Dyeco Limited - History

"Kingston people know curiously little about this new factory which has sprung up so quietly on the city's industrial site", proclaimed a May 7, 1925 article on the newly-built Dye & Chemical Company plant. "A plant, so small and unknown" was a manufacturer and distributor of natural and synthetic colour for the food industry, plus chemicals for pulp & paper and dry-cleaning industries, the company's presence in Kingston was established under city by-law No. 41 passed on December 13, 1923. The by-law stipulated that the company spend at least $50,000 in Kingston within two years, and it was to be situated on a five-acre lot and was incorporated in 1924. In October of that year, the contract for construction of its initial brick buildings was taken on by McKelvey & Birch with a crew of fifty supervised by Major A.E. Goodwin. Production of textile soaps, food colours and pharmaceutical preparation to begin in mid-1925, and the deed transferred from the city in October of that year. (Queen's University Archives: top photo - 1949 aerial view; below - rear view of the building in 1952).

The plant was located here not only due to the nearby waterfront, but also because of the proximity of Queen's University, hoped to prove valuable to the company's experts. A big library, and scientific consultants! At the time, Canada's dye consumption was $2 million per yeat, and the policy of the city's industries committee was to encourage industries to locate here by providing the following: a free site, an all-important railway siding, and an exemption from taxes except school taxes, based on a fixed assessment of $25,000 at that time. The company planned to erect fireproof buildings, after recent fires, including the Davis Tannery. Local residents were assured that there would be no unpleasant odours or other inconvenience to the immediate neighbourhood (take that, tannery!). In addition, the plant would "take its place among the foremost industrial plants of a technical character in Canada".

Dr. F.W. Atack, the company's President, was an engineer and a major figure in the British dye industry during World War I. An author of textbooks on industrial chemistry, he held patents used in British, American and German chemical plants. Dr. Atack asked the city to continue the use of the siding along Orchard Street, 250 feet past the limit of River Street in October, 1924. He also asked the city to extend a road 150 feet in that direction. A 1925 photo (above) showing the CP spur in front of the three-storey brick building, and a 1934 photo, showing the same side of the building, both from the Whig:

During World War II, Dr. Atack chaired Kingston War Services. The plant had several secret war contracts, producing paint to detect the use of mustard gas. A $40,000 addition was undertaken in 1951. Daniel Atack took over from his father as President in 1961. 

Daniel Atack's August 27, 2019 Whig obituary noted that he was a proud and lifelong Kingstonian, spending his early years living at Bellevue House, where in later years he loved to take his grandkids and great grandkids so they could see where he grew up. After graduating from KCVI, he was on to Queen's University to study Chemical Engineering. While he enjoyed his studies, he would tell you the most important thing he did at Queen's was meet Marion, the love of his life, over a dissected turtle. They were married after graduation and headed off to Bathurst, New Brunswick where Dan worked at Bathurst Power and Paper. After two years in Bathurst, Dan returned to Kingston in 1951 with pregnant wife in tow, to work for Dyeco Limited, where he eventually became President and Chairman of the Board until he sold the company and retired in 1989. 

W.A.J. Atack was Manager of Manufacturing in 1963, having been with the company since 1955. In 1976, the company sold 400,000 pounds of specialized dyes for Canada's major food producers, with 75% going to Montreal and Southwest Ontario, and was one of three producers of caramel in Canada.

The company's office in March, 1952 (above - Queen's University Archives photo). The company's name was officially changed to Dyeco from Dye and Chemical Co. of Canada Ltd. in 1979, though Dyeco was the trademarked name of its products as early as 1928.

The above 1947 Whig help wanted ad shows that there was no human resources department! The plant was never likely to have a large workforce - there were 28 employees in 1955 and 1976, 26 in 1984, and 40 in 1988.

Dyeco was sold to Milwaukee-based Universal Foods in 1989, at which time Owen Morgan, formerly Manager of Marketing and having worked at Dyeco since 1951, was president. Daniel Atack stayed on after his own retirement as Chairman. Duane Ramsay was chemist, manager, then First Vice-President. The firm also had a significant share of the $10 million Canadian food-colour market at the time of the sale, with most products exported to the U.S. In 1991, Dyeco was extracting dyes from 150 tonnes of annatto seeds annually, imported from Peru Dyeco management was concerned that encouraging nearby residential buildings could lead to residents wanting the plant to relocate.

It could be said that Kingston people still know curiously little of this plant, today operated by Sensient Technologies. Sensient, based in Milwaukee, is a global developer and marketer of high-performance, technology-based color, flavour and fragrance systems, with global operations serving customers in more than 150 countries with annual revenues surpassing $1.5 billion.

It looks as if Dyeco's original building will see its centenary. It's still alongside the Urban K&P Trail, photographed during our walk in August of 2019 (below).

Shipping by rail: Duane Ramsay added that coal was received on the CP spur until just before 1961, when the boilers were switched to oil as fuel source.

April 2022 UPDATE: A view of Sensient Technologies from Orchard Street: