History
General Alum & Chemical Corporation was formed in 1979 by James A. Poure. The corporate headquarters was originally located in Sylvania, Ohio. The company’s first production facility was a liquid aluminum sulfate (alum) manufacturing plant in Indianapolis, Indiana.
In 1983, a second alum production plant was built in Toledo, Ohio. In 1989, the third plant was built in Saukville, Wisconsin.
In 1984, Inc. Magazine named the company one of the fastest growing, privately held companies in the United States. Since that time, the company and its founder have been twice awarded the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
In 1994, GAC acquired a chemical and petroleum equipment distribution company with emphasis on supplying our customers with chemical storage handling systems.
A large acquisition was made in March, 1994, when General Alum purchased the assets of Delta Chemical Corporation of Searsport, Maine, a 152 acre facility located on the coast of Maine. Various chemicals are produced at this plant site to serve our regional, national and international customer base.
In 1998, the Indianapolis plant was replaced with a new, state of the art production facility to produce alum and sodium hypochlorite.
Each of these production sites have a sulfuric acid trans-loading terminal allowing for the receiving of sulfuric acid in rail cars and the loading of trucks. The company operates its own fleet of chemical transport units to deliver products to customers. We supplement our fleet with arrangements with contract carriers.
In November, 1999, at the time of the 20th anniversary of the company, General Alum & Chemical changed its name to GAC Chemical Corporation. The renaming was designed to reflect the two-decade evolution from a small single – location producer of one chemical to a diverse multi-producer and distributor of industrial and specialty chemicals. The new name was specifically chosen to emphasize the broadened capabilities and growth plan of the company as well as to maintain the connections with the corporate beginnings.
In May of 2003, the Toledo, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Saukville, Wisconsin plants were sold to a venture capital group, headed up by Mr. Poure’s son, Timothy J. Poure. That company was known as GAC MidAmerica, Inc. and its corporate headquarters were located in Toledo, Ohio. GAC MidAmerica, Inc has since been sold.
James A. Poure maintains ownership of the Searsport, Maine production facilities where we continue to expand our product and market base with new products and services. GAC Chemical’s corporate headquarters are located in Searsport, Maine.
In addition to alum and sulfuric acid, GAC also produces a wide variety of chemicals to support growth in its five major product segments: pharmaceutical, food and beverage, agricultural chemicals, pulp and paper chemical; water and wastewater treatment chemicals and industrial chemicals.
GAC is a family-owned business. The Founder, Chairman and CEO is James A. Poure; the President and Chief Operating Officer is David M. Colter. The company functions with a close-knit internal management team and an active external and internal Board of Directors, a concept instituted in 1980.
Total employment is approximately 60 people at Searsport, Maine and our satellite office located in Toledo, Ohio.
