In 1961 PERMA-PIPE was started as a division of the Midwesco Company in Chicago to manufacture steam and condensate piping systems for the District Heating Industry. Since that time, PERMA-PIPE has become the largest manufacturer of specialty piping systems for secondary containment and district heating and cooling in the United States, and a Global Leader operating six (6) manufacturing plants worldwide serving not only District Heating and Cooling, but also Oil & Gas and Industrial & Environmental applications. PERMA-PIPE became a public company in January of 1994 as a subsidiary of MFRI, Inc. and is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "MFRI".

From its start in 1909 through 1993, Ricwil Inc.manufactured district heating and cooling systems and heat traced piping systems as the brand-name leader in the preinsulated piping industry. In 1994, PERMA-PIPE acquired* Ricwil. The acquisition merged years of design expertise and proven products to satisfy the expanding needs of PERMA-PIPE's customers.

The industrial environmental marketplace is served by offering process piping, secondary contained piping, and leak detection/location systems through PERMA-PIPE/RICWIL industrial and environmental product Group. Process and secondary containment piping are important products for chemical plants, jet fuel systems, nuclear facilities and the food and beverage industries. We can also design our systems with a broad range of heat tracing options that include steam, fluid and electric. PERMA-PIPE's "Skin Effect" heat tracing system provides a cost effective solution for long runs of pipe that require consistent heat monitoring.

PERMALERT leak detection can be placed inside any of the secondary-contained piping products to detect and locate leaks in our piping systems. Other leak detection applications such as sub-floors in clean rooms, computer rooms, data centers and semiconductor facilities benefit from this cable based technology for leak location in sensitive areas.

PERMA-PIPE and PERMALERT products are sold to a broad customer base through a network of local representatives and dealerships worldwide. The Western Hemisphere is served by our Corporate Office in Niles, Illinois and our manufacturing plants in North America. The rest of the world is served by our Perma Pipe Middle East Office and our manufacturing plants in the Middle East and India.

PERMA-PIPE is proud to be the market leader in the piping industry with our commitment to quality and development of new products to meet the increasing needs of our customers.

*PERMA-PIPE, Inc is not a successor in interest to Ricwil Inc., Ricwil Limited Partnership, or Ricwil Piping Systems a division of Intergy, Inc.