Albany International history

In 1896 the company recorded $27,000 in sales.

Marvin, president of Albany Savings Institution and Corning's uncle by marriage, died in 1899.

By 1907 the president's salary had been raised to $5,000 a year, and the vice-president's to $4,000.

1908: The company expands its markets to Europe, Canada, Japan, and Mexico.

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.

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.

In 1944 Clark Estates Inc., an investment company, had purchased a large block--32 percent--of Albany stock.

1945: A mill in North Monmouth, Maine, is acquired.

By 1947 extra production capacity was opened up in the Albany, and the main building was expanded yet again to increase office space the next year.

1952: Albany Felt of Canada is established.

It was soon followed by a plant in the Southeast and, in 1954, the last expansion of the Menands corporate headquarters building.

In 1961 Standish became chairman of the board.

In 1967 Clark sold its shares to Deering Milliken.

In 1968 the company, still under control of the management syndicate, engineered the purchases of Appleton Wire Works Corp., International Wire Works Corp., and Crellin Plastics in exchange for shares of Albany stock.

In 1969 the company bought Nordiskafilt in Sweden, as well as mills in England and Brazil.

1972: Milliken sells its shares of Albany in a public offering.

In July 1974 its shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Reflecting its widening focus, in 1976 management moved the company's headquarters to the nearby, recently renovated Henry M. Sage Estate, nearby in Menands.

In 1983, at the behest of the largest group of shareholders, management took the company private again via a leveraged buyout.

A new, multimillion-dollar press fabric facility was erected in 1988 across the river in East Greenbush.

In 1989 Albany International further expanded its involvement in such high technology manufacturing, selling a lightweight, noncombustible insulation material used in automotive, plastics, and aerospace applications.

In 1993 Albany International strengthened its position in the market for dryer clothing by acquiring Mount Vernon Group for $51 million.

The American paper industry had a goal of manufacturing 40 percent of all United States paper from recycled fibers by 1995, and to achieve this goal, Albany International worked closely with its customers in the paper industry as well as with makers of paper machines.

During this external growth spurt, Albany International began a $50 million internal restructuring effort in 1998 that included job cuts, changes in marketing and selling, and the disposal of certain assets.

In 1999, the firm completed its $250 million acquisition of the Geschmay Group, a PMC firm with operations in both the United States and Europe.

In fact, company CEO Frank Schmeler claimed in a 2000 PIMA's North American Papermaker article that the firm "expected that tomorrow's paper machine clothing will be decidedly different than the products offered today.

Sales in 2001 fell to $836.6 million while net income fell by 15.5 percent over the previous year.

In 2007 Albany International built its first plant in China, in the coastal city of Hangzhou.

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.

In 2010, the 115-year-old Albany company announced plans to move its corporate headquarters to Rochester, New Hampshire to focus on its growing aerospace composites operation.

At the beginning of 2011, the company officially made Rochester its headquarters.

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 afterwards.

While the Albany community was devastated by the loss of this 19th century hometown industry giant, those who sought to preserve the region’s history saw a glimmer of hope when developer Uri Kaufman expressed interest in the historic building at One Broadway in early 2013.

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.