The company was established as MGC Pure Chemicals America, Inc. (hereafter “MPCA”) in January 1995 in Mesa, Arizona, to enable super pure hydrogen peroxide (hereafter “highly purified water” or “HPW”) manufacturing in the United States of America. Supply of HPW to the United States started in the late 1980s by importing material from Japan to a distribution partner in the US. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. (hereinafter “MGC”) was the first company to sell stabilizer-free hydrogen peroxide to North American semiconductor manufacturers at this time, with a spec limit of 10 ppb.

As MPCA is nearing our 30th anniversary in 2025, the past four years have been a transformation period during which we have called in experts to move MPCA from a small, single location company to a multi-plant location operation (Mesa, AZ; Killeen, TX; and Forest Grove, OR), and the associated dynamics involved. MPCA has learned many things from MGC and its group companies, MGC Pure Chemicals Taiwan, Inc., Samyoung Pure Chemicals Co., Ltd., MGC Pure Chemicals Singapore Pte Ltd., where we all share world-leading major semiconductor company customers. MPCA is much improved from these changes and the relationships we have formed.

The United States is quickly becoming a hotbed of interest in the semiconductor industry, with the introduction of CHIPS Act Funding. The U.S. government created this Act to fund nearly 53 billion dollars to revitalize the U.S. semiconductor industry and strengthen the country’s economic and national security. This transformation has created many new announcements of fab expansions by major semiconductor companies, so the future is bright for MPCA. With the top five semiconductor companies located in the United States, MPCA will be the only HPW supplier to sell to the top five global semiconductor companies in the world, so there will be many challenges ahead. But with our current team in place, I’m confident that MPCA will be able to overcome all obstacles and bring immense value to MGC.

My career path towards supporting MPCA

My journey in the supply of lab reagents for wet process chemicals to the semiconductor industry started when I was in college. While I attended college, I worked for three summers on the production floor of a chemical plant that was eventually purchased by Olin Hunt. This experience taught me the real value of production operators and helped me see all aspects of the production process. After graduation, I was hired at Olin Hunt as an Operations Specialist. There, I learned about logistics, warehousing, and customer service, which eventually led me to a production planning role. In the planning role, I was responsible for importing MGC’s HPW in drums in the late 1980’s. After leaving Olin Hunt, I joined Honeywell Electronic Materials in 2000, where I worked for 14 years. Then in April 2014, I joined MPCA and took responsibility for sales in the eastern region of the United States. During the last 10 years, I enjoyed coming to work every day to face the challenges in the industry. For the first six years after joining MPCA, I was in charge of major clients with the MGC team, and since 2017, I have also been taking on a leadership role as General Manager at MPCA. I have made many friends over this time, and it is exciting to see the passion that currently runs deep at MPCA throughout all of our sister companies. It’s very infectious. Everyone is working hard to be the best they can be and to make MGC products the industry standard.

Embracing the leadership and dynamic role within MPCA has shown me different perspectives across the business. Employee loyalty is a core focus which ensures that all employees are treated equally and fairly, with a team approach. Now that we have multiple plants with multiple locations, the challenge of ensuring a unified workforce is paramount in our quest for perfection. The mindset of MPCA needs to be that if any of our teammates fail, we all fail, and we are all accountable for our actions. Today, MPCA has an unbelievable team and has made many strides in the past couple of years to solidify a foundation that will support our future growth plans.

Discovery of State 48

Arizona is known by many names: State 48, the Copper State, the Valley of the Sun, and most commonly the Grand Canyon State.

Arizona was last in the continental United States to become a state in 1912, giving it the name State 48.
Originally Arizona was known as the Copper State due to the abundance of this mineral, and it supplied 68% of the total country’s copper—more than any other state. Recently, Arizona has become known as the Grand Canyon State due to the popularity of the Grand Canyon. The natural wonder is Arizona’s most visited landmark, with an estimated nearly five million visitors per year to the miles-long canyon along the Colorado River. Sedona and Antelope Canyon are must-see destinations as well.

For sports fans, Arizona is home to professional football (Cardinals), baseball (Diamondbacks), and basketball (Suns) teams. Arizona also hosts the Phoenix Open, the annual Waste Management Golf (PGA) tournament, usually held in February every year. Also, there’s the MLB’s spring training in February and March, where half of the league’s professional baseball teams conduct spring training before the season.
Arizona is renowned for its beautiful weather, which is one of the best things about the state. It sees approximately 300 days of sunshine every year and very little rainfall (annual rainfall totals around seven inches). The state’s warm days and blue skies are incredibly pleasant, and I encourage everyone to visit the Grand Canyon State and experience it firsthand.

Being a leader at MPCA has allowed me to gain a unique perspective on the business. If you put in effort, listen to employees, learn every day, and work diligently, you can advance your career.

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” —Jack Welch