CINCINNATI – The ChemQuest Group Inc., a leading business strategy firm in specialty chemicals, and The Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County, VA, announced an agreement on terms to incorporate C-CARE (National Center for Coatings, Application, Research, & Education), South Boston, VA, into the newly formed ChemQuest Technology Institute.

The state-of-the-art facility was designed to provide coatings suppliers the ability to test their products in a controlled environment that replicates a range of production conditions. The applications laboratory incorporates a wide selection of technologies, including 6-axis robotics, electrostatic and wet spray, flat and hang lines, IR, UV, and convection curing. Also included is an automobile-sized cross-ventilated spray booth suitable for robotic or manual equipment.

ChemQuest envisions these capabilities will strengthen the Technology and Development pillar of its value chain services. As part of the agreement, The ChemQuest Group Inc., through The ChemQuest Technology Institute, will be adding formulary and analytical laboratories and expanding services to support specialty chemicals clientele in paints and coatings, adhesives, sealants, plastics, inks, personal care, HI&I, and more.

According to Dan Murad, President and CEO of ChemQuest, “Halifax IDA’s vision to create and build a facility meeting industry best practices gives the ChemQuest Technology Institute a launchpad to address our clients’ needs. Our clients have indicated the desire to verify and document applications processes to better serve their customer demands. We look forward to a bright future helping end-users, formulators and raw materials suppliers meet their technology and production challenges.”

"The Halifax, Virginia Industrial Development Authority (IDA) couldn’t be happier with its new relationship with The ChemQuest Group,” said Matt Leonard, Halifax IDA Executive Director. “We spent over two years, beginning with an international Request for Proposal, to identify a partner to whom we could entrust our multimillion-dollar applied coatings laboratory. ChemQuest is that right partner. They bring decades of experience, thousands of critical industry contacts, a spirit of teamwork, and a vision for the lab far beyond what we put in place and could have imagined. Halifax IDA looks forward to a long and effective partnership with ChemQuest.”

For more information on The ChemQuest Technology Institute’s capabilities, contact Edye Fox Abrams, Director of Business Development, The ChemQuest Group Inc., at 410/215.5731 (e-mail: efabrams@chemquest.com).