The departure of Holyoke Wire Cloth Company from the mill space at 649 Main Street in 1956 provided an opportunity for a start-up business, named Metals Research and Manufacturing Corporation. Not only was this a new business, but it was also a new type of business, which manufactured specialty alloys on order. Specifically, the company manufactured beryllium copper and other beryllium products.
The business was formed in 1960 by Matthew J. Donachie, President, Fayette E. Read, Treasurer, both of Holyoke, and Richard C. Read, Clerk of Granby. The company leased 5,400 square feet of space in the plant, which was approximately half the space occupied by Holyoke Wire Cloth Company.
Mr. Donachie, who hailed from Motherwell, Scotland, was a former President and Chief Metallurgist for Beryllium Corporation of Reading, Pennsylvania, and a works manager at Prentiss Wire Mills in Holyoke. He arrived in the United States in 1926 to work at Prentiss Wire. Most recently, he was an independent consultant with an office at 56 Canal Street.
Fayette Read was an Amherst College graduate who worked for Prentiss Wire since 1908. His position at Prentiss was Assistant Manager.
Richard Read was the son of Fayette Read. He attended Deerfield Academy, graduated from Amherst College, and furthered his education at M.I.T. After completing his education, he was employed as a metallurgist at Prentiss Wire.
In July 1961, a year after the business was formed, plans were set in motion for the company to be acquired by Beryllium International Corporation of Washington, D.C., a distinct entity from the former employer of Mr. Donachie in Reading, PA. The sale of the business occurred in February 1962.
Beryllium International was also expanding twenty miles south in Connecticut. The company reported that manufacturing would remain in Holyoke and other facets of production would occur in Connecticut.
Metals Research & Mfg. Corp. continued to operate into September 1965, as a news article reported that the company and a dozen others objected to an Industrial Renewal Study.
Beyond that year, no further information could be found regarding this business under its name or the various Beryllium Corporate names.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription), Price & Lee City Directories, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Richard's Atlas of the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts, 1911
Registry of Deeds, Hampden County, Springfield, Massachusetts
Assessors' Office, Holyoke, Massachusetts
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