(Host) Omya Industries says its growth is what’s prompting the company to move its headquarters out of Vermont.
Omya has decided that its management team has to be located more conveniently to operations in ten other states and provinces around North America.
So the company is moving its headquarters and 50 jobs from Proctor, Vermont.
James Reddy is Omya president. He says new offices in Cincinnati will be more convenient to far-flung Omya operations.
(Reddy) “The center of gravity of the company has shifted significantly over the past few years and we need to be where our customers and our locations are.”
(Host) Omya is the world’s largest producer of calcium carbonate. The company buys marble from local quarries and processes it into calcium carbonate for use in consumer products as diverse as toothpaste and paint.”
The company has been in Vermont since 1976, when it bought the Vermont Marble Company from the Proctor family.
After the headquarters move, Omya says it will have a staff of 250 in Vermont and will continue to employ 150 subcontractors.
Omya’s laboratories, customer service, legal and other operations for North America will still operate from Proctor.
Reddy says it was difficult to leave Vermont. He hopes all of the 50 employees whose jobs are shifting will move to Cincinnati, but they could get severance packages if they decline.
(Reddy) “We’ve got great employees here. We’re very hopeful that all of them will accept positions in Cincinnati. The reason the company has grown, and the reason we’re so big all over North America now compared to where we were 20 years ago is because of our employees. We want to keep them with us.”
(Host) Omya’s largest processing plant still will be in Florence, north of Rutland. Its new headquarters is expected to open in Ohio by the end of January.