COMPANYHISTORIES
SIC

Industrial Organic Chemicals, Not Elsewhere Classified

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

89companies1847–1998founding years87still active2no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedBoatmen's Bancshares Inc.
1847
1867
TechnologyNobel patents dynamite.
FoundedHeidelberger Zement AG
1873
FoundedKao Corporation
1887
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
FoundedThe King Arthur Flour Company
1904
FoundedSchott Brothers, Inc.
1913
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedUnion Carbide Corporation
1917
FoundedQuantum Chemical Corporation
1924
FoundedAMETEK, Inc.
1930
FoundedPetroleos Mexicanos
1938
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
FoundedKaman Corp.
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
FoundedJohnston Industries, Inc.
1948
FoundedDover Corporation
1955
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
FoundedNational Picture & Frame Company
1964
FoundedOffshore Logistics, Inc.
1969
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
FoundedThe Really Useful Group
1977
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
FoundedAltera Corporation
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
FoundedFirst Brands Corporation
1986
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
FoundedRooms To Go Inc.
1990
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
1997
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. →
Active · founded 1847
Boatmen's Bancshares Inc.
The Associated Press →
Active · founded 1848
The Associated Press (AP) describes itself as the largest newsgathering organization in the world.
Société du Louvre →
Defunct · founded 1855 · France
Société du Louvre does not run that Paris museum, but its properties are almost as distinguished.
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company →
Active · founded 1867
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company is a prominent regional and specialty beer brewer.
Heidelberger Zement AG →
Active · founded 1873 · Germany
Heidelberger Zement AG is one of the world's five largest producers of construction materials.
Chattem, Inc. →
Active · founded 1879
Chattem, Inc.
PPG Industries, Inc. →
Active · founded 1883
PPG Industries, Inc.
Vorwerk & Co. →
Active · founded 1883 · Germany
For more than 100 years, Vorwerk & Co.
Ethyl Corporation →
Active · founded 1887
With facilities in the United States, Japan, France, England, and Belgium, Ethyl Corporation was a leading manufacturer…
Kao Corporation →
Active · founded 1887 · Japan
Kao Corporation, often called the Procter & Gamble of Japan, is one of Japan's leaders in personal care products,…
Amoco Corporation →
Active · founded 1889
Amoco Corporation is active in three main fields within the petroleum, natural gas, and chemical industries:…
Rhône-Poulenc S.A. →
Active · founded 1895 · France
Rhône-Poulenc S.A.
Herman Goelitz, Inc. →
Active · founded 1898
Herman Goelitz, Inc.
Westvaco Corporation →
Active · founded 1899
Westvaco Corporation is a major manufacturer of printing papers and envelopes, consumer and industrial packaging, and…
The King Arthur Flour Company →
Active · founded 1904
The King Arthur Flour Company celebrates its 210th anniversary in the year 2000.
Blue Diamond Growers →
Active · founded 1910
Blue Diamond Growers is the world's largest tree nut marketer and also ranks as one of the largest agricultural…
Hartmarx Corporation →
Active · founded 1911
Hartmarx Corporation is a holding company for a number of clothing companies, including its flagship brands of men's…
The Lane Co., Inc. →
Active · founded 1912
The Lane Co., Inc.
Courtaulds plc →
Active · founded 1913 · England
Courtaulds plc is the world's second-largest producer of acrylic fibers and a major global producer of rayon.
Schott Brothers, Inc. →
Active · founded 1913
Schott Brothers, Inc.
The Dexter Corporation →
Active · founded 1914
With a history that stretches back over two centuries, The Dexter Corporation is the oldest company listed on the New…
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company →
Active · founded 1915
E.I.
Lutheran Brotherhood →
Active · founded 1917
Lutheran Brotherhood is the second-largest fraternal benefit society in the United States.
Rohm and Haas Company →
Active · founded 1917
Rohm and Haas Company is a specialty chemical company that is best known for the invention of Plexiglas, a product it…
Union Carbide Corporation →
Active · founded 1917
Union Carbide Corporation is the world's largest producer of ethylene glycol, commonly used as antifreeze, and is a…
Shionogi & Co., Ltd. →
Active · founded 1919 · Japan
Shionogi & Co., Ltd., ranks among Japan's leading developers, producers, and exporters of pharmaceuticals.
