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Patrick Foley and Mathew Giovanello have been lifelong friends, actually growing up together on the same block as kids on the South Shore of Massachusetts. After high school, Pat joined the MA Painter Union and Mat went off to college for Industrial Design. In 2004 Patrick and Mat bumped into each other at a mutual friend's home and were catching up on old times.

Mat had started working in the real estate field and was re-habing properties at the time. Pat had his own successful painting company. On the subject of paint, Mat brought to Pat's attention some new stronger coatings that he had heard about and how they would last much longer than a typical paint job. Being in the Union Pat was familiar with these coatings and had also worked with some variations in the past.

They both thought it was pretty exciting type of product and decided to look into this as a business opportunity. During their research they came across many different options for a coating solution. At the time they investigated the local companies applying coatings and the industry as a whole. One popular option many were doing was relabeling an existing product (sometimes a product you could buy at your local hardware store) and carry it as their own coating with a new fancy name.

Essentially what these contractors do is invest and market in their company name not their product name. This is a risk free way for them to do business. If the product fails or they want to switch in the future they can still keep their business name and just switch out the product. For example ‘Boston Exteriors' and a product called ‘Ultimate Guard'.

The home improvement industry is a tough industry and Mat and Pat thought this to be very unethical. Everyone has had the issue of calling a company some time after purchasing a product and you get the line….‘Sorry we don't carry or warranty that product any longer, you would have to talk to the manufacturer' We carry a new product called ‘XYZ now, would you be interested in that?

After almost a year of research into all the different products, Mat and Pat came to the conclusion that Rhino Shield was the best product available. And that is the reason why, when you hear a Rhino Shield commercial, it's Rhino Shield and Rhino Shield only. We are not using a company name and hiding our products name.

Rhino Shield had the most established dealer network, with over 45 dealers. This was very important, without the strength of a large established dealer network what is a warranty worth?

All Rhino Shield dealers had a terrific BBB record. This was critical, because it proved that the network of dealers were responsible and also the product was performing well.

So Mat and Pat contacted the Rhino Shield headquarters in Florida to inquire about the New England territory. Patrick's paint experience in the Union and Mat's business experience in real estate and rehabbing were thought to be a great fit by Rhino Shields owner Steve Dominique.

The first year in business Rhino Shield of New England sold 15 projects. Mat and Pat wanted to follow the crawl, walk, run method and make sure the dealership was built and ran correctly.

Fast forward to 2010 and Rhino Shield of New England is one of the largest Rhino Shield dealerships in the country. We were awarded 2008, 2009 Dealer of the Year. Locally Rhino Shield is consistently chosen by architects, paint contractors and business. Thayer Academy, Harvard and Babson College are just a few that chose the Rhino Shield Coating System and Rhino Shield only. Nationally Rhino Shield was the product selected by NasCar, Disney and the Comfort Inn to name a few.

Finally, we were very proud to have the Rhino Shield Coating System system selected and used on ‘This Old House' Newton Centre Project, 30th Anniversary Season, in 2009.