Buckman celebrates its 70th anniversary
02/09/2015
Its global headquarters are still at the same location in Memphis, Tennessee, on which founder, Dr Stanley Buckman, set up the company’s original offices and manufacturing facilities.
A biochemist, Dr Buckman worked during World War II on projects to prevent decay in wood. After the war, he saw possibilities for the technology he had developed in the paper business and he quickly expanded into other markets, including leather.
Today, the company has 1,700 employees, a presence in more than 90 countries, manufacturing operations in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Belgium, South Africa, China and Singapore as well as in the US, and a much-expanded product catalogue.
It is under the leadership of Steven Buckman, nephew of the founder, who has been chief executive since 2000, and Kathy Buckman Gibson, Stanley Buckman’s granddaughter, who became chief operating officer at the start of 2014.
“When I look back over our history, I am sure that Dr Stanley Buckman would be proud of how Buckman has continued to grow and thrive,” the company’s current chief executive said in a statement celebrating the anniversary. “We have thrived because we have been willing to adapt and change yet remain Buckman at our core, a company focused on our customers.”
In the course of the last 70 years the company has won two US Environmental Protection Agency Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards for its enzymatic technologies and says it prides itself on being “an environmentally conscious manufacturer, with an ongoing commitment to transparency in reporting and continuous improvement in sustainability”.
Environmental outreach is also part (along with education and health) of its philanthropic initiative, BuckmanCares, in which its employees around the world carry out projects to help partners, friends and neighbours.
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