Zerex
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as | : ASH S&P 400 Component |
| Industry | Manufacturing and chemical distribution |
| Founded | 1924 |
| Headquarters | Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. |
|
Key people
|
Chairman of the Board, William A. Wulfsohn (CEO) |
| Products | Chemicals, plastics, motor oil products, and other specialized products and services |
| Revenue |
|
 $ 302 million (FY 2012)
|
|
 $ 26 million (FY 2012)
|
|
| Total assets |
$ 12.52 billion (FY 2012)
|
| Total equity |
$ 4.029 billion (FY 2012)
|
|
Number of employees
|
15,001 (September 2012) |
| Website | www |
$ 8.206 billion (FY 2012)
Ashland Inc. is an American Fortune 500 company which operates in more than 100 countries. Headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, in the United States the company traces its roots back to the city of Ashland, Kentucky (for which it is named) and where it was headquartered from 1924 to 1999.
Ashland was founded in 1924 as the Ashland Refining Company in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, by Paul G. Blazer.
In October 1923, J. Fred Miles of the Swiss Oil Company of Lexington, Kentucky. employed Paul G. Blazer and assigned him the task of locating, purchasing and operating a refinery in northeastern Kentucky. Mr. Blazer selected a location on the banks of the Big Sandy River approximately two miles south of the Ohio River near the community of Leech Station. One mile south of the city of Catlettsburg, the site contained an existing refinery which was purchased by Blazer which had been in operation since 1916. The Catlettsburg site was advantageous due to its location near the Ohio River and offered an efficient means of transportation for the fledgling company. With funds supplied by Swiss Oil, Blazer arranged to buy, at a price of $212,500, the small unprofitable 1,000 barrel per day refinery of Great Eastern Refining Company which had been owned by coal operators in Huntington, West Virginia. With the purchase of the refinery came a small towboat and oil barge.
On February 2, 1924, Blazer and three Swiss Oil executives incorporated Ashland Refining Company, with a paid in capital of $250,000. They took over the operations of the Catlettsburg Refinery which had twenty-five employees who were working seven days per week and twelve hours per day. Blazer moved from Lexington to Ashland. The only member of the Swiss Oil organization to come to Ashland with Blazer was Ashland Refining Company's first treasurer, William Waples.
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Wikipedia