Evonik sees room for growth

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Senior executives of Evonik Industries toured the newly acquired Tippecanoe Labs in Shadeland on Friday.  Evonik president Thomas Bates and Senior Vice president Hans-Joseph Ritzert toured the facility and met with workers.

Tippe Labs General Manager Larry McShane said employee reaction to the sale this week has been enthusiastic.

"The evolution that's going on in the pharmaceutical industry is driving innovation primarily, and manufacturing needs to be managed by manufacturing entities. And, Evonik is a manufacturing entity, and that's why Tippecanoe Laboratories fits so well in that corporation," McShane said.

Evonik now has 33 manufacturing facilities in North America. In its physical size, at 2,300 acres, the Tippecanoe Laboratories become the largest. Senior Vice President Hans-Joseph Ritzert said Evonik does plan to expand the labs' output and possibly its employment. But he said it's too early for specifics.

"First of all, we have huge capacities here. First of all, we have to fill this capacity. But, of course, our perspective is to definitely grow the site. We are ready to invest here and, but the first priority is to fill the existing capacities with the existing workforce and then we'll see in the next couple years how we can grow the site, too," Ritzert said.

Evonik president Thomas Bates said Tippecanoe Labs is his company's first pharmaceutical manufacturing facility. He would not discuss future hiring, either, but said the company is in manufacturing for the long haul.

"This site has plenty of room, this site has talented people, and I for one am absolutely convinced that America can continue to compete in manufacture. I refuse to accept that we're going to lose manufacturing to other places. It's up to us to be smart enough and committeed enough to keep manufacturing a critical part of the American economy for many years to come," Bates said.

Tippecanoe Labs' General Manager Larry McShane said the deal with Evonik had been in the works for about one year.