History of 3M Cordova

Construction on 3M Cordova began in 1969 and production operations started in 1970. Over the years, the facility continued to grow with several expansions in fluorochemical and polymer production. The last major expansion occurred in 2003 with the addition of a thermal oxidizer to reduce emissions into the environment.

Today, the plant occupies over a half a million sq. ft. of manufacturing and warehouse space and employs 400 employees. Employees are highly skilled and experienced with an average length of service of 19 years. They reside in 40 different cities in Iowa and Illinois with approximately 40 percent in Iowa and 60 percent in Illinois.

We are a four-shift, 24/7 operation that produces over 500 unique products. Most of our materials are intermediates that are used by other 3M manufacturing facilities for making finished products for 28 3M divisions.

Our site encompasses 752 acres with 1.2 miles of river frontage. We maintain a waste water treatment facility equivalent to that of a city with a population of 150,000. Our utilities operation produces steam, compressed air, nitrogen, cooling water, and fire protection.

Cordova was ISO-9002 certified in 1993. The plant is registered with the British Standards Institute. Our site manufacturers bulk pharmaceuticals and is registered as a Drug Manufacturing Establishment with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is also registered with the Medicine Health Care Products Regulatory Agency as a Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Site.