Albany International

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This article is about the company formerly based in Menands, NY. For the airport, see Albany International Airport. For its former headquarters, see Albany Felt Company Complex.
Albany International Corp.
IndustryIndustrial goods
FoundedMarch 8, 1895; 129 years ago (1895-03-08) in Albany, New York, United States[1]
Founders
[1]
Headquarters216 Airport Drive,
Rochester, New Hampshire
,
US
Number of locations
19
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
RevenueIncreaseUS$ 863.7 million (Net sales)[2] (2017)
IncreaseUS$76.2 million[2]
IncreaseUS$ 295.8 million (2017)
Number of employees
4,400[2] (2017)
Divisions
  • Albany Engineered Composites
  • Machine Clothing
Websitealbint.com

Albany International Corp., originally the Albany Felt Company, is an industrial-goods company based in

stock indices.[4]

The company was founded in Albany, New York, in 1895 to make felts, serving the many paper mills in the region. It grew and prospered throughout the early 20th century, even during the Great Depression. In the later half of the 20th century, it began acquiring overseas firms and expanding into the composites sector. In 2013 it moved its headquarters to New Hampshire to better serve its aerospace customers.

Overview

Albany International has two

tanners (the company claims to be the largest manufacturer of felts for leather manufacture in the world).[9] Its competitors include one other American company, Xerium Technologies, and two privately held foreign concerns, Valmet Fabrics Oy and Asahi Kasei Spandex Europe GmbH.[10]

Salt Lake City Utah, Boerne Texas , and Commercy France. The company also operates research centers in Sélestat, France, and Halmstad, Sweden.[11]

History

Albany International has grown steadily since its founding. For over a century, it was based in the city from which it takes its name.

19th-century American paper industry

In the late 19th century, much of the growing American paper industry was based along the

papermaking.[1] To make paper, manufacturers used the Fourdrinier paper machine developed early in the century, which could make continuous paper rolls. In order to do so, its belts needed to be clothed in special felts that could both brace paper and help dry it.[12]

A dozen companies were already providing felt for Albany's paper mills in the early 1890s when one of them, the Albany Huyck felt mill, burned down in 1894. This left its talented superintendent, Duncan Fuller, who had

patented a new weaving method, jobless. He was soon re-employed by the three founding partners of the newly formed Albany Felt Company.[13]

1895–1901: Startup years

The company was incorporated on March 8, 1895.[1] It had several advantages that gave it the confidence to enter a crowded market—an ideal location near many potential customers and Fuller's proven expertise. Most significant were the partners themselves–Selden Marvin, a local bank president who served as the company's first secretary; James Cox, its first president, and Parker Corning, vice president.[13]

A black and white photograph of a young white man with a short haircut and his shirt collar turned slightly up over his tie
Corning, ca. 1910

Corning was a member of a family prominent in Albany business and politics—his nephew, Erastus, later served as the city's mayor for four decades—and had just graduated from Yale. The family provided most of the company's initial capital. His father put up most of the company's initial $40,000 in cash, and the family's prize-winning herd of Southdown sheep were fleeced for most of the company's wool.[14]

The new company needed to first set up a plant, and space was found on Thacher Street in northern Albany, at the corner of the Cornings' 700-acre (280 ha) family farm.[14] By the summer of 1895, 36 workers were using seven rented looms on the property. In 1896 the company recorded $27,000 in sales.[1]

1902–1946: Rapid growth

Within five years that number had more than quadrupled, following continued growth in the paper industry. Albany Felt was selling its products to paper makers all over the

town of Colonie to its north. The new facility was completed in 1902.[15]

A brick building with two offset wings and a higher tower in the center with a peaked green top
The 1902 headquarters building, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places

By 1920 sales had increased to $2 million annually, making the company the second largest in the industry, as Albany Felt continued to serve the rapidly consolidating American paper industry.

U.S. House of Representatives, he began implementing his plans to sell to customers outside the U.S. as well.[17]

The following year the

village of Menands was incorporated in the area around the plant, giving the company the address it would be known by for decades afterward. By 1925 sales had reached $2.5 million with the growth of the Roaring Twenties economy, leading to another expansion of the plant which doubled its size. Corning's focus on efficiency and expanding markets made it very easy for the company to not only survive but prosper when the Great Depression began in 1929. Within three years sales had again reached $2 million; in 1937 they reached $3 million, prompting another expansion of the plant.[18]

Corning, the only founder still alive by that time, had returned from Congress to take a more active role in the company. U.S. entry into World War II in 1941 again increased demand as paper suppliers sought to meet new defense contracts. After Corning's death two years later, control of the company passed to his cousin Lewis Parker.[19]

1947–1969: International expansion

The end of the war and the return to prosperity opened up new economic possibilities for many American firms, and Albany Felt was no exception. Parker realized that the company would need to start producing its fabrics closer to its increasingly distant customers. By 1947 extra production capacity was opened up in Albany, and the main building was expanded yet again to increase office space the next year. Four years later, with the company having built up a large enough customer base in Canada, it created a Canadian

Capital District.[17]

It was soon followed by a plant in the Southeast[17] and, in 1954, the last expansion of the Menands corporate headquarters building.[19] During the next two decades, Albany Felt entered even more foreign markets in a production capacity. Joint ventures brought the company to Latin America, Scandinavia, France, the Netherlands, and Australia, as well as into product lines beyond industrial felt.[17]

