CoorsTek history

John Herold decided to leave Golden in early 1915.

Coors Porcelain was a family affair with Adolph Jr. and his brothers Herman and Grover each spending time at the plant in the 1920's.

In 1932, Adolph Coors Jr. hosted the 84th annual convention of the American Chemical Society creating several gifts for attendees.

After America started legally drinking again in 1933, ceramics became an afterthought.

Coors Porcelain published 'The Evolution of a Lump of Clay', a booklet first released in 1936 telling the story of the company’s chemical porcelain ware manufacturing.

In 1946, Coors Porcelain employed just two engineers.

In 1955 Coors Porcelain started its first metallizing division for the electronics industry with three people, one of the first to provide ceramic-to-metal bonding services - a new advancement at the time.

In 1959, a group of engineers and toolmakers at Coors Porcelain led by Bill Coors developed the recyclable aluminum beverage can.

By 1962 that number jumped thirty-fold to 65 engineers in ceramics, chemistry, metallurgy, mineralogy, and physics.

Wilbanks International was started in 1963 by Bill Wilbanks, Tom Stuart, and Frank Ernson.

In 1965, Coors Porcelain scored a major contract with IBM to produce ceramic substrates used in mainframe computers - starting at 25 million substrates the first year, and growing to 15 million substrates a week at its peak.

After many years of development, in 1966 Coors Porcelain produced ceramic armor components deployed for military applications - a breakthrough in lightweight protection.

Opening its doors in 1970, the Clear Creek Valley plant was built by Coors Porcelain in Golden, Colorado.

In 1972, Derald Whiting succeeded Joe Coors Sr. as president of Coors Porcelain.

Located in Hillsboro Oregon, Wilbanks International was acquired by Coors Porcelain in 1973.

In 1977, Coors Porcelain built a facility in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Alumina Ceramics Inc. was acquired by Coors Porcelain in 1979 and is located in Benton Arkansas.

In 1985, Joe Coors Jr. became president of Coors Porcelain and endeared employees by brainstorming and experimenting with new ideas.

In 1986, Coors Porcelain became Coors Ceramics - reflecting the company’s ceramic material advancements and broad product range.

In 1989, Coors Ceramics reentered the consumer market with tough zirconia-based ceramic products such as golf putters and drivers, golf cleats, shirt buttons, and knife sharpeners.

In 1992 his three older brothers, father and uncle, all of whom were top executives, decided to spin off nonbrewery assets, including the ceramics business, an aluminum mill and a packaging outfit, into a separate company called ACX Technologies.

In 1996 ACX acquired a 52% stake in a publicly traded solar company for $17 million and later changed the outfit's name to Golden Genesis; John was put in charge.

By 2000 CoorsTek's semiconductor business made up 49% of its total sales, by far its largest market.

The Coors family timed its go-private acquisition almost perfectly, buying back the company just five months after the stock market hit bottom in October 2002.

Four others each oversee a different divi sion of CoorsTek, which are all roughly the same size as the ceramics business was when the family took it private in 2003.

In 2004 he unveiled his recipe for the new composition, which was strong enough to stop steel-core bullets that were hitting American soldiers.

In 2005 CoorsTek launched a venture to make fake bones out of ceramics.

In 2008, CoorsTek developed another ultra-clean ceramic designed specifically for extreme-duty semiconductor applications.

CoorsTek continued to expand its international breadth and technical depth throughout Europe and the Americas, adding 13 new facilities so far this decade ─ including the acquisition of Saint-Gobain’s Advanced Ceramics business in 2011.

In 2013, CoorsTek introduced aluminum nitride (AlN) substrates for the rapidly growing LED and power electronics markets.

In 2014, CoorsTek and the Coors family announced a $27 million commitment to fund a research partnership and the construction of the CoorsTek Center for Applied Science and Engineering, an interdisciplinary academic and research facility.

But oil prices began tanking last fall, dragging that division down 30% so far in 2015.