St. Paul, MN - Ecolab, Inc. (NYSE: ECL) announced today, October 1, 2004, that it has come to an agreement with JFB Hart Coatings, Inc. to market and sell its family of ultra-durable floor coatings. JFB Hart Coatings, Inc., based in Oak Brook, IL is a producer of high-performance urethane coatings for a variety of industries and applications. "We are very pleased to add JFBHC's ultra-durable floor coatings line of products to our floor care portfolio" said Michael Johannsen, Vice President and General Manager of the Professional Products Division. "We are committed to providing our customers with a wide range of floor care solutions that deliver outstanding performance and exceptional value and the JFB Hart Coatings, Inc. products are an excellent fit with our vision." David Beedie, JFB Hart Coatings, Inc. Executive Vice President, said "Having the sales, marketing and serice strength of Ecolab behind our products is a tremendous boost to our company. Combining our technology with their market presence is a near perfect arrangement." With sales of $3.8 billion, Ecolab is a leading global developer and marketer of premium cleaning, sanitizing, pest elimination, maintenance, repair products and services for the hospitality, food service, institutional and industrial markets. JFB Hart Coatings, Inc. is a developer of "state of the art," water-based, zero-to-low VOC, high-performance, aliphatic urethanes and self-leveling, high-build epoxy coatings for a wide range of residential, commercial, industrial and OEM applications. A privately held company, the JFB Hart Coatings, Inc. revenues are not made public.