AlliedSignal Inc. →
Defunct · founded 1920
AlliedSignal Inc., formed from the acquisition of Signal Companies, Inc.
Zatarain's, Inc. →
Active · founded 1922
Zatarain's, Inc., is a leading producer of rice mixes.
Advance Publications Inc. →
Active · founded 1924
Family owned and operated, Advance Publications Inc.
Quantum Chemical Corporation →
Active · founded 1924
Quantum Chemical Corporation (prior to 1988, the National Distillers and Chemical Corporation) is one of the largest…
Weis Markets, Inc. →
Active · founded 1924
Weis Markets, Inc.
Rayonier Inc. →
Active · founded 1926
Rayonier Inc.
Südzucker AG →
Active · founded 1926 · Germany
Südzucker AG is the largest sugar producer in the European Union (EU) with an annual production of three million metric…
Nalco Chemical Corporation →
Active · founded 1928
With nearly one-fifth of the global market for water treatment chemicals, Nalco Chemical Company dominates that $3…
AMETEK, Inc. →
Active · founded 1930
AMETEK, Inc.
Porsche AG →
Active · founded 1931 · Germany
Porsche AG is legendary for its innovative and beautiful automobile designs.
Value Line, Inc. →
Active · founded 1931
Value Line, Inc.
Besnier SA →
Active · founded 1933 · France
Besnier SA is France's largest dairy products producer and one of the largest dairy products producers in Europe.
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation →
Active · founded 1933
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation is one of the world's largest manufacturers of bromine and brominated chemical…
Petroleos Mexicanos →
Active · founded 1938 · Mexico
Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is Mexico's largest enterprise in terms of total sales, total assets, personnel employed,…
World's Finest Chocolate Inc. →
Active · founded 1939
World's Finest Chocolate Inc.
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. →
Active · founded 1940
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. →
Active · founded 1942 · Japan
c.
Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. →
Active · founded 1945
Jos.
Kaman Corp. →
Active · founded 1945
Kaman Corp.
Sub-Zero Freezer Co., Inc. →
Active · founded 1945
Sub-Zero Freezer Co., Inc., is the leading manufacturer of built-in refrigerators, which can be fronted with cabinetry…
Iams Company →
Active · founded 1946
Iams Company is a manufacturer of premium dog and cat foods which are distributed only through veterinarians, animal…
Cumberland Packing Corporation →
Active · founded 1947
Cumberland Packing Corporation is a relatively small, family-run business, yet it has been a major player in the…
Dal-Tile International Inc. →
Active · founded 1947
Dal-Tile International Inc.
Johnston Industries, Inc. →
Active · founded 1948
Although it got its start selling auto replacement parts, Johnston Industries, Inc.
Consorcio G Grupo Dina, S.A. de C.V. →
Active · founded 1951 · Mexico
Consorcio G Grupo Dina , S.A.
Hach Co. →
Active · founded 1951
Hach Co.
Bayer A.G. →
Active · founded 1952 · Germany
Bayer A.G., along with BASF and Hoechst, is heir to the German chemical cartel known as I.G.
WD-40 Company →
Active · founded 1953
Since the 1950s, the San Diego-based WD-40 Company has dominated the U.S.
Dover Corporation →
Active · founded 1955
Dover Corporation is a diversified industrial manufacturing holding company composed of about 50 subsidiaries with…
Mitsui Petrochemical Industries, Ltd. →
Active · founded 1955 · Japan
Mitsui Petrochemical Industries, Ltd., also known as Mitsui Sekka, is one of Japan's leading petrochemical companies.
Renault Argentina S.A. →
Active · founded 1955 · Argentina
Of Argentina's ten automakers, almost all are closely held subsidiaries or affiliates of their American, European, or…
First Mississippi Corporation →
Active · founded 1957
First Mississippi Corporation is the largest company chartered in Mississippi and the only company from that state to…
Marie Callender's Restaurant & Bakery, Inc. →
Active · founded 1964
Marie Callender's Restaurant & Bakery, Inc.
