Company Profile

Since 1988, Nawkaw has developed, manufactured and expertly applied the world’s finest stains and color solutions for concrete and masonry.
Nawkaw’s proprietary products and innovative techniques are in use around the globe. Headquartered in Athens, Georgia, USA, Nawkaw has offices and Certified Stain Applicators across the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Partnering with architects, contractors and property owners, Nawkaw offers the highest quality service and the best warranties in the industry. From fifty story precast skyscrapers to Main Street restoration projects and private residences, Nawkaw transforms brick, block, stone, or other masonry surfaces and concrete with amazing color and finishes that won’t chip, peel, or fade.
Nawkaw is the North American company that launched the concrete & masonry
staining industry
Our Founder

Russell Gray
Nawkaw’s story begins with our founder and CEO, Russell Gray.
In Mississauga, Ontario, Russell Gray began work for a brick company that would soon place him in charge of staining bricks to solve color problems. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Gray had made a name for himself in the Greater Toronto Area, and entered into entrepreneurial pursuits in 1984. By 1989, the company that would eventually become Nawkaw as we know it today had been incorporated.
Originally founded as Masonry Art, the nascent years of what would eventually become Nawkaw were defined by residential brick work. Nawkaw’s name derives from Gray’s Canadian roots, as the Canada Goose is Canada’s national bird, and Nawkaw is the Ojibway for Canada Goose.
Since inception, Nawkaw has grown from a company of one to a company of over one hundred employees which operate and service four countries, three continents, and sell Nawkaw products to more than fifty countries.
Nawkaw serves a diverse clientele of residential homeowners, general contractors, architects, property owners, and offers staining services on brick, precast concrete, tilt-up concrete, stucco, mortar, and many similar surfaces.
Vision
“Nawkaw is determined to bring more happiness into your life by adding color and unique features to the buildings you work, live and breathe in every day.”
Mission
“As pioneers of the concrete and masonry industry, we manufacture innovative products and strive to invent techniques that deliver outstanding results to those who are looking to express elegance and accentuate the architectural details of their buildings. Nawkaw is an ambassador for the environment, and as such, we make every effort to produce sustainable products that cause zero harm to nature. We want Nawkaw to be a place, where every employee knows that their daily contribution is recognized and valued and that the true key to long-term success lies in teamwork and integrity.”
Values
- Integrity
- Fairness
- Excellence
- Innovation
- Sustainability