Dodge Responds With The Real Story, Company Is Here For The Long Haul

In response to an article we posted yesterday from the Boston Biz Journal, we received the following email from Debbie Dodge, President of the Dodge Company.

The article we posted yesterday was very misleading and for that we apologize. Thank you to Debbie for sending the below email to give us the whole truth. This email was also sent to all Dodge customers.

Good morning from a thriving and very much in business, Dodge Company.

You’ve no doubt seen the headline on ConnectingDirectors.com saying that The Dodge Company has stopped manufacturing embalming chemicals.  There’s some truth to that, but here’s the real story.

In 2011, Dodge contracted with a large U.S. company to begin manufacturing our injection chemicals using Dodge formulas.  This had been in the works for some time and has proven to be a good decision for both businesses.  The outside firm blends and packages products for companies throughout the U.S.  All they do is blend and package so they have the staff in place to handle all of the regulations and legal hurdles that small businesses struggle with.  This wasn’t a secret, we actually printed a full page ad in The Dodge Magazine in the Spring 2011 issue to let everyone know – and to avoid rumors like this!

Since outsourcing the majority of our manufacturing (we still manufacture most of our cosmetics in-house), we’ve been able to focus on our primary business of serving customers.  We’ve also had more time to devote to educational programming and have recently hired a Coordinator of Technical Education & Training.

The EPA visited us in early 2010 and found a number of issues at our former facility in Cambridge.  The most important thing we want everyone to know is that there has never been an environmental incident, spill, or injury to an employee.  We hired consultants to do much of the original paperwork, but the results were not what we expected.

After 40 years in Cambridge, Massachusetts (just outside of Boston), we have moved to a larger and more modern facility, in Billerica, Massachusetts – about 20 miles from our former location.  The move was in the works before our visit from EPA.  When we moved to Cambridge in 1973, we were the only company on the street.  Over the years many other firms moved in and eventually we were the only industrial business left.  The building boom in Boston hit our Cambridge neighborhood a couple of years ago and there are apartment buildings going up everywhere.  We’ve found the perfect home in Billerica – we’re on 7+ acres and have 10 truck bays which makes truck access 100% better than it had been before.

And the final question on many people’s minds is the financial impact.  I’m happy to report that three generations of Dodges before me have been thrifty, conservative New Englanders.  So while the fine hurts, it doesn’t threaten the strength of the Dodge Company.  We’re here for the long haul!

Sincerely,

Debbie Dodge, President