The BioSolve Company

The BioSolve Story from 1975

The BioSolve® story starts in 1975 when an entrepreneur named Ron LaRoche and a talented chemist named Ed Hosmer began working together to develop an innovative surfactant formulation. The product concept was a replacement for sprayed foam used in suppressing volatile vapors and reducing fire hazard associated with fuel spills. Customers needed an alternative to foam that not was only effective and reliable, but just as important: easy to use and safe for both the workers and the environment.

During the 1970’s and 80’s, the product was tested and retested in cooperation with local fire departments and firefighting training academies in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Canada. Field testing and demonstrations were carried out with numerous formulations in order that the product could be proven viable on a wide range of fuels, including those with additives. Ron’s chemical distribution company, Metra Chem began selling BioSolve to fire departments and emergency responders from late 1975’s and throughout the 1980’s.

The final formulation of BioSolve proved highly effective not only in suppression of hazardous vapors from hydrocarbon spills, but also in a wide range of related applications that called for encapsulation and mobilization of hydrocarbon molecules. Once Ron realized the commercial potential of BioSolve, he discontinued selling other chemical products. In 1989 he closed Metra Chem and founded The Westford Chemical Corporation to focus exclusively on commercializing BioSolve. For the next twenty years Ron, eventually joined by his son Steve, developed BioSolve customers in a wide range of industries, across the US and in over two dozen foreign countries.

In the fall of 2009, Ron was approached by James Edgerly and Karl Loos regarding the sale of the BioSolve business. The two had worked together in the Chemical Industries practice at the management consulting firm, Arthur D. Little, Inc. during the 1980’s. Since that time, Jim had started and developed two successful businesses and Karl had developed his own consulting practice and served as an executive at Sovereign Specialty Chemicals.

The sale of the BioSolve business took place in June of 2010, allowing Ron to look for new opportunities with his wife Sueyo. The new owners set up offices for The BioSolve Company in Lexington, Massachusetts while leaving manufacturing operations unchanged.