9 It agreed to purchase the Speedling Company of Sun City, Florida to produce seedling plants in a patented plastic tray in a greenhouse. 3 By 1974, Parker Tobacco boasted a payroll of $1.6 million, 140 full-time employees, and 450 seasonal workers. The company looked to increase the utilization of its plants further in the 1970s. That led to an increased usage of the Maysville facility from four months a year to nine months a year. 3 9 It not only handled tobacco in foreign markets but processed them. Parker Tobacco became the first tobacco company to introduce off-shore burley to the United States market.

Together, Parker Tobacco and Dibrell formed Extaho. 9 It also partnered with the Dibrell brothers, who had pioneered the production and exportation of burley tobacco in Honduras. Parker Tobacco also became involved with markets in Malawi and Rhodesia in Africa. Parker Tobacco purchased an extra 50% interest in EXCA in 1970. The Brazil operations were consolidated into a new 41-acre plant in Timbo. 1 EXCA underwent a major expansion that led it to become one of the major exporters of the flue-cured and dark air-cured tobaccos. 9 ExpansionР”В«y the late 1960s, due to an increased demand for cigarettes worldwide, Parker Tobacco expanded overseas when it acquired at 25% 3 interest inР’В Exportadora Catarinense de Ltda (EXCA) of Timbo, Brazil. Parker TobaccoРІР‚в„ўsР’В workforce topped 500 with a payroll of $750,000. It also started to ship tobacco back to Maysville for sale to customers and looked towards expanding in international markets. 3 The company began to purchase tobacco for their own account in burley and flue-cured markets.

Parker Tobacco installed a large threshing line in 1961 that allowed it to handle purchases in leaf, bundle, or strip form. 9 The company vacated it for a factory in Lexington. Reynolds had expanded upon their 225,154 square-foot building with an expansion that opened on September 23, 1925, growing to include 600 employees. The circa 1918 facility was once owned by the R.J. It also did increase business with domestic tobacco companies and dealers.Р”В«y 1958, Parker Tobacco had outgrown its facilities and it purchased a larger processing plant along Forest Avenue. 3 After World War II concluded, the company grew by conducting commission packaging and storage for the United States Government. 3Р”Вuring the 1930s and 1940s, Parker Tobacco purchased and processed tobacco on a commission-only basis for three to four Kentucky dealers and three of the domestic cigarette manufacturers. Parker bought out his partners in 1934 and renamed the company Parker Tobacco. 1Р’В The business, which contained one re-dryer, packing machine, and green prize rooms, prospered. In 1932, Alex Parker, Sr., along with Frazer LeBus, Frank Vaughn of Fall City Tobacco of Louisville, purchased a small tobacco re-drying and storage facility on Buckley Place in Maysville.

Alex p. r. toncray