MIDLAND, Mich. – April 23, 2018 – The Dow Chemical Company is pleased to announce the selection of Spence Brothers as the Construction Manager collaborating with Shaheen Development to deliver a world class Innovation Center for Dow, following a thorough and formal bidding process. Together they form a group with unmatched capabilities to exceed Dow expectations. The Great Lakes Bay Region is the home to both companies, and they have a strong commitment to working with local suppliers and subcontractors.

Construction of the Innovation Center was first announced in July 2017. The Center is designed to drive innovation at the intersections of silicone science and organic chemistry at the heritage Dow Corning corporate campus in Auburn, Michigan. The new facility will host approximately 200 research and development employees.

“This state-of-the-art Innovation Center will be a hub for bringing together the best thinking and best science and technology to deploy against some of the world’s greatest challenges,” said Andrew N. Liveris, chairman and chief executive officer, The Dow Chemical Company. “The center will become pivotal in propelling the future Dow forward as the world’s leading materials science company. We are proud to continue Dow’s more-than-120-year tradition of innovation in the Great Lakes Bay Region begun by our founder, Herbert H. Dow.”

In addition, the Spence Brothers Team has also been selected as the Construction Manager for renovating an existing building located at the Auburn site (Williams Township) and creating a 28,000 square foot expansion that will host Dow’s Product Safety Laboratory, currently located at Michigan Operations. This brings the total combined investment to $121 million and is another great example of Dow’s motivation for long-term growth and creating opportunities for our local businesses, people and the communities in which they operate. Construction is anticipated to begin in the third quarter of 2018. The construction phase will support more than 180 Michigan-based jobs over one-and-a-half years. Employees are expected to start moving into the new Innovation Center and Product Safety Laboratory by the end of 2019.

The construction manager, Spence Brothers, has been based in Saginaw since 1893. “We are so grateful that Dow has selected Spence Brothers and our local project partner, Shaheen Development, to help them with this significant investment in the future growth and success of their company and our community,” said Herbert A. Spence III, president and CEO of Spence Brothers Construction. “We believe that our local Construction Management team will also be best suited to involve the most subcontractors and suppliers from the area, multiplying the benefit to our region’s economy during the project.”

Shaheen Development brings a client-focused delivery model from design concept to project completion. “Shaheen Development is pleased to be selected to partner in the development of the Dow Innovation Center here in the Great Lakes Bay Region – a project that demonstrates Dow’s commitment to contributing to the Great Lakes Bay Region’s economy,” said Dr. Samuel Shaheen, president and CEO of Shaheen Development. “By teaming up with Spence Brothers, the region’s preeminent construction manager, the project team will have exceptional capacity and experience. The team will develop a cost-effective and world-class project, while maintaining a local employment base and with a commitment to local contractors and suppliers.”

Dow has several other building and renovation projects ongoing in the Great Lakes Bay Region, including the renovation of the Stoesser Center and the construction of a Visitors Center at its Corporate Headquarters campus in Midland, announced in 2017.

Between inflight projects and investments made over the last 10 years, Dow and development partners will have built or renovated more than $500 million in laboratory and office projects in the Great Lakes Bay Region, which will have supported more than 870 Michigan-based jobs and 1,160 jobs in other parts of North America.

 

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