A DuPont spin-off is conducting a multi-state search for
a 350,000-square-foot new headquarters that would accommodate 800 employees and
the Philadelphia region is among the locations it is considering.
Chemours Co., a $6 billion chemical company that created
Teflon when it was under the DuPont umbrella, is currently located in at 1007
Market St. in Wilmington, Del. It has initiated a search that includes sites in
Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs, and South Jersey, as well as
throughout Delaware.
Wilmington, Del. is the current home of Chemours.
“Chemours is a 200-year old start-up with a rich history
in Wilmington,” said Robert Dekker, a company spokesman “A history that we
value as an organization and certainly take into account as we review the
options for our permanent global headquarters location.”
He said the space it occupies in Wilmington is a
“temporary headquarters” though staying put in the building is also an option.
Chemours (NYSE: CC) owns the 400,000-square-foot building
it occupies. The structure also houses the Playhouse at Rodney Square and the
Hotel DuPont. It had been DuPont Co.’s former headquarters before the
conglomerate relocated to the Wilmington suburbs.
Sources familiar with the company’s search say that among
the locations in the Philadelphia region that it is evaluating are in southern
Delaware County and Chester County, which could be less disruptive for
employees.
It is also reportedly looking at the Navy Yard, where a
DuPont sister spin-off, Axalta Coating Systems, recently announced it would
locate a global research and development facility. Axalta is headquartered in
Commerce Square.
A new global headquarters would provide an “exciting and
productive working environment for the Chemours employees to help support our
goal of building a high-value chemistry company,” Dekker said in an email.
Dekker confirmed the company is working closely with
local and state government and economic development officials in its search
though he didn’t come right out and say Chemours is seeking financial
incentives. Delaware economic development officials have reportedly offered the
company money to stay in the state, including 3 percent of capital expenditures
that could total up to $50 million, as well as $100,000 a year for employee
training, according to a published report in the News-Journal.
DuPont announced in 2013 that it would jettison Chemours
and finalized that process this past July. It is a chemical company that
focuses on titanium technologies and fluoroproducts. Aside from refrigerants,
its fluoropolymers improve reception in cellphone antennas and protect circuits
and engines from heat. Its titanium technology goes into coatings for vehicles,
as well as plastics that go into the interior walls of refrigerators and
laminates for flooring.
Chemours has had a difficult start as a stand-alone
company. In August, the company announced it would close a plant in Edgemoor,
Del., which employed about 200 workers, as well as one in New Johnsonville,
Tenn. The closings are expected to save the company $45 million. Its stock has
also struggled. After hitting $22.50 in June, the shares have trading under $10
for the last month and analysts predict its dividend will be significantly cut.
Dekker, the company spokesman, declined to provide a
timeframe for when it will complete its search for a global headquarters.
“We will announce our decision on our future headquarters
location when our process of evaluation has been completed,” he said.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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