RTI has been good neighbor
It’s been 64 years since the Weathersfield Township plant now known as RTI International Metals began manufacturing specialized metals here.
Its history is rich.
Born in 1951 as Mallory-Sharon Titanium Corp., the plant initially focused on research and development of titanium alloys and the methods of melting and rolling titanium.
Since then, that plant and the thousands of workers who have crossed through its gates have undergone decades of transformation, launching after World War II into military aircraft applications and then later diversifying into nonmilitary markets, commercial aircraft and even medical markets and other applications.
Also transformed through the years was the plant’s name, changing from Mallory-Sharon Titanium to Reactive Metals Inc. in 1960, then to RMI Co. in 1971, to RMI Titanium Co. in 1990, and eventually to its current name RTI, which it had been trading under on the New York Stock Exchange.
It was announced this week the name soon will change again, this time to Alcoa, which has reached an agreement to acquire Pittsburgh-based RTI.
Through the years, the local plant, which now employs more than 400 workers, has been a good neighbor in Weathersfield and Trumbull County.
Workers there have helped make the plant and their Pittsburgh-based company profitable – so profitable that it caught the attention of global giant Alcoa. The acquisition announced Monday includes an agreement for $1.5 billion.
No details have yet been released on Alcoa’s plans, particularly in regards to the Weathersfield plant.
We can only hope that the dedication of its past and present workers and excellent products generated here will be considered and understood, and that Alcoa maintains or even increases operations as just as good of a neighbor here in Trumbull County.