Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates

The "Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association," as it was previously known, was established on September 15, 1921 at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. The event was followed by an organizational meeting in Washington, DC, which included an address from Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. In his remarks, Hoover told the chemical industry representatives that “I have a feeling that this coming together of manufacturers in the different trades for the purpose of the advancement of their industry as a whole is a profound step towards cooperation in the entire business world, and that out of it will be gained tremendous benefits to the whole business public."

SOCMA members unanimously elected Dr. Charles Herty, an American chemist, to serve as the Association’s first president. At the time, Herty was the editor of American Chemical Society’s Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, a position he left in order to lead SOCMA. The organization was based in New York City until it relocated to Washington, DC in the 1970s.

On March 19, 2009, SOCMA members voted to formally change the organization’s name to the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates. The name change, the first in SOCMA’s 88-year history, allowed the organization to retain its acronym.

Members

SOCMA member companies encompass small, medium and large chemical manufacturers engaged in batch production.

Batch manufacturers produce intermediates, specialty chemicals and ingredients used to develop a wide range of commercial and consumer products. They operate differently from larger, bulk chemical producers, which generally use continuous production.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Specialty-batch or performance chemical manufacturers produce smaller quantities of more expensive chemicals on an "as needed" basis that are used less frequently. Often there is only one or a limited number of suppliers producing a given product. In contrast to the production of commodity chemicals, batch manufacturing requires that the raw materials, processes, operating conditions, and equipment change on a regular basis to respond to the needs of customers.