Wah Chang Corporation
| Industry | Manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1916 [1][2] |
| Founder | K.C. Li |
| Headquarters | Albany, Linn County, Oregon |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
K.C. Li; Lynn D. Davis |
| Revenue |  US$$265 million (FY 2005)[3] |
|
Number of employees
|
1,100 |
| Website | Official Website |
Wah Chang Corporation is an American manufacturing company based in Albany, Oregon in the United States. In 1916 (some sources say 1914[4][5]), Chinese American mining engineer Kuo-Ching Li[2] founded the company in New York state, under the name Wah Chang Trading Corporation.[4] Wah Chang is Chinese for "fortunate enterprise"[5] or "great development".[6] This expanded as an international tungsten ore and concentrate trading company. Li remained with the company until his death in 1961, serving as president until 1960 and then board chairman.[2]
In 1946, the company built a plant in Union City, New Jersey. In the 1950s, it was also operating tungsten mines in Calento, Nevada, and near Bishop, California.[4] In early 1956, the Atomic Energy Commission contracted with Wah Chang to run the U.S. Bureau of Mines zirconium plant in Albany, Oregon, to develop high-purity zirconium for use in the United States Navy's nuclear program.
Wah Chang was privately owned by K. C. Li until 1967, when it was acquired by Teledyne,[7] the main Albany plant (located in the then-unincorporated area known as Millersburg) becoming a subsidiary named Teledyne Wah Chang Albany, or TWCA.[8] In 1966, Wah Chang had around 1,200 employees, in plants in Albany, Oregon; Glen Cove, New York; Huntsville, Alabama; and Texas City, Texas, and sales of $40.7 million.[9] The Albany plant was by far the largest, and at the time of its sale to Teledyne, it accounted for around $20 million in annual revenue, with 860 employees at that location.[7] The Alabama factory became a separate subsidiary named Teledyne Wah Chang Huntsville.[10]
In 1975, TWCA had 1,400 employees,[8] and had $100 million in annual sales.[6]
The Millersburg plant was listed as a Superfund site in 1983, requiring environmental clean-up, which the company carried out over the following several years.[11]
After Teledyne merged with Allegheny Ludlum Corporation in 1996, to become Allegheny Technologies Incorporated, the company became ATI Wah Chang. In March 2014,[12] it was renamed ATI Specialty Alloys and Components.[13]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
