In this edition, you’ll see a number of stories about DuPont Co., with perhaps a couple of items that have not made their way into the local media.
The Wilmington-based company is a busy place as it settles up with rival Monsanto over patent disputes over seeds, comes out in favor of marriage equality legislation in Delaware and works with the Department of Agriculture on conservation practices as the company develops an ethanol plant in Iowa, using corn stalks and other material rather than the precious kernels.
Over the years, DuPont has transformed itself into a life sciences company, at various times adding and shedding businesses, often to the dismay of its army of retirees and former employees who worked at the company when employment totaled more than 20,000. The job count in Delaware now numbers roughly a third of that number. One traumatic milestone was the decision to shed the nylon business. Another was exiting the pharmaceutical arena and the third was acquiring seed giant Pioneer in a deal that was viewed at the time by some analysts as being too pricey. Recently, the company acquired Danish enzyme company Danisco.
Still, in a shrunken corporate sector in Delaware, DuPont is at or near the top of the list of private employers. The reason for the ability to maintain a sizable presence in northern Delaware is not becoming a “one trick pony.” The company is constantly evolving, with the latest move with a local impact being the sale of its auto finishes operation to an investment group.
That deal bears watching as the new owners have few reasons to stick around in Delaware. It also brings to mind a brief conversation I had years ago with a DuPonter at the lavish opening ceremony for the Wilmington headquarters of credit card giant MBNA. He took note of the company clearly attempting to be the big kid on the block at the time when press reports had MBNA replacing DuPont as the big fish. At the time, DuPont was struggling with high costs and a host of global competitors. Their time will come, he said in what at the time seemed to be a case of sour grapes.
Later on, we had AstraZeneca, which evolved out of a chemical company acquisition and became a pure pharmaceutical play. For a time, AZ, which received incentives to locate its North American headquarters to Delaware, looked like it might take that top slot as employment topped 5,000 for a time.
The DuPonter was right and the company later celebrated its 200th birthday. MBNA went on to become part of Bank of America, shedding thousands of workers. With its recent announcement, AstraZeneca is destined to employ 2,000 or so in Fairfax. -Doug Rainey
