Griffin Industries history

Griffin refused and, despite missing a payment on his SBA loan in 1948, he persevered.

In 1966, Griffin Industries completed its first acquisition, paying $75,000 for the Columbus Reduction Company, located in Columbus, Indiana, and 23-year-old Dennis Griffin was dispatched to run it.

1968: Three rendering plants are acquired for $550,000.

Griffin Industries completed another acquisition in 1972: Russelville, Kentucky-based Kentucky Animal By Products.

A more successful venture was launched in 1976, when the company built a facility in Cincinnati to expand its hide and pigskin business, cutting out the middleman to deal directly with tanners.

Also in 1981, Rosellen Griffin was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, and her health steadily declined.

Then, in 1984, John Griffin suffered a heart attack while attending a rendering convention.

Duncan Tankage Corporation of Union City, Tennessee, was acquired in September 1988, and a modern plant was built to serve the new slaughter houses that had recently been constructed in western Tennessee and western Kentucky.

Odie B. Faulk and Kenny A. Franks, Quality and Spirit: The Griffin Heritage in Oklahoma (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1991).

In 2000, Griffin Industries agreed to move a Bakery Feeds plant from Fayetteville, Arkansas, to Watts, Oklahoma, the result of a settlement connected to complaints by residents alleging odor and noise pollution.