How is it that so many metalworking fluid companies manage to situate themselves in small, beautiful communities? This is Salem, Virginia, home of QualiChem, located in the Shenandoah Valley between the Allegheny and Blue Ridge Mountains. The picture was painted around 1845, and Salem has since become more of conventional American city, but it remains relatively small, with a population under 26,000. QualiChem is a small manufacturer in a small city with a global reach for its products in water treatment and metalworking fluids. QualiChem is also a privately held, and relatively young company, being founded in 1989. Today they are celebrating recognition as the Small Business of the Year by the Regional Chamber of Commerce, in Roanoke, Va. We were supposed to show you a picture of four guys holding the awards, but we were just overwhelmed by beauty of this picture, which caused us to waste an hour reading the history of the city. The award is significant, and QualiChem beat out 90 other nominated companies for the honors. Increased sales, employee growth, staying power, innovation, and contributions to the community were included in the selection criteria. In the picture are Buddy Hill, Glenn Frank, Dennis Butts, and Mike Forest. Mike's the Director of Metalworking, and it looks like he works for all of the other guys. I would start with a call to Mike if you're less than happy with your present metalworking fluid supplier. One thing we really like is that QualiChem is quick to point out that they are interested in working with small shops as well as big companies. If you're just too small for the big boys, QualiChem might be the right size company to appreciate your business.