Traded as N/A Headquarters Spartanburg Founded 1865 | Area served Worldwide Number of employees 7,000 Type of business Private | |
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Industry Innovation, Research, Chemistry, Floor Covering, Performance Materials and Textiles Key people J. Harold Chandler (CEO) Products Specialty Chemicals
Floor Coverings
Specialty Fabrics
Performance Products
Milliken Performance Solutions Revenue Not Available to Public CEO Joseph Salley (1 May 2008–) | ||
Milliken & Company is a company that has been in business since 1865. With corporate headquarters located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the company is active across a breadth of disciplines including specialty chemical, floor covering, and performance materials.
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Milliken employs over 100 PhDs, including two Division Presidents, and has accumulated more than 2,200 U.S. patents and more than 5,000 patents worldwide.
History
In 1865 Seth Milliken & William Deering founded Deering Milliken Company, a small woolen fabrics jobbing firm in Portland, Maine. William Deering left the company a few years later and started the Deering Harvester Company, which is today known as Navistar. In 1868, Seth Milliken moved the company headquarters to New York City, at that time the heart of the American textile industry. In 1884, the company invested in a new facility in Pacolet, South Carolina, and from that basic beginning the manufacturing operations grew. In 1976, Deering Milliken officially became Milliken & Company. With headquarters in Spartanburg, SC, today the company operates in a number of diverse disciplines, including specialty chemicals, performance products, floor coverings, specialty fabrics, and business consulting services.
Company leadership
Roger Milliken became president of the company on the death of his father in 1947 and served in that capacity until 1983, when he became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Milliken & Company and named Dr. Thomas J. Malone as President and Chief Operating Officer. In 2002, Malone retired, and Dr. Ashley Allen was named president and COO, becoming CEO in 2006 as Milliken stepped aside from daily management. In 2008, Allen retired and was succeeded by Dr. Joe Salley. Salley was terminated or resigned in an abrupt move in Oct. 2016. J. Harold Chandler, who has never worked for Milliken but who has served on their board for over a decade, was appointed CEO.
Manufacturing base
Milliken & Company has more than 7,000 associates with 39 manufacturing facilities located in the United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and China. Milliken serves a variety of industries including transportation, building and infrastructure, hospitality, industrial manufacturing, architecture and design, and specialty chemicals.