windshield wiper blades sold
by the industry dynamo known as ANCO.
Those windshield wipers went on to be
sold throughout the world, but Under-
wood was a key player in developing the
coatings used for these materials, and
more.
As opposed to paint, Underwood will
more readily acknowledge that steel is in
his blood. His father worked at U.S. Steel
as well as his Grandfather. As a third gen-
eration employee who held a good posi-
tion in the company’s steel supply divi-
sion, there was more than mild disbelief
when Underwood told his family about
his plans to start his own enterprise. “My
father said, ‘You’re going to doWHAT?’”
recalls Underwood. As it was, Marathon
Oil had just acquired U.S. Steel’s supply
division during this time. With questions
as to the changes that might portend, cou-
pled with his sense of potential business
opportunities, Underwood set out to cre-
ate his own company and partnered with
a man named Ken Stevens (the same man
who had served as his direct supervisor
at U.S. Steel). Kenwood Painted Met-
