Located on over eight acres - 33,000 square meters - in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, Pudong New Area District, the new site will anchor the company's research and commercial presence in one of the fastest growing markets in the world.
Raj Gupta, chairman and chief executive officer of Rohm and Haas said: "This facility will consolidate many of our research, technical service, and commercial employees under one roof, supporting a collaborative environment that is important not only to innovation, but to the level of service we can offer customers in China and the surrounding regions."
Gupta also pointed out that the company's growth in China over the last several years has been remarkable. "Rohm and Haas has had a presence in China since 1979, when we opened a small facility to support our Electronic Materials business in Hong Kong. Today, we have 1,000 employees and sales in excess of $300 million. The growth potential is tremendous, and our continued success in the Asia Pacific market depends to a large extent on our ability to rapidly grow our presence in China," Gupta said.
The new site, expected to open in mid-2006, will initially employ about 300 researchers, technical service personnel, commercial and sales professionals and functional staff, and is in addition to 30 technical centers throughout the world.
The company will design and construct a five-story administration building, featuring offices, customer meeting rooms, a training and conference auditorium, and a customer reception area. A four-story research building will be constructed concurrently, providing modern laboratory and technical service facilities for scientists, technical service professionals, and support staff.
Rohm and Haas, which currently has sales of $7.3 billion and is present in 27 countries, says that the Zhangjiang site, which is located on the eastern side of Shanghai, has the flexibility to grow with additional multipurpose buildings for R&D, technical service, customer service and commercial offices. The initial 300 employees will be relocated from other Rohm and Haas facilities throughout Shanghai, but the site is capable of employing up to 1,500 employees. Rohm and Haas will invest $30 million initially, although the total project is estimated at up to $60 million if long-term growth necessitates site expansion.
Dr. Gary Calabrese, vice president and chief technology officer said, "This new center strengthens our resources in basic research, applications development and technical support. It's an important investment, bringing us much closer not only to a growing customer base, but also to new technologies, potential new research partners and scientists throughout the Asia Pacific region."