Due to the new plant, the town upgraded the area's water supply system. By 1963, Elgin was drilling wells as part of a new $150,000 water system, and the plant had begun production. In 1967, officials from the Elgin National Watch Company announced that the plant would be sold to B. F. Goodrich, a manufacturer of tennis shoes, due to the company's inability to compete with foreign-made products. That year, the Hardwicke Chemical Company broke ground at a 15-acre site near Elgin.