Coatings World - November 2012

Valspar announces expansion of
its R&D campus in Minneapolis

The Valspar Corporation has announced plans to expand its research and development campus and renovate its former headquarters building, located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. This world-class environment for developing industry-leading coatings technologies and applications further demonstrates the company’s commitment to growth and innovation, the company reported. The project will also create up to 135 full-time jobs over the next two years, including high-paying roles in the material sciences. Valspar is investing $30 million in the project, which will add 87,000 square feet of laboratory, meeting and office space. The project is expected to be completed in early 2014.

“Expanding our Minneapolis R&D
center is a prime example of Valspar’s
global leadership in coatings innovation
and technology,” said Gary Hendrick-
son, chairman and chief executive offi-
cer of Valspar. “We will devote more re-
sources toward developing differentiated
coatings technologies to address the
changing needs of our customers. Our
scientists and researchers will have ac-
cess to a best-in-class facility to more
quickly and efficiently bring these solu-
tions to market.”
The Minneapolis campus is the an-
chor of the company’s research and de-
velopment network worldwide,
R&D center in Minneapolis will also en-
able Valspar to expand its partnerships
with highly regarded research institutions
and universities, providing co-operative
internships and equipment sharing, in-
cluding the University of Minnesota.

collectively called the Valspar Applied Science and Technology Centers (VAST). The company operates a second flagship R&D facility recently opened in Guangzhou, China as well as more than three dozen smaller laboratories around the world. Together, these facilities enable Valspar’s research and development teams to drive the development of new products, solve customer and manufacturing challenges, develop polymers with unique performance and value, and establish new test protocols to ensure quality. The

PPG Industries releases its
annual automotive color
popularity and trend data

While white retained the leading spot as the most popular car color based on 2012 automotive build data, PPG forecasts that the overall use of color is on the rise.

According to PPG’s annual survey of global color popularity, white ranked first (22%) and silver was second (20%), followed by black (19%), gray (12%), red (9%), natural (8%), blue (7%), green (2%) and other colors (1%).

“Color is one of the first characteristics noticed in product design, and it is increasingly being used in everyday items, from cell phones to large appliances, based largely on automotive trends,” said Jane E. Harrington, PPG manager, color styling, automotive OEM (original