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Business View Magazine
Nation Ford Chemical
Carving out a niche in the specialty chemical industry
Based in Fort Mill, SC, Nation Ford Chemical (NFC) was
founded in 1977 and the current CEO, John Dickson,
joined the company shortly thereafter. According to his
son, Jay, the current President of the specialty chemi-
cal company, his father had developed a new technique
for producing TBC, tertiary butylcatechol, which is an
organic specialty chemical used as a stabilizer and an
inhibitor in butadiene, styrene, and vinyl acetate as well
as an antioxidant for synthetic rubber, polymers, and oil
derivatives. As a salesman for Union Carbide based in
New York City, John Dickson recognized the need for a
domestic producer, so he bought some equipment and
opened shop. At the time, the chemical was only avail-
able in France and Japan.
Today, Nation Ford Chemical is one of America’s most
respected custom manufacturers of specialty organic
chemicals, intermediates, polymers, and colorants for
a broad range of customers world-wide. Two of its main
products are PANA (N-Phenyl-1-Naphthylamine), used
in jet engine lubricants, turbine oils, and other miscella-
neous lubricants and greases; and sulfanilic acid, used
as an intermediate for the production of paper brighten-
ers, concrete plasticizers, food dyes, and pharmaceuti-
