A. E. Staley was a Decatur, Illinois based processor of corn founded in 1898. It changed its name to Staley Continental in 1985. It produced a range of starch products for the food, paper and other industries, high fructose corn syrup, crystalline fructose (under the brand name Krystar), ethanol (fuel) and other agro-industrial products. A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company was the center of a controversy in 1992 when the company locked out hundreds of workers after the workers had rejected a contract amid accusations by management of destruction and tampering of company property and equipment.