Schuylkill County, PA -
Versum Materials Inc. soon plans to open its multimillion dollar research and development facility in Schuylkill County.
Versum CEO Guillermo Novo said the company will be “inaugurating” its new facility in April in Rush Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Versum spokeswoman Tiffany Zinn said Friday should could not immediately provide additional information about the opening.
The company announced last May that it had broken ground on the facility, part of its chemical manufacturing campus. It is part of a larger $20 million investment into the campus during the last year.
Versum, an electronic materials company spun off from Trexlertown's Air Products in October 2016 and based in Tempe, Ariz., said the new facility will house a research and development laboratory for materials used to make semiconductors. The Schuylkill County manufacturing campus produces a variety of specialty gases and chemicals for semiconductor manufacturers around the world.
About 30 employees, half of whom hold advanced degrees in chemistry or chemical engineering, are expected to work at the new facility. The campus now has 225 employees. Another 324 employees are based at several locations in the Lehigh Valley.
Meanwhile, Versum posted net income of $18.6 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, down from a profit of nearly $51 million, or 47 cents per share, for the same three months in 2016. Sales were up 22 percent during the quarter, to nearly $331 million. Excluding several charges related to the federal tax act, restructuring and “cost reduction actions,” and a write-off of financing costs, the company said earnings would have been $59 million, or 54 cents per diluted share.
Versum moved its headquarters from Trexlertown to Arizona shortly after the spinoff from Air Products.
-Anthony Salamone
http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-biz-versum-materials-schuylkill-plant-20180209-story.html#nws=true
