Surendra and Neeli Jain have given $26,001 to the Greenville Tech Foundation, which adds to the endowed scholarship fund they established in 2010.
Funds are awarded to students pursuing an associate of science degree at Greenville Technical College.
Surendra Jain was born in Amritsar, India in a family of textile entrepreneurs. After earning a degree in Chemistry with Honors from the University of Bombay, he continued his education at the Philadelphia College of Textiles. Upon graduation in 1964, he joined the Charles S. Tanner Company, a family-owned enterprise based in Providence, RI and Greenville, manufacturing textile auxiliaries and emulsion polymers.
In 1977, Surendra formed Jain Chem Ltd., a sales, research and development, and marketing organization. The following year, Surendra and a partner started another venture, manufacturing adhesives and coatings for the textiles, packaging, disposable nonwovens, and fiberglass industries. Surendra sold his interest in the Reynolds Company in 1999 while retaining Jain Chem as a sales, and R&D organization.
In 2002, Jain Chem purchased an interest in a manufacturing company, CPJ Technologies, focused on specialty chemicals in a facility previously owned by the B. F. Goodrich Company. In 2010, Jain Chem acquired Ulterion International, a global chemicals company with focus on developing environmentally friendly "green" products through the use of natural and recycled raw materials.
At Greenville Technical College, Surendra talked to chemistry students about his decision, after 14 years with a small chemical company, to establish his own chemical plant, a risk that began to pay off after a couple of slow years. "There is no better opportunity anywhere in the world than in the United States," he said. "Your job is to recognize opportunities."
"This generous donation by Surendra and Neeli Jain ensures that our students can be well prepared for opportunities,” said Dr. Keith Miller, president of Greenville Technical College. “We are grateful to the Jains for recognizing a need and filling it, allowing their success to lead to success for many other people."