When billion-dollar German specialty chemicals manufacturer Roehm — maker of acrylic sheets and other acrylic plastics — began its search for a flagship U.S. research and development center, the company cast a wide net for the new location, according to Thomas Spagnuolo, vice president and general manager of molding compounds. It considered Detroit because of its […]
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When billion-dollar German specialty chemicals manufacturer Roehm — maker of acrylic sheets and other acrylic plastics — began its search for a flagship U.S. research and development center, the company cast a wide net for the new location, according to Thomas Spagnuolo, vice president and general manager of molding compounds.
It considered Detroit because of its automotive corridor (one of Roehm’s most common and well-known products is ACRYLITE®, a clear-acrylic plastic material used for automotive parts, including interior and exterior lighting, speedometer and pillar covers and exterior body parts like taillights).
Texas’ petrochemical corridor made the low-tax southern state a strong draw. It also considered New Jersey, Spagnuolo said.
In the end, however, Roehm executives settled on the town of Wallingford, where the company already had a manufacturing plant on South Cherry Street that makes a clear acrylic product — called CYROLITE® — used in medical devices, diagnostics and sterilized packaging.
Roehm recently debuted its new medical R&D center in 15,000 square feet of leased space at 101 North Plains Industrial Road, where it’s developing new uses for its CYROLITE® and ACRYLITE® applications.
The facility is equipped with a materials development laboratory.
“Connecticut is a key hub for pharmaceutical and biomedical developments,” Spagnuolo said. “In the end, we found the Wallingford location as the best location for the innovation center. It just happened to be four miles from our plant. We found the town of Wallingford to be extremely helpful in the design and development and in getting this facility in there.”
Plastics industry growth
Private equity-backed Roehm – a $1.95 billion in annual revenue company – traces its founding back to 1907, and its acrylic plastics are used in a variety of products serving myriad industries, including medical, automotive, optical, coatings and lighting.
In the medical field, for example, CYROLITE® is used to make IV connectors, catheter components, blood management filters and sterile packaging.
Roehm is in the process of investing $5.3 million in the Wallingford innovation center, its largest non-production investment in the region, Spagnuolo said.
That includes $1.3 million in new equipment.
The innovation center, Spagnuolo said, has a warehouse, 4,000-square-foot polymer processing center and a 2,000-square-foot laboratory that features temperature and humidity controls ideal for working with plastics.
There is also 7,000 square feet of office or collaboration space where Roehm staffers — including Ph.D.s, chemists, lab managers, processing engineers and extrusion technicians — can meet and brainstorm on projects.
A visitors center spotlights the company’s history and products.
Roehm employs 16 people in the new innovation center and an additional 55 employees at the South Cherry Street manufacturing plant, Spagnuolo said.
The Wallingford investment is part of a national and global expansion being driven by increased demand for high-quality, sustainable materials used in the plastics industry, Spagnuolo said.
Last year Roehm moved its U.S. headquarters to another location in Parsippany, New Jersey, and broke ground on a chemicals manufacturing plant in Houston, Texas.
Overall, the company has 13 production sites in five countries — including Germany, the U.S., China, Mexico and South Africa — and serves thousands of customers globally, Spagnuolo said.
R&D push
Roehm did not get any specialized incentives deal to open its Wallingford innovation center, but the company will be eligible for personal property tax exemptions on machinery.
State law allows municipalities to offer that tax break to manufacturers and R&D companies.
Joseph Mirra, Wallingford’s acting economic development specialist, said the town of 44,400 residents has focused on trying to become “a hub for R&D.”
BYK USA, another German-based supplier of specialty chemicals, and metals manufacturer Ulbrich also have R&D facilities in Wallingford.
“There are more than 2,500 businesses in town, including about two dozen that do research and development, and that number is growing,” Mirra said.
Wallingford is in the second year of a digital marketing campaign — using LinkedIn and other platforms — to recruit companies to the town, he added.
Its selling points include being near major highways (Routes 5 and 15 and Interstate 91), offering a strong school system and having its own municipal power company that offers lower utility rates, Mirra said, adding the town offers a “very business-friendly environment.”
