HIGH POINT, NC — A groundbreaking ceremony has taken place at AkzoNobel’s North American Wood Coatings facility in High Point, North Carolina, to officially start a €50 million investment that will transform the site’s manufacturing capability.

Announced in April, the extensive upgrade will include installing state-of-the-art production technology, as well as building a new raw materials warehouse, research lab and technical application center. The ceremony was staged just a few months after the company marked 100 years of being in the wood coatings industry in North America.

 “This is an historic moment which will help us reinforce our market leadership and further strengthen our commitment to our customers in North America,” said AkzoNobel CEO Thierry Vanlancker, who was joined at the event by company executives, state and local dignitaries, customers, and more than 200 site employees.

“This investment clearly signals our intentions,” he added. “We’re looking to accelerate our growth in the region, and High Point has a vital role to play as we continue to build and expand market positions across our wood coatings portfolio.”

Known as the home furnishings capital of the world, High Point has been home to AkzoNobel’s U.S. wood coatings activities since 1955. Covering 37 acres, it produces a wide range of products to serve the furniture, flooring and building products segments, as well as the company’s Chemcraft distributors.

Modernizing the site will make production more flexible and efficient and will allow AkzoNobel to better serve all its customers and partners. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2021, with rolling projects already underway.

Commenting on the investment, Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina, said, “Global companies that do business in North Carolina time and again choose to expand their footprint here. High Point has long been a manufacturing hub, and area workers are ready to ramp up production to support AkzoNobel’s reinvestment plan.”

High Point has been instrumental in AkzoNobel’s long history of supplying the world’s leading manufacturers of furniture, flooring and building products. The experts at the site’s Global Design Studio continue that tradition by sharing the latest color and aesthetic trends with designers around the world to help them produce complementary palettes and stay on-trend.