Coors Ceramics celebrates 75 years; the country's largest producer of advanced technical ceramics continues to grow.

GOLDEN, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 1995--To most Americans the word "Coors" means beer.

But, to scientists and industrialists throughout the world, the word "Coors" means technical ceramics of extraordinary quality.

An anecdote sums it up. On a recent trip to Germany, Jim Wade, president of Coors Ceramics Co., was approached by a German scientist who inquired about his business. "We also hear you make beer," the man remarked. "How strange."

This month marks the 75th anniversary of Coors Ceramics Co.

In 75 years the company has grown to be the largest independent producer of advanced technical ceramics in the world. Since 1992 it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of ACX Technologies Inc., a Golden-Colo.-based diversified industrial holding company. In the past five years, Coors Ceramics has seen global demand for technical ceramic components continue to increase, as has its own penetration of domestic and foreign markets. Annual sales, according to Jeff Coors, president of ACX, have topped the $230 million mark, and the current $4 billion annual market is expected to become a $14 billion market by the end of the century.

According to Jim Wade: "The ceramic materials we produce are among the hardest materials available in the world. Ceramics can withstand extreme heat, corrosive liquids, tremendous pressure, and they don't conduct electricity, making them ideal for a wide variety of industrial applications. Every time you drive a car, switch on your computer, or pick up the phone, you are putting a ceramic part to use."

The predecessor of Coors Ceramics Co. was Herold China & Pottery Co., founded in 1910. Adolph Coors, founder of the Coors Brewing Co., took over the company in 1920, and it became Coors Porcelain Co. It took the name Coors Ceramics Co. in 1986 to reflect its emphasis on technical ceramics. In 1992 it came under the umbrella of ACX Technologies, when ACX became an independent holding company.

Today, in addition to its Golden, Colo., plants, Coors Ceramics has facilities in: Grand Junction, Colo.; Oregon; Arkansas; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; Texas; California; Tennessee; and Scotland. It is a global leader in technical innovation and custom products made to customer specifications. Among thousands of other products, it makes ceramic housing for semi-conductor chips; ceramic substrates used in wireless communications; automotive seals; components for medical blood processing equipment; even ceramic beverage valves.

Coors Ceramics has received quality awards from such companies as General Motors, IBM, AT&T and Texas Instruments. Five of the company's facilities have ISO 9000 certification, in clear recognition of its consistently high commitment to quality.

ACX Technologies is traded on the NASDAQ National Market Exchange under the symbol ACXT. -0-

Coors Ceramics Co. -- Background and History

What does a cellular telephone have in common with a car engine? A computer chip with a soda dispenser? Semi-conductor casings with a blood processing pump?

The answer is advanced ceramic components produced by the Golden, Colo.-based Coors Ceramics Co.

If the word ceramics still means ashtrays and coffee mugs to you, think again. The ceramic materials produced by Coors are among the hardest materials available in the world, second only to diamonds in strength and durability. Ceramics can withstand extreme heat, corrosive liquids, tremendous pressure, and they don't conduct electricity, making them ideal for a wide variety of industrial applications. Every time you drive a car, switch on your computer or pick up the phone, you are putting a ceramic part to use.

The month of October marks the 75th anniversary of Coors Ceramics, now the largest independent producer of advanced technical ceramics in the country. Since 1992, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of ACX Technologies Inc., the Golden-based Fortune 500 company. In the past five years, Coors Ceramics has seen global demand for technical ceramic components continue to increase, as has its own penetration of domestic and foreign markets. Annual sales have topped the $230 million mark, and the current $4 billion annual market is expected to become a $14 billion market by the end of the century.

Few could have foreseen such a future when the small Golden, Colo., pottery (then called the Herold China & Pottery Co.) began turning out its first lines of tableware and scientific procelain three quarters of a century ago.

Most of the products now dependent on ceramic components did not exist even in the imagination of Adolph Coors, the young German immigrant who founded both the Coors Brewing Co. and the company that became Coors Ceramics. In 1910, Coors, already a successful brewer, offered an established porcelain maker named John J. Herold the use of an abandoned glassworks in Golden. The idea was to make pottery with local clay, and Herold, with his extensive experience in art pottery and dinnerware, was the man to do it.

The Herold China and Pottery company was soon producing a small line of fireproof china cooking utensils. In 1912, Adolph Coors became a major investor, and severals years later Herold left the company for good. In 1920, it became Coors Porcelain Co.

The outbreak of World War I served as a catalyst for the company's foray into technical ceramics. Germany was then the preeminent producer of chemical procelain, and with the resulting embargo on German goods, U.S. laboratories and factories were in dire need of a domestic supplier. The U.S. government called on domestic companies to fill the gap, and Coors Porcelain answered the challenge. Almost overnight, the company became one of the world's leading manufacturers of quality industrial and scientific porcelain.

After the war's end, Coors continued to concentrate on a vast array of industrial and scientific ceramics in addition to some household cooking utensils, dinnerware and hotel ware. In the '30s, a series of inventive decorative vases and figurines made their debut. Many of these products have become valued collector's items, prized for their streamlined design and lovely matte glazes. The classic "Empire" vase, now lovingly reproduced as part of the Coors Ceramics' 75th anniversary celebration, was created during these years.

With the advent of World War II, Coors chose to suspend production of non-essential items and concentrate on government orders. One such order later proved to be of crucial historical importance, although the company did not know it at the time.

Early in 1942, Adolph Coors' grandson, Bill Coors, who had joined the company in 1939, received an urgent request for ceramic insulators for a government laboratory. Other ceramics producers needed six weeks to fill the order; Coors was able to do it in a matter of days. For several months the company continued to ship the insulators, knowing nothing of what they were to be used for. Only years after the war's end did Bill Coors discover that the shipments were actually destined for the Manhattan Project laboratories in Oakridge, where the atomic bomb was developed.

Although production of dinnerware and other consumer items resumed for a short time in the post-war years, the company's focus remained on scientific and increasingly technical application. As the industrial markets grew and new ceramic materials were developed, manufacturers discovered more and more uses for durable, non-conductive ceramic components. The need for quality medical and scientific ceramics continued but the automotive industry and, later, the computer and telecommunications industries, created enormous new markets. Coors Porcelain Co., as a part of Adolph Coors Co., weathered the ups and downs of the U.S. economy and saw many of its competitors close their doors or sell the operation to foreign corporations.

Today, the company is the largest independently owned U.S. supplier of advanced technical ceramics.

In 1986, the company adopted the name Coors Ceramics Co. to reflect its focus on technical ceramics. In 1992, it came under the umbrella of ACX Technologies, when ACX made the break from Adolph Coors Co. to become an independent holding company.

Today, in addition to its Golden, Colo., plants, Coors Ceramics has facilities in: Grand Junction, Colo.; Oregon; Arkansas; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; Texas; California; Tennessee and Scotland. It is a global leader in technical innovation and custom products made to customer specifications. Among thousands of other products, it makes ceramic housing for semi-conductor chips, ceramic substrates used in wireless communications; automotive seals; components for medical blood processing equipment; even ceramic beverage valves.

Coors Ceramics has received quality awards from such companies as General Motors, IBM, AT&T and Texas Instruments. Five of the company's facilities have ISO 9000 certification, in clear recognition of its consistently high commitment to quality.

CONTACT: Sharon Kent Freeman Inc., Golden, Colo.

Gerry Freeman/Lisa Metzger, 303/232-3870