RDAbbott opens NovationSi headquarters and Northeast Ohio materials science and logistics hub
Cerritos, CA – R.D. Abbott Co., Inc. (RDAbbott) recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the headquarters for NovationSi, its manufacturing subsidiary, at 25 Foundation Place in Barberton, Ohio. The 127,126 sq. ft. facility is also the Northeast hub for RDAbbott, a materials science, engineering, and distribution company that is advancing rubber technologies and connecting customers with the best products and services. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, October 8, 2021, at 8:30 AM and followed by guided tours.
The Barberton service center was a year in the making and includes 67,000 sq. ft. for customer service, research laboratories, and manufacturing. The laboratories are equipped for liquid silicone rubber (LSR) processing, engineering, compounding, formulation development, color matching, and physical properties testing. The new facility also includes 60,000 sq. ft. for RDAbbott-managed warehousing with 10 docks, three drive-in doors, and rail spur access.
RDAbbott also maintains a service center in Cerritos, California, and a network of warehouses that are strategically located across North America. The company is staffed with rubber experts at every level and, along with an extensive portfolio of elastomer products, offers research and laboratory services that include material design and development, product optimization, material preparation, chemical analysis, material characterization, and physical properties testing. NovationSi elastomer technologists, compounders, and pigment specialists work closely with RDAbbott’s material scientists and application engineers to create fully customized elastomer solutions.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, members of the RDAbbott and NovationSi executive teams were joined by local and industry press, city officials, customers, supplier partners, employees and their family members. Keith Thomas, RDAbbott’s CEO, thanked everyone for their hard work and credited them for “building something that our employees can be proud of for many years to come.” Bob Bradley, NovationSi’s president, concurred that “everyone should be proud” and then recognized the company’s newest employees, who held up the commemorative ribbon, as “part of the foundation for the future.”
Bradley also recognized Office Manager Lolly Covell, whose father served in the U.S. Navy and passed away last July. Today, the American flag that flies in front of the Barberton service center is the same one that covered Lolly’s father’s casket. “The flag that flutters in the breeze is a salute to all veterans,” Bradley told the assembled guests. Barberton Mayor William Judge then cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the new facility.