The Face® Companies of Norfolk, Virginia, have been breaking new technological ground for a century and a half, initially in the construction industry and now with their revolutionary advances in clean energy harvesting and the mitigation of the effects of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) event.

Face®’s  recently unveiled PulseStar®,  Evercell™ and Spectral® are but three of the game changers in its developing family of technologies.

Three months after the end of the American Civil War, in July 1865, Edward W. Face began his business by winning the contract to clean the streets of Norfolk, Virginia, with the City commenting, ” The contractor we know to be a man of energy and industry.” They were right. Within two years, he was a brick contractor growing so fast he was advertising as far away as Baltimore to hire brick masons. Within ten years he bought out the local brick manufacturer. By 1893, he proclaimed E. W. Face & Son brickyard “one of the completest in the country, being fitted up with latest improved machinery such as dryers, etc., which enables us to make brick Winter and Summer.” Under four successive generations of his family, Face® evolved into an inventor of construction tools and techniques.

Over the last 45 years, the family-controlled business has dramatically improved concrete floor placement methods, along with flat-and-level measurement tools. The ASTM International standard for concrete floor profile quality control – “F-Numbers” or “Face Numbers” – is named for the company.

More recent Face® technology developments hold the promise of even greater impacts in a variety of other industries, including energy harvesting, self-powered wireless transmitters and sensors, and unique protection against EMP.

Face® has been granted more than 80 U.S. patents, with dozens of patents pending and has garnered numerous national and international awards for technological innovation.