April 26, 2024
Business

Shorewood-based Danco Innovation Center wins Chicago Innovation Award

By The Herald

Michael Schuster and his team won the Chicago Innovation Award for the Perfect Seal. Pictured are (from left) Doug Saunders, Danco, director of engineering; Dan Miller, co-founder of Chicago Innovation Award; Michael Schuster, senior VP New Product Development at the Danco Chicago Innovation Center; and Co-CEO Lester Levy. Danco's Innovation Center is in Shorewood. (Photo provided)

A team from the Danco Innovation Center, located in Shorewood, recently won a Chicago Innovation Award for its Perfect Seal toilet wax ring.

Shorewood is home to a 6,000-square-foot facility that houses advanced equipment and machinery for the development and testing of new plumbing and consumer products.

The team of mechanical and electrical engineers and industrial designers is led by Michael J. Schuster, senior VP New Product Development and Innovation.

The Perfect Seal is the team’s second invention to win the Chicago Innovation Award. The first, in 2010, was for the HydroRight Dual Flush Converter.

“Local innovators continue to illuminate the Chicago region as a growing hotbed of creative activity that cuts across all sectors and industries,” Tom Kuczmarski, co-founder with Chicago journalist Dan Miller of the awards, said in a press release. “Every winner of the Chicago Innovation Awards demonstrates how a unique solution to an unmet need can bring transformative impact in the marketplace.”

The winners receive a variety of honors, including the opportunity to ring the NASDAQ Bell in New York City and meetings with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.

“It is a great honor to be recognized by the judges of the Chicago Innovation Awards,’” CEO Scott Thresher said. “Four years ago, Danco built its Innovation Center to devote resources toward designing and engineering plumbing products that solve common problems in innovative ways. The Perfect Seal is our finest example of a product that eliminates guesswork, installs easily, and without the mess of a wax ring. We believe the Perfect Seal has helped millions of homeowners and plumbing contractors.”

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