90 In the 1950s, Western States moved toward diversification to lessen the Company's dependence on the sugar industry. Jack Schneider, who had previously worked with Westinghouse, was hired as Sales Manager for the Chemical Department, along with engineer Harold Durrell. In 1954, the Company built a new chemical centrifugal that American Smelting of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, used to process nickel sulfate. In the next year, chemical centrifugals were installed at DuPont to clarify lubricating oil, at Dow Chemical to process acetylsalicylic acid (more commonly known as aspirin), and at Cuba’s Central Francisco Distillery to process yeast. The 1950s ended on a sour note for Western States, as Fidel Castro nationalized Cuban industry and put the island nation’s sugar producers out of reach. CHAPTER 7 left: Installation at Ingenio El Potrero, Mexico. 1950