Document 71qby7Gvjy7NE9LZ5KozQrpkB

REMARKS by JOSEPH A. MARTINO PRESIDENT, NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY OFFICIAL OPENING HIGHTSTOWN LABORATORIES, HIGHTSTOWN, NEW JERSEY SEPTEMBER l8, 1962 Governor Hughes, other distinguished guests and my co-workers in the Company: It was Just a few days short of 16 months ago that I had the privilege of turning the first spadeful of earth at this site. Since that time I naturally have looked forward to this occasion. And now that the day has arrived, I can take issue with those who say that antici pation is Letter than realization. I know you can appreciate my feeling of pride and pleasure in participating in the formal opening of these laboratories. Before I move on to other topics, I want to say "well done" to ai T who have had a part in this project -- the architects, engineers, contractors, their workmen and, of course, our own capable staff -- every one from the surveyor of the site to the man who painted the Dutch Boy on the tower. With nationwide and international interests, some may wonder why National Lead Company chose this particular area for these research facilities when it was decided to vacate the old Brooklyn quarters. I am sure Governor Hughes, and other Garden Staters know the reasons. They know that this peaceful countryside, on the edge of the Metropolitan area, so near, and yet so far from the hustle and bustle of the city's N12717 0000-NLI-000024740 2- m-tli Hng mil lions, is an ideal spot for the generation of ideas -- a quiet place to think, to concentrate, to develop ideas -- to conceive, to test, to perfect new processes and products that vill -widen the opportunities for employment, to have a hand in the creation of new wealth to help sustain the energy of the system under which we live. We are truly in good company here, too, having as neighbors fine educational Institutions and many leading companies whose research facili ties are located in this area. As you well know. National Lead Company is no newcomer to New Jersey. This state is, in fact, our corporate home. And we have several plants within a few miles of here. In one of these, we work in one of the oldest metals -- lead. In another, we work with one of the newest materials-- titanium. At the other extreme, we employ techniques involving one of the newest processes - nuclear fission. New Jersey has long played an inportant role in our operations and will continue to do so. Now, as to the reason far these new research facilities, it should he obvious to all whose lives are made richer and fuller by new products brought into being by research. Research, on an organized basis, is a comparatively young industry. And it is a big one. Figures on the annual outlay in the search for new and better things range from 11 to 15 billion dollars. The need for research and development arises from the competitive spirit inherent in the free enterprise system. As our population has in creased, as our economy has grown, as communications have quickened, as dis tances have shrunk, our peoples* needs and wants have multiplied. New products have had to be developed, new processes discovered, to meet growing 0000-NLI-000024741 3- - demands. New industries have sprung up, to compete with those long estab lished. Competition has intensified, between industries and within indus tries , for the ultimate consumer's dollar that must hold the profit pennies that are the seeds of further expansion. The only answer to the continuing problem of keeping pace with the rapidly expanding economy is found in research. We must explore new avenues of thought, seek new properties in materials, turn theory into practice. An indication of how many minds are active along this line comes from the United States Patent Office. In the comparatively short span between my spadework here on May 22nd last year and today, close to 70,000 patents have been issued. Now, not all of these represent actual research items. On the other hand, not ai i research efforts that have come to completion have sought patent protection. I quote the figure merely to underscore the activity in the new products area and to emphasize the need to make progress or risk stagnation. So far as growth is concerned, the expansion of an individual busi ness such as ours, there are two ways to accomplish it. One is to join forces with other like-minded concerns. This might be called growth from the outside in. The other course is to generate growth with existing facilities -- to grow from the inside out. National Lead Company has followed both courses. In its effort to place its eggs in many baskets, so to speak, the Company has diversified, and thus expanded its business, through consolidating with others. It likewise has grown from within, by devising new products. 0000-NLI-000024742 -k - This internal growth accomplishes two objectives. One is, as I have said, the expansion of our product line. The other is to take the basic commodities in which we deal -- lead, titanium, barytes and so on -- and add greater values to them in manufacturing. To illustrate this, consider a pig of lead. We can take that pig, melt it and cast it into small bars or ingots. These would be sold to the trade. Obviously not much value can be added by this conversion. Now, however, thauaks largely to research, we can take that pig of lead and by chemical and other processing, change it into dozens of products, the value of which is vastly greater than that of the original pig. The early alchemists used a symbol to represent the laboratory. It was a large circle surrounded by twelve smaller circles, representing the twelve stages of the alchemical process for chemging base metals, such as lead into gold. The symbol might be compared to the layout of these laboratories, an inner court surrounded by various specialized labora tories. The goal of the alchemists was to convert base metals, such as lead, into gold. The goal of the chemists in this laboratory is to convert base materials into profits through the development of new and useful products. This laboratory is in reality the idea factory in which new product ideas will be manufactured. From the seasoned, alert, tomorroworiented thinking that goes on here, backed by modern equipment in a fine physical plant, in this favorable location, will come the processes and products on which the Company bases its hopes for healthy growth. In closing, I would like to thank all of you for helping to make this a long-to-be-remembered occasion. I also would like to address a word to those who will work within this research facility. I would like to adapt to this occasion a paraphrase of the words of Britain's great statesman-- "We've given you the tools -- now let's get on with the job.'" Thank you. 0000-NLI-000024743