This growth led to a major turning point in the company's history. In 1969 management found itself confronted with a

hostile takeover attempt. To fend it off, Albany Felt merged with Wisconsin's Appleton Wire Works, another manufacturer of paper machine clothing, and Swedish feltmaker Nordiska Maskinfilt. The new company was renamed Albany International. It had 6,242 employees, twice as many as Albany Felt had had before, and became the world's first company that provided fabrics for all stages of the papermaking process worldwide.[20]

1970–1988: Going public

In 1972, Albany International introduced its current logo. This coincided with another momentous event in the company's history—later that year, it went public. In July 1974 its shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).[21]

During the 1970s the company continued to grow through further acquisitions. Among these were machine-clothing companies in England, Brazil, and

Boston-area research firm.[21] Reflecting its widening focus, in 1976 management moved the company's headquarters to the nearby, recently renovated Henry M. Sage Estate, nearby in Menands. Production and lower-level management activities continued at the original building.[22]

These acquisitions came with an increasing debt load. In 1983, at the behest of the largest group of shareholders, management took the company private again via a

NASDAQ in 1987 and were once again listed on the NYSE in 1988.[21]

At the same time, the company moved its headquarters back to the original building. To make room for upper management again, most production that had been going on there was instead moved to a plant across the Hudson in East Greenbush. Some renovations were made to the building to accommodate this change.[22]

1989–present: Composites and move from Albany

The 1990s posed new challenges for the newly republicized Albany International. A worldwide recession in the early years of the decade squeezed customers, while the end of the Cold War opened up new markets. The company continued its strategy of acquisitions and aggressively entering new markets while increasing its own efficiency wherever possible.[23]

Panyu District. These were accompanied by new plants in Europe.[23]

The next year the company acquired Techniweave, a maker of

composites in Rochester, New Hampshire. It was merged with a Texas-based composite manufacturer in 2006. The combined companies formed the basis of Albany Engineered Composites,[23] a growing part of the company's sales and profits today.[2]

In 2007 Albany International built its first plant in China, in the coastal city of Hangzhou. That same year the company began a multiyear restructuring process aimed at remaining competitive in the long term. It sold noncore businesses such as its filtration division and Albany Door Systems, a maker of high-speed industrial doors,[23] acquired by Swedish lockmaker Assa Abloy in 2011.[24] PrimaLoft, an insulating fabric developed by the company for the U.S. military, was spun off.[23]

The company implemented Six Sigma and lean manufacturing processes to improve its efficiency at all levels. It was thus able to weather the Great Recession of 2008 and improve its performance afterward, as it had 80 years earlier when the Depression struck.[23] Growth, particularly in the composites business, led management to move the company's headquarters out of the Albany area.

At the beginning of 2011, the company officially made Rochester its headquarters.[6] The last production in the Menands building ended that same year.[25] However, it took two more years for all remaining operations to be removed to Rochester. In 2012 the building was sold to a developer who has since converted it into apartments; the company moved its remaining operations out the year afterward.[19] The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, recognizing the fact that despite expansions it had remained unchanged architecturally since the early 20th century.[26]

Future

The company describes its current strategy as "focus and lead". In more specific terms, it means making sure the

Chief Executive Officer Joseph Morone pointed to General Electric's recent choice of Albany as the supplier of the fan case for its GE9X engines as a step toward this goal.[28]

Despite recent declines in sales, management sees the company as progressing toward those goals. In his letter, Morone points to an increase in adjusted

pension plans in the U.S., U.K., and Canada.[28]

Strategic acquisitions are also a continuing part of the company's growth strategy. In February 2016 Albany agreed to acquire

revolving credit facility. Morone said that while the division had growth opportunities, the company saw "complementarity" between it and Albany Engineered Composites that could further increase earnings in the medium term.[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Getting Started". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e "2017 10-K for Albany International Corp". 16 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Albany International Corp. (AIN)". Yahoo! Finance. 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  4. ^ "About us". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  5. ^ "787 Dreamliner Main Landing Gear Brace". Albany International Corp. 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Albany International Today". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  7. ^ "Paper Machine Clothing". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  8. ^ "Building Products". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  9. ^ "Tannery". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  10. ^ "AIN Competitors". Yahoo! Finance. 2009. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  11. ^ "Global Operations". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  12. ^ Skaaren, Ella (1995). Albany International: The First Hundred Years. Menands, NY: Albany International Corp. pp. 1–3., cited at Elise Johnson-Schmidt (September 2013). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Albany Felt Company Complex" (PDF). p. 11. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  13. ^ a b McEneny, John; Holtzman, Dennis; Arnold, Robert W. (1995). Albany, Capital City on the Hudson. American Historical Press. p. 192., cited at Johnson-Schmidt, 11
  14. ^
    ISBN 9780791472941
    . Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  15. ^ Johnson-Schmidt, 12.
  16. ^ Skaaren, 7.
  17. ^ a b c d "Global Expansion". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  18. ^ Skaaren, 14.
  19. ^ a b c Johnson-Schmidt, 13.
  20. ^ "Turning Point". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  21. ^ a b c "Acquisitions and public offerings". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  22. ^ a b Johnson-Schmidt, 15,
  23. ^ a b c d e f "Transformation". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  24. ^ "Assa Abloy Acquires Albany Door System". Locksmith Ledger. November 16, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  25. ^ "Albany International building in Menands under contract to developer for residential conversion". AllOverAlbany.com. May 18, 2012. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  26. ^ Johnson-Schmidt, 18.
  27. ^ "Our Strategy". Albany International Corp. 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  28. ^ a b Morone, Joseph (2014). "CEO letter to shareholders". Albany International Corp. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  29. BusinessWire
    . February 29, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.

External links

  • Business data for Albany International:
  • Company website
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