FIXATED ON FLUORINE

Abstract

SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD, OZARK Fluorine Specialties is hardly an emerging company by most standards. But for employees enjoying two years now under new owners, Ozark is indeed emerging—from a decade of inertia. Ozark was formed in Tulsa, Okla., in 1924 as Ozark Chemical Co., a sulfuric acid producer that later branched into phosphoric and hydrofluoric acid. Ozark's biggest claim to fame is pioneering the manufacture of sodium monofluorophosphate, which Colgate-Palmolive named MFP and put in one of the first fluoridated toothpastes. The company is still the only U.S. maker of the three major dental fluorides. Ozark became part of Ozark-Mahoning when it merged with the fluorspar producer Mahoning Mining in 1946, and then part of Pennwalt through a 1974 acquisition. Through the ownership changes, the Tulsa business operated with relative independence. However, that changed in 1990 when Elf Atochem bought Pennwalt. According to Philip E. Rakita, Ozark's director of business development, acquisition by the Fren...