By Christine Graf
\nMomentive Performance Materials in Waterford announced plans to invest $15 million in specialized electronics materials production at its Waterford plant.
\nThe company is investing $40 million overall as part of its global transition from commodity basics chemicals to specialty silicones.
\nMomentive officials also said they are moving forward with recently announced plans to sell its consumer sealants business to Henkel, a chemical and consumer good company headquartered in Germany. Although the sale will include GE-branded consumer sealants, GE-branded construction sealants are excluded.
\nFinancial terms of the sale were not disclosed, and Momentive will continue to manufacture consumer sealants in Waterford through 2021, the company said.
\nThe company has been in business since 1947 and has 36 offices in 17 countries. Its products are used in many industries including healthcare, telecommunications, electronics, personal care, construction, transportation, agriculture, and energy.
\n\u201cThe $15 million investment we are making is really going to augment our capabilities and our capacities in one of our most exciting, fastest growing business\u2014electronic materials,\u201d said Sandip Tyagi, president and general manager of formulated specialties. \u201cThis is really in line with our overall strategy of continuing to transform our company into a more specialty chemical business.\u201d
\nThe specialty chemical business targets several end markets that Tyagi described as \u201cextremely exciting and fast growing.\u201d They include telecommunications infrastructure, and e-mobility. The e-mobility market encompasses fully electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fueled vehicles as well as other electric powered technologies.
\nMomentive\u2019s products are also used in the aerospace industry and could help make space tourism possible in the not-so-distant future, according to the company.
\n\u201cThese are areas where we are key material suppliers and these are areas that are at their early stage of development and have long opportunities for growth,\u201d said Tyagi.
\nThe transition from basics chemicals production to specialty silicones will begin in 2021 and will be phased in over two-years, he said.
\nMomentive anticipates that the company\u2019s workforce will drop from 1,000 to 700 by the end of the transition. All decisions related to workforce reduction will be negotiated with IUE-CWA Local 81359, the union that represents the plant\u2019s approximately 700 hourly workers.
\nAlthough a workforce reduction is likely, Tyagi said the company\u2019s transition to specialty silicones is necessary in order for operations to remain sustainable.
\n\u201cThe technologies and the markets that we are investing in are markets for the future. They create opportunities for us, for our operations here, on a much more sustainable basis. This will create a lot of longevity in terms of opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cThis will lead to exciting roles for our people because they will be a part of enabling some of these new technologies.\u201d
\nAccording to Tyagi, Momentive remained committed to the Capital Region.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been here for a long time, and we expect to be here for years to come. This is an exciting time in our journey as a company. We are really enhancing our footprint as well as our investment in our specialty transition and transformation. This has led to great excitement as well as pride to our employees.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Christine Graf Momentive Performance Materials in Waterford announced plans to invest $15 million in specialized electronics materials production at its Waterford plant. The company is investing $40 million overall as part of its global transition from commodity basics chemicals to specialty silicones. Momentive officials also said they are moving forward with recently announced plans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\n