Westlake, Ohio — Opening a headquarters office in a new building amid the pandemic when just 20 percent of the staff may work at once is an idea that might make most executives cringe, but IMCD US President Thomas Van Valkenburgh said the new office is for the future as much as it is for today.
Especially when it comes to helping the company win and retain talent.
"This is not just a new office space, but a modern work environment carefully designed to inspire collaboration, galvanize partnerships and encourage entrepreneurship," he said.
IMCD US, a unit of the Rotterdam, Netherlands-based IMCD N.V., is a leading distributor of specialty chemicals and ingredients. It relocated recently to Convergence, a just-completed multitenant office building in Westlake, Ohio.
Total employment at IMCD US is 370, located at sites across the U.S. that include five laboratory locations that specialize in things such as personal care products, and oil and gas. The company's biggest markets are in coatings and construction, plastics and other advanced materials, pharmaceuticals and personal care.
IMCD's new workplace is 78 percent larger with 32,000 square feet, compared to its former office of 18,000 square feet, and it's scaled to allow the company to grow in place for at least 10 years.
Moreover, IMCD's business strategy is one where those human features play a particularly big role.
"We don't manufacture anything," Van Valkenburgh said. "We partner with our manufacturers. We are big on expanding the marketplace to create value. We're very much an asset-light business, a creator and innovator with other companies. We actively work with the (research and development) office of our customers to create these assets."
IMCD has four other offices around the nation and 20 warehouses, in addition to its lab locations.
IMCD N.V., which had 2019 sales of $3.2 billion, does not break out sales for its U.S. operations.
Van Valkenburgh declined to specify how much the multinational corporation spent on its new Westlake, Ohio, headquarters.