Community & Member Spotlights

Marcus Webb — Southwest Industrial Coatings, Phoenix, AZ

Member since: 2021  |  Specialty: Secondary containment & pipeline rehabilitation  |  Chapter: Southwest

Marcus Webb started Southwest Industrial Coatings with a single Graco Reactor and a pickup truck in 2019. Seven years later, he runs a 12-person crew handling secondary containment, pipeline coatings, and industrial floor systems across Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada. Marcus has completed more than 340 projects, including a landmark 80,000 sq ft secondary containment system for a Phoenix-area fuel distribution facility that earned him American Polyurea’s 2025 Project Excellence Award.

“The network here connected me to my first big industrial client. I met a rep from a regional pipeline operator at the Southwest Chapter mixer in 2022, and that relationship turned into a five-year maintenance contract. This community has real economic value.”

Diane Okafor — Great Lakes Protective Coatings, Detroit, MI

Member since: 2019  |  Specialty: Bridge deck waterproofing & parking deck restoration  |  Chapter: Midwest

Diane Okafor is one of fewer than 200 women-owned polyurea contracting businesses in the United States, and she has built one of the most respected bridge coating operations in the Midwest. Her company has completed deck waterproofing on 14 Michigan DOT projects in the past three years, including two historic bridge restorations in the Upper Peninsula. In 2025, Diane was appointed to the American Polyurea Technical Advisory Committee, where she contributes to the organization’s training curriculum development.

“When I started, there were almost no resources specifically for bridge deck polyurea in the Midwest. American Polyurea’s community helped me find specifiers, navigate state DOT requirements, and connect with a mentor who’d already done 30 bridge projects. It accelerated my business by years.”

Rodrigo & Elena Castillo — Lone Star Polyurea, San Antonio, TX

Members since: 2018  |  Specialty: Cistern liners, safe rooms, residential protection  |  Chapter: South Central

This husband-and-wife team built a niche business serving the Texas hill country’s agricultural and residential market, where private water cisterns and tornado-resistant safe rooms create consistent year-round demand. Lone Star Polyurea has coated over 600 cisterns and 90 safe rooms since 2018, earning a strong referral network among custom home builders and ranchers across central and south Texas. Rodrigo serves as the South Central Chapter co-chair and personally mentored 11 new applicators in 2025 through the organization’s informal mentorship program.

Tyler Nguyen — Pacific Polyurea Solutions, Portland, OR

Member since: 2020  |  Specialty: Municipal wastewater, manhole rehabilitation  |  Chapter: Pacific

Tyler Nguyen’s company specializes exclusively in municipal wastewater infrastructure, making him one of the most focused and technically advanced applicators in the Pacific Northwest. His team has completed manhole rehabilitation in 23 Oregon and Washington municipalities, including the City of Portland’s landmark 200-manhole rehabilitation program that served as a model for in-house polyurea adoption by the city’s Bureau of Environmental Services. Tyler speaks regularly at regional APWA (American Public Works Association) events on the economics of polyurea versus traditional rehabilitation methods.