Balancing Out: As Kodak struggles, Chemical thrives

Eastman Chemical, founder of Eastman Kodak Co, was a small player very much in its parent’s shadow.

NEW YORK: George Eastman is best known as the inventor of photographic film and founder of Eastman Kodak Co, but his century-old legacy of entrepreneurship now rides on the lesser-known Eastman Chemical Co in 1994, Kodak was still a colossus in photography whereas Eastman Chemical was a small player very much in its parent’s shadow. But because of a sea change in digital technology and different approaches to business, Eastman Chemical’s stock market value has since increased 71% to $5.5 billion today, while Kodak’s has plummeted 99% to about $185 million. Interviews with former executives, retirees and analysts say that where Eastman Chemical was swift to move into new markets, Kodak rested on its laurels for too long. Eastman established a chemicals subsidiary in 1920 to supply acetic acid and other photographic chemicals to Kodak, a business that grew strongly in the next 50 years.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2011.