Defense Plant Corporation

The Defense Plant Corporation was organized as a subsidiary of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. In the months before the United States entered World War II, the crucial problem facing the government was expanding the industrial base of the country to meet military needs. In June 1940, Congress authorized for formation of subsidiaries of the RFC to meet the need for capital to build the industrial base. Under this act the Defense Plant Corporation was formed in August of that year. The Corporation contracted with private business to operate defense related busineses under leases. By the end of World War II, when the corporation dissolved, it owned approximately 10-12% of the industrial capacity of the nation.