Gene Klim received his bachelors in chemistry at St. Peters College and advanced education in chemistry and business at Seton Hall University. Finding research too confining, he moved on to development, production and market research, finally landing in a sales role with companies such as Cyanamid, Citgo and Millmaster Chemical. Fulfillment occurred when Klim became a sales entrepreneur, brokering specialty chemicals for 13 years.

About 15 years ago, Klim purchased Pharm-Eco Chemical from Sipsy, a division of Jouveinal (France). The decimated laboratory facility was moved from Simi Valley, California to Lexington, Massachusetts. Here it grew from 10 to the present 200 people, and has since been purchased by a British company: Johnson Matthey. Meanwhile, Klim has started a new operation, AKOR, which heralds back to his first love, finding the right source for new, unusual or nonexistent chemical specialties, and arranging for alternative, more economical production sources.