National Picture & Frame Company →
Active · founded 1964
National Picture & Frame Company is a major designer, manufacturer, and marketer of a wide variety of low-priced…
Ruth's Chris Steak House →
Active · founded 1965
Ruth's Chris Steak House is an international chain of upscale restaurants.
Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. →
Active · founded 1966
Founded in Berkeley, California, in the mid-1960s, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc.
Ceradyne, Inc. →
Active · founded 1967
Ceradyne, Inc.
Akzo Nobel N.V. →
Active · founded 1969 · Netherlands
The Dutch company Akzo Nobel N.V.
Offshore Logistics, Inc. →
Active · founded 1969
Offshore Logistics, Inc., with headquarters in Lafayette, Louisiana, provides a variety of services to the petroleum…
Desc, S.A. de C.V. →
Active · founded 1973 · Mexico
Desc, S.A.
The Yankee Candle Company, Inc. →
Active · founded 1973
The Yankee Candle Company Inc.
The Summit Bancorporation →
Active · founded 1974
The Summit Bancorporation is the holding company for Summit Bank, New Jersey's fourth largest bank.
Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile →
Active · founded 1976 · Chile
: 212234 Copper Ore & Nickel Ore Mining; 331411 Primary Smelting & Refining of Copper Ore The state-owned Corporacion…
The Really Useful Group →
Active · founded 1977 · United Kingdom
The Really Useful Group is the umbrella corporation over a welter of entertainment and leisure companies that operate…
Riklis Family Corp. →
Active · founded 1980
Riklis Family Corp.
Novacor Chemicals Ltd. →
Active · founded 1981 · Canada
Novacor Chemicals Ltd.
Nimbus CD International, Inc. →
Active · founded 1982
In the mid-1990s Nimbus CD International, Inc.
Grameen Bank →
Active · founded 1983 · Bangladesh
Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus pioneered the concept of 'micro-credit'--minuscule loans to the very poor.
Altera Corporation →
Active · founded 1984
Founded in 1983, Altera Corporation is a leading maker of high-density programmable logic devices (PLDs), based on…
Novellus Systems, Inc. →
Active · founded 1984
Based in San Jose, California, Novellus Systems, Inc.
Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. →
Active · founded 1984
Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc.
American Classic Voyages Company →
Active · founded 1985
American Classic Voyages Company is parent company to two pleasure cruise companies, the Delta Queen Steamboat Company,…
NutraSweet Company →
Active · founded 1985
NutraSweet, the world's largest manufacturer of the sweetening product known as aspartame, originated as a single…
First Brands Corporation →
Active · founded 1986
First Brands is a leading consumer products company with operations based on a number of major brands: STP oil, Glad…
Gaylord Container Corporation →
Active · founded 1986
Gaylord Container Corporation is a major national manufacturer and distributor of corrugated containers,…
Sterling Chemicals, Inc. →
Active · founded 1986
Sterling Chemicals, Inc.
Repsol S.A. →
Active · founded 1987 · Spain
Repsol S.A.
Brightpoint, Inc. →
Active · founded 1989
Brightpoint, Inc.
Rooms To Go Inc. →
Active · founded 1990
Rooms To Go Inc., a low- to mid-priced furniture store chain, has rapidly expanded to more than 60 stores since opening…
OM Group, Inc. →
Active · founded 1991
Created through the 1991 merger of America's Mooney Chemicals, Inc., Finland's Kokkola Chemicals Oy, and France's…
Orkla A/S →
Active · founded 1991 · Norway
Orkla A/S is the largest branded consumer goods group and food and beverage producer in Scandinavia and one of the five…
Footstar, Incorporated →
Active · founded 1996
Footstar, Incorporated is a holding company whose two subsidiaries, Footaction and Meldisco, are leading shoe retailers…
Weatherford International, Inc. →
Active · founded 1998
Houston-based Weatherford International, Inc.
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