History

Aerospace engineer Doug Dolinar and his wife Nancy started Guidemark in 1980 out of the back of their 1974, high performance 454 cubic inch El Camino. The two purchased a small parking lot striper and spent evenings and weekends striping parking lots for small businesses. Their very first project was striping the parking lot of a local apartment building.

As business grew, they were often assisted by neighborhood youth. These first employees grew to become key personnel who, today, are the foundation of the company’s success.

While striping a parking lot at a local shopping center, and by a chance meeting with a major highway-paving contractor, Guidemark was introduced to highway projects—an industry segment Guidemark remains firmly involved in today. This was their first foray into road marking and was a key historical moment for the company.

In 1983, they purchased their first paint truck and two years later, they purchased an epoxy truck. With an entrepreneurial spirit, the young engineer rebuilt the trucks to better suit their needs, setting a standard of research, development and innovation that would remain a hallmark of the family-owned company.

Guidemark was the first Pennsylvania contractor to offer epoxy pavement marking services. They often traveled outside of the state to find work for the new epoxy truck until the demand for epoxy in Pennsylvania grew.

In the early 1990s, regulations required that newly resurfaced roads be striped before being opened to traffic. This significantly increased the amount of pavement marking work available. Guidemark seized this opportunity, building more trucks to meet the demand.

With a commitment to safety, Guidemark’s recent history includes the research and development of GPS/machine vision-based pavement marking technology. Out of an unending desire to improve worker safety, LimnTech Scientific, Inc. was formed. While greatly raising safety standards, significant improvements in pavement marking efficiency were also realized. Multiple patents have been granted to LimnTech, and this innovation is poised to change the industry by eliminating employee risk by eliminating their time on the surface of the road in the midst of traffic.

Today, Guidemark remains at the forefront of the pavement marking industry. They continue to build and modify their trucks to suit industry and customer needs. While always concerned with safety—and having long retired the El Camino—Guidemark continues to provide exemplary traditional, innovative and specialty pavement marking services, while maintaining a safe, quality work environment.