Print ArticleCentral Florida papers once described Jacksonville as an industrial city that sweats, and pretty much smells that way. This is a city that could use a shot of municipal-strength deodorant. On the other hand, local advocates countered that the city's rotten egg stench was the "smell of money". Here's a look back at the five places that once gave the city an image it's still trying to rid itself of.
2. Bush Boake Allen (BBA)
In September 1933, the Nelio-Resin Corporation opened a crude turpentine refining operation on the outskirts of West Jacksonville. Nelio was acquired by the Union Bag-Camp Paper Company in 1964 for $4 million. Jacksonville became the home of the company's terpene and aromatics division. Here, raw material was processed from Union Camp's four pulp mills.
By 1981, the plant employed 200. In 1982, Union Camp acquired Bush Broake Allen (BBA) from Tenneco Inc. Bush Boake Allen had, at this time, 13 manufacturing or compounding facilities on five continents. Its operations were a good fit for Union Camp's own aroma chemicals business, which was based on distilling crude sulfate turpentine into intermediate terpene fractions and aroma chemical precursors. The addition of BBA gave Union Camp greater manufacturing capability to produce a broad range of these chemicals. The Jacksonville facility eventually fell under the BBA brand.
In 2000, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) acquired BBA, making it the largest flavor and fragrance company in the world. Today, IFF continues to operate the turpentine plant that Nelio-Resin founded 82 years ago at 2501 Lane Avenue. In addition, between IFF and Renessenz, Jacksonville remains "the world capital for terpene aroma chemicals."
Stop by Metro Jacksonville's Book Launch Party at 6pm today at San Marco Bookstore learn more about Jacksonville's modern history. Click HERE for more information.
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