Houghton International Inc., Valley Forge, Pa., a global leader in metalworking fluids and services, is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2015 with a variety of global events to mark the extraordinary business milestone. The company is holding open houses at corporate offices and plants throughout the world where employees, retirees, families, customers, distributors, local dignitaries, and media are gathering to learn more about the company’s remarkable history and promising future.
Houghton recently held an open house at its headquarters where over 225 people gathered for a product line exposition, laboratory tours, multimedia presentations, food from around the world, and executive greetings. It was a unique opportunity for the community to learn more about this nearly $1 billion dollar global company, its rich history, extraordinary growth and longevity, and path toward a prosperous future.
“We are holding events in the communities we serve throughout the world to recognize collectively a company that’s been in business for 150 years,” says Houghton CEO Paul DeVivo. “It is so rare for a company to reach this milestone. We want our employees to be proud of this great achievement, and we want the business and local communities to know about the great work that Houghton has done to establish itself as a global market leader.” Houghton will host open houses in Spain, England, France, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Poland, Brazil, Italy, Shanghai, Singapore, Thailand, and India among other locations, each celebrating Houghton’s local history, products, people, culture, customers, and impact.
Houghton founded in 1865 as a producer of lubricants and rust preventives, grew to provide a variety of sophisticated fluids to support industrial expansion, transportation networks and U.S. military operations, and expanded globally in response to customer expansion and demand. Now Houghton has approximately 2000 employees in more than 50 offices and manufacturing and research facilities throughout the world, including its corporate headquarters and research lab in Valley Forge. The company focuses on providing innovative and targeted solutions to enable global customers to maximize quality and productivity while achieving goals for safety and environmental responsibility.
Image caption — R&T Past and Present: Dave Slinkman, SVP, Global Research & Technology, is pictured with Nate Lentz, who worked at the Houghton lab for over 56 years, his wife Ann, and Joe Warchol, Houghton’s former VP Technical.
