Business Facilities - May 2008 - (Page 18)

CORPORATE MOVES Massachusetts By Bill Trüb ocaplast, an international recycling business based in Belgium, recently teamed with Massachusetts’ Solutia, Inc. to create its new U.S. headquarters in Springfield, MA. Socaplast USA will invest $3.4 million in facilities and equipment and will create 15 permanent full-time jobs at its new space in Solutia’s business park. The company plans to begin operations in the middle of 2008. Socaplast selected the Springfield site over other locations in western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut because of its close proximity to Solutia. Socaplast is Solutia’s European supplier of PVB, a plastic used to make laminated glass. Solutia Success for Socaplast and Solutia in Springfield nationally recuses this material at its Indian ognized,” says Springfield Mayor Orchard, MA plant to manufacture Domenic J. Sarno. an interlayer for automotive glass. Raf van der Perre, CEO of Socaplast has developed a tech- Socaplast Belgium, says his company nique to recycle PVB foil and trim- is eager to settle into its new Springmings discarded durfield offices. “It is ing the laminating important to us that process. The company Socaplast USA is part plans to recycle PVB of the Springfield trims from the region’s business community NAFTA laminators, and contributes to the including Adams and Solutia Business Park in economic wealth of Springfield, MA Ruxton, TJ Conway, the Commonwealth and Industrial Transfer. of Massachusetts,” says van der Perre. “This newly acquired green creThe Western Massachusetts Ecodential will go a great distance as nomic Development Council conSpringfield works toward an identi- nected Socaplast with various state fication that is eco-friendly and agencies to facilitate the expansion. S Liberty Gets Technical in Springfield n April, Liberty Mutual Group began filling approximately 160 jobs at its new office in Springfield, MA, and the insurance company predicts up to 300 jobs may be created in the future. Liberty Mutual signed a 10-year lease on 55,000 square feet of office space at the Springfield Technical Community College Park and plans to open the building in the third quarter of 2008. It will meet various needs, such as claims operations and legal administration, while also serving as a customer service call center. The new jobs will offer an average salary of $35,000, plus benefits. Edmund Kelly, CEO and president of Liberty Mutual, says Springfield offers low costs and excellent highway access. “MassachuSpringfield Technical Community College setts is not an Business Park, where Liberty Mutual is located expensive state in which to do business,” he adds, “if you stay outside of Route 495.” I Tech Fund Aids Expansion in Worcester AEmerging Technology Fund loan from MassDevelt the end of 2007, ECI Biotech received a $400,000 opment, a statewide development agency based in Boston. The company will use the funds to upgrade its current facility and purchase equipment for its new office and research/manufacturing facility in Worcester, MA. A former mill building once home to the Massachusetts Lottery, ECI Biotech’s new facility is in Worcester’s Gateway Park district, a commercial industrial development led by the Worcester Business Development Corporation and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and financed in part by MassDevelopment. ECI Biotech leased 11,610 square feet of the former mill building, more than double the square footage of its current facility. The expansion will allow ECI Biotech to begin manufacturing biosensors for consumer and professional care diagnostics. The company now employs 14 people, up from only two employees nine years ago. It plans to hire an additional 22 workers over the next five years. 18 M AY 2 0 0 8 PHOTO CREDIT: IMAGES PROVIDED BY EDC OF WESTERN MASS

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Business Facilities - May 2008

Business Facilities - May 2008 Contents First Word Snapshots The UK's Most Lucrative Locations, Pound for Pound Economic Development in a Flash Corporate Moves: Massachusetts Florida: A Ripe Climate for Innovation Innovating Big in Rhode IIsland Retail Set to Ride Out a Recession Corporate Moves: New Jersey South Carolina: A Sweet Spot in the Southeast Endless Opportunities in North Carolina Economic Awakening in the Mohawk Valley Metro Spotlight: Alexandria, LA Where Call Centers Call Home Texas Receives First Business Facilities State of the Year Award Advertiser Index Inside Livexchange

Business Facilities - May 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.