Penn Color history

Edgar approached Sun Chemical Corporation in 1971 about a company they operated called Pennsylvania Chemical Color (Penn Color), located in Doylestown, PA. Penn Color was a manufacturer of pigment dispersions for printing inks and industrial coatings, and became Mr.

By 1977, after an official name change to Penn Color, the company was experiencing phenomenal success and growth with expansion projects underway at the Doylestown location.

Until the end of the 1980’s, Penn Color’s involvement in the plastics industry was primarily in flexible PVC films and compounds.

In order to expand their flexible PVC business, Edgar Putman turned his attention toward American Nu-Color, and in 1984 this Manville, NJ company became part of the Penn Color family.

Just one year later in 1985, Sampson Coatings, located in Richmond, VA, was purchased.

About 1986, PMS red 201 and PMS blue 288 were established as the specification for all official University printed material; these are the standards Facilities Services uses when selecting paint colors.

With a mindset for continuing growth and expansion, Penn Color purchased an 180,000 sq. ft. building on 128 acres of industrial property in Hatfield Township, PA in 1988.

Shortly after the PVC consolidation in 1990, the planning and design work began to relocate the Doylestown operation to Hatfield.

Seeking to capitalize on their newfound success in Europe, Penn Color acquired the wall covering and flooring distribution business in 1994.

The two convened a series of meetings with key environmental professionals and, in April 1996, founded Penn Environmental & Remediation, Inc. (Penn E&R).

With the Doylestown ink & coating dispersion operation bursting at the seams, construction of a brand new 230,000 sq. ft. manufacturing complex and research center was completed in 2000.

In late 2002, Penn Color acquired Infinity Color in Ringgold, GA, a small manufacturer of color concentrates for the fiber industry.

Looking again to expand our global footprint, in 2007, Penn Color formed a joint venture with Asha Color in Mumbai, India, known as AshaPenn Color.

In 2008, Penn Color purchased and renovated a 100,000 square foot building down the road from the original building in Ringgold, and moved the masterbatch and dispersion manufacturing operation into its new home.