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Cleantech Magazine
Page: 42 ; June/July, 2005 Ray Graffia Jr. & New Colony Six

Ray Graffia Jr. has had an interesting journey to his current position as president of Arbortech Corp., a manufacturer of equipment to recycle water-based cleaners. Graffia completed college in the 1960s while touring the country as lead singer for the two-time gold-record achieving rock and roll band, The New Colony Six. The band released more then 20 45s (for anyone old enough to recall what those are, he jokes) and four albums, spending 198 weeks on national "Top 100" charts.

After this six-year career in the arts, Graffia completely shifted gears, working for the next six years as a middle-school teacher. Then he moved into industry and served as national sales manager for a company that made equipment used to treat oily watewater for - again - six years. Seizing an opportunity to appoint himself as an independent representative for his employer, Graffia incorporated Arbortech in '81. After more than a decade as a manufacturers' representative for companies involved in water and wastewater treatment, he saw a growing need in the marketplace for small aqueous solution recycling systems and began manufacturing them in 1992.

Graffia will celebrate his 38th wedding anniversary with his wife, Bonnie, in September 2005, and their three children: Becky, 24, Sara, 21 and Raymond III, 18.

In a move some would find "quite unusual for an ex-rock 'n' roller," Graffia was ordained as a deacon for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago in 1993. While Graffia says it is unlikely to merit an appearance on MTV or VH1, it does illustrate that not all performers self-destruct and that fidelity, faith, family and rock musicianship are not mutually exclusive. He still spends several days each year performing with a reunited The New Colony Six, most frequently at festivals in the Midwest.