* Year established: 1987
* Employees: Over 160 employees in manufacturing and administration in Tennessee and additional warehousing in Los Angeles, Birmingham (UK), and Rotterdam (Netherlands). Construction currently underway for manufacturing plant in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
* Milestones: Colonial Chemical Inc. is a privately held manufacturer of specialty surfactants with a focus on developing safe and innovative ingredients for modern formulary. The company supplies high-quality products to the personal care, household, oil and gas, and industrial lubrication marketplaces. Colonial Chemical serves North America and more than 50 countries internationally.
Colonial opened its doors for operations in Dalton, Georgia, then expanded in Chattanooga in 1990. Seeking room for expansion, the company moved to Marion County, Tennessee, in 1996 and started with a 25,000-square-foot facility on 34 acres of land. Today, operations in Marion County exceed 100,000 square feet and over 100 acres of land are available for future growth.
Colonial maintained its relative size throughout the recession beginning in late 2008. In 2012, the Colonial team forged a stronger company based on specific goals that ultimately became its long-term strategic plan for growth. As a result, in one decade the company has grown its annual revenue by over 630% and increased staff from 36 to 164.
Some 157 new products were developed, and 12 patents filed, over the last 60 months.
In 2021, construction began on a new specialty chemical manufacturing plant in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The new facility is named Colonial Chemical M.E. Arabia.
In 2021, Colonial Chemical Inc. was a winner in the 2021 EPA Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Program, specifically in the focus area of the design of greener chemicals.
* Why this is a Best Place to Work: Colonial's corporate objective is to safely and profitably grow a family-owned company by creating loyalty among our employees, customers, and the community. The company does this by promoting a culture of safe processes, ongoing training, personal responsibility, and mutual accountability in every employee. This includes providing stable, well-paying jobs with the opportunity for advancement and maintaining long-term stability for its employees and customers by preserving the current ownership structure. Colonial is committed to making a profound, positive impact on our local community by investing resources in the education system, community programs, and professional organizations.
* Quotable, from David Anderson Jr., president, Colonial Chemical: "This is a busy time at Colonial Chemical. We are leading in our starting hourly wages and benefits package in our area and actively seeking additional candidates for our production staff. In the past year, we have upgraded significant systems in our plant, added additional reactor and mixing equipment and added to our existing warehouses for storage with additional loading bays for the increased traffic that's pouring into our plant. And now, we are within sight of having a rail spur added into our yard which will greatly expand Colonial's supply chain flexibility, reduce raw materials costs, and provide a key element for the company's growth in its present location. This is a great time to be part of Colonial Chemical."
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