Return to Archives
Plant’s roots run deep in Pulaski
, Staff Writer
03-01-2010
The roots of NanoChemonics Holdings LLC run deep in the Town of Pulaski, according to a history included in the company’s Employee Handbook.
The business got its start, under the name Bertha Iron Works, as an iron ore smelting facility started by two Welsh miners who migrated to the United States. No date is provided for the company’s start, but the plant became known as American Pigment Corporation in 1942 it began manufacturing a synthetic iron oxide.
A second line of products – magnetic oxide – was added in 1955. With the demand for magnetic oxides growing, Hercules purchased the plant in 1964. Within a year, magnetic oxides would become the plant’s principal product.
According to the handbook, NanoChemonics oxide powder was manufactured for use mainly in computer and eight-track audio, but in 1976 it began production of video grade oxides.
With competition increasing and prices for their products decreasing, employees bought out Hercules, thus establishing Magnox Inc. in 1986. The new ownership restructured the operation to emphasize research and development to meet the new demands of the market for magnetic oxides. At that time, the company expanded its reach internationally.
Demands for newer, more highly advanced products, sparked the need for additional upgrades to the facility, so in 1989 Mistui Mining and Smelting began a five-year purchase and the company expanded into high-grade videotape markets.
In July 1999 two key employees purchased the plant and, a year later, added EJ Vest Co. as an investment partner so that it could expand into the specialty pigments, cosmetics and transparent iron oxide markets.
EJ Vest Co. purchased the plant in 2005, forming NanoChemonics Inc. to expand nanoparticle synthesis. A year later Spotswood Capital LLC joined in partnership to form NanoChemonics Holdings LLC.
