Dow Chemical Co.'s innovation center near its Midland, Mich., headquarters will cost $100 million and construction is slated to start "soon," the company announced Monday.
The 100,000-square-foot research and development center at the Heritage Dow Corning Corporate Campus is expected to accommodate about 200 employees, 100 of which will be new jobs, according to a news release.
Construction is expected to finish in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to a fact sheet on the project. The facility will focus on silicone science and organic chemistry, housing both lab and office space.
"This world-class facility could have been located anywhere and we chose to invest right here in Michigan because both the U.S. and the state have a growing and vibrant research, development and manufacturing sector creating new opportunities every day," Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris said in the release.
The general contractor and architect have not yet been determined, said Jarrod Erpelding, Dow's corporate media relations leader.
Dow has declined to disclose an estimate more specific than "soon" for when construction will begin, Erpelding said. The center will be constructed at the Dow Corning corporate campus in Williams Township — about 5 miles from Dow's Midland headquarters.
Liveris first announced the plan for the innovation center in December at an event in Grand Rapids with then-President-elect Donald Trump.
Dow also on Monday celebrated the grand opening of its 184,000-square-foot, six-story Global Dow Center. The new headquarters building was built on Dow's headquarters campus in Midland. Construction focused on sustainability, according to a fact sheet. The investment was not disclosed for the facility, which will house about 470 employees.
Troy-based Kirco led construction and development, and Houston-based Kirksey Architecture was architect of record for the center.
Dow employs about 13,000 in the Great Lakes Bay Region and 56,000 worldwide, according to the news release. It reported sales of $48 billion in 2016.
The company recently announced executive-level staffing changes as it nears a merger with Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont.
Dow is also renovating its Employee Development Center, which will be renamed the Stoesser Center. The company also expects to finish construction soon on its H.H. Dow Visitors and Heritage Center.
Source: Crain's Detroit Business
