NVF Company, formerly known as National Vulcanized Fiber, was a private company based in Yorklyn, Delaware. One of its original products, a sheet-like material called Forbon, was commonly used on

guitar pickup A pickup is a transducer that captures or senses mechanical vibrations produced by musical instruments, particularly stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, and converts these to an electrical signal that is amplified using an instru ...

s. NVF also made a product called Yorkite, another

vulcanized fibre Vulcanized fibre or red fibre is a laminated plastic composed of only cellulose. The material is a tough, resilient, hornlike material that is lighter than aluminium, tougher than leather, and stiffer than most thermoplastics. The newer wood-lamin ...

, that has wood grain printed directly on the material. At one time, the company generated an estimated $42.2 million in sales and had about 550 employees. NVF stopped manufacturing Vulcanized Fibre in Yorklyn after a flood in 2003 damaged the equipment. Corporate offices continued to operate until 2009, when they declared bankruptcy and dissolved the company, including the Kennett Square facility which made Industrial Plastic Laminates. At that point, NVF Company ceased to exist.

History

The company was formed by the merger of American Vulcanized Fiber Company, the National Fiber and Insulation Company and the Keystone Fiber Company on January 1, 1923. Company president Warren Marshall's 1936 salary was included in a list of "highest salaries paid in nation" released in 1938 by a Congressional committee. In 1946, the company's shares began trading on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

. In the 1990s, the company was controlled by financier

Victor Posner Victor Posner (September 18, 1918 – February 11, 2002) was an American businessman. He was one of the highest-paid business executives of his generation. He was a pioneer of the leveraged buyout and became notorious for asset strippin ...

. NVF was involved in a dispute with the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts about unpaid taxes on a paper factory there which was later destroyed by fire. An NVF facility in

Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Kennett Square is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known as the Mushroom Capital of the World because mushroom farming in the region produces over 500 million pounds of mushrooms a year, totaling half of the United ...

was found to be contaminated by

polychlorinated biphenyl Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...

s. A former NVF manufacturing site in

Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a small city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is home to the Uni ...

has been redeveloped by the Commonwealth Group of

New Castle, Delaware New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 5,285. History New Castl ...

References

External links

* Companies based in New Castle County, Delaware Manufacturing companies established in 1923 Privately held companies based in Delaware 1923 establishments in Delaware Defunct manufacturing companies based in Delaware {{US-manufacturing-company-stub