Frank C. Sullivan PLAY INTERVIEW VIEW BIO www.rpminc.com/ Rick Genoni ETF Product Manager, Vanguard Jim McCluney President and Chief Executive Officer, Emulex Corporation Jeff Carbiener President & CEO, Lender Processing Services, Inc.		PRINT-FRIENDLY VERSION Frank C. Sullivan President & CEO RPM International Inc. Interviewed on 08/13/2008 Provide an overview of RPM: RPM is a worldwide leader in protective coatings in both industrial and consumer markets. Our product lines are typically the leading brands in the markets we serve, including Rust-Oleum, Dap, Zinsser and Tester in our North American CI markets and brands such as Tremco, Dayglow, Carboline and Stone Hard, in global industrial markets. Our products typically provide waterproofing, corrosion control, and high performance coatings for concrete and structural steel. Our structure is relatively unique. It is an important part of our success. RPM itself is a holding company with more than 50 independent operating company units, more than a third of which are run by an original owner founder or a second or third generation family member, making RPM the best home for entrepreneurial companies in the markets we serve. What growth opportunities does RPM plan to pursue? We pursue growth both internally and through acquisitions. From an internal growth perspective, we have what we call growth and strategy conferences, which identify our best internal growth investments for growth over a three to five-year period. Generally the introduction of new products through our core businesses and more recently global expansion. Five years ago, RPM was about 85% North American based and this year we’ll do more than 35% of our revenues outside of the United States. The second avenue of growth is from our acquisition activities. Acquisitions have been part of our growth for the last 30 years. In acquisitions, we’re pursuing product lines that we can integrate completely into one of our existing businesses or a free-standing company that’s typically run by the original owner/founder or the management team that that person left in place to continue to grow that business as part of the RPM family of companies. What are the challenges facing RPM? The challenges facing our business are a couple fold: more near term, raw material challenges both in terms of outright raw material costs and energy costs have been a huge challenge for us and for our industry. The ability to diversify our raw material base, to source outside of our core North American markets, and the introduction of new products have allowed us to overcome a lot of these challenges. The longer-term challenge for RPM is maintaining our unite entrepreneurial structure and culture as we continue to grow more globally both in terms of size, number of operating units and scope. But so far we’ve done quite a good job of maintaining that entrepreneurial reputation and the close-to-the-market focus it allows us to be successful. What is your favorite part of your job at RPM? The favorite part of my job is being able to talk to people about RPM. First and foremost, our employees, we’ve got 10,000 employees worldwide. We’ve generated record growth in every year of our existence and it’s really because of the efforts of our 10,000 worldwide employees and not the small corporate staff in Medina, Ohio. I also very much enjoy talking to other companies. From our perspective and our industries, it’s really only two types of companies, RPM companies and those that should be. And the chance to get out and talk to businesses about RPM, learn about how they’re growing, and develop a reputation across the industry, typically privately-held companies, has really been a lot of fun. And ultimately leads to the next acquisition opportunity. About NYSE 4 ON THE FLOOR: The New York Stock Exchange is proud to produce NYSE 4 ON THE FLOOR, an exclusive web-cast interview program featuring the foremost decision makers, executives and leaders of our time. As the center of global business, the NYSE is in a unique position to bring you unparalleled access to these extraordinary men and women. Now, through NYSE 4 ON THE FLOOR, we are able to share their expert industry perspectives, as well as candid thoughts about issues that affect us all, such as management, communication, learning, growth and professionalism.