There’s a lot of gray and beige in the new A. Schulman headquarters in Fairlawn, but there’s nothing drab about the glass, metal and brick building.
“It’s a very distinctive building,” said Joseph Gingo, CEO of the global maker of plastics compounds and resins.
Gingo rejected other designs that he said were reminiscent of strip malls.
The new gray- and beige-carpeted headquarters at Cleveland-Massillon and Ridgewood roads is a sleek, one-story structure. It features angled roofs, lots of large windows and a glass-fronted entryway.
On Tuesday, Schulman and Fairlawn officials — who say keeping Schulman in town was a big win — will mark the building’s opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Schulman employees began moving in several days ago, as landscaping workers and others made finishing touches.
About 140 Schulman corporate and U.S. operations employees work at the new facility, which was built in less than a year at the city-owned Fairlawn Corporate Park.
“I think the biggest thing is the light and the more spacious environment,” Gingo said, comparing the new place with the old building about two miles away.
Corporate spokeswoman Jennifer Beeman said Schulman, which has made five acquisitions since 2010, was running out of space on West Market Street, where Schulman had been located since 1972.
At the new headquarters, Gingo points to the “tremendous amount of glass” — in windows, as well as the walls that separate individual offices from areas housing multiple work cubicles. These glass walls allow for “the maximum natural light” to illuminate the cubicles, Beeman said.
Schulman [Nasdaq: SHLM] doesn’t own the new 34,000-square-foot facility; the company has a 20-year lease from developer Landridge Development LLC.
“It’s an extremely reasonable lease,” Gingo said, declining to give specifics. “I expect it’s more than competitive.”
Landridge representatives declined to give a cost for the new building. Fairlawn city officials have said the building was expected to cost $6.5 million.
Gingo said the move will be “cost neutral” for Schulman over the 20 years. The company sold the West Market building to Landridge, and will no longer have the relatively high maintenance costs associated with the old structure, Gingo said.
Landridge plans to find new tenants for that building after investing in renovations.
Schulman had offers from other areas wanting to land the headquarters, Fairlawn Mayor Bill Roth said.
The city, wanting to ensure that Schulman stayed, sold 4.6 acres, at the west end of the corporate park, to Landridge Development for $560,000. That was a “favorable price,” Roth said.
“They are large taxpayers,” Roth said, noting the city also paid for some infrastructure improvements. “They’re a stable company. They’ve been in Fairlawn for 40 years. Now, they’ve committed to stay longer.”
The city, just west of Akron and with 7,400 residents, has a policy of not giving tax abatements, Roth said.
Twinsburg businessman Mike Ritenour formed Landridge Development Co. for the headquarters project last year. Ritenour is president of design/interior finish company Lou Ritenour Decorators Inc.
Mike Ritenour and his associates collaborated with Mann Architects of Fairlawn on the building design. Three to four firms competed to design the headquarters, with Gingo deeming the other designs too much like a cookie cutter.
Ritenour embraces Schulman’s desire to have the building serve two purposes:
The exterior bricked portion houses the global corporate staff. The metal-sided part, closest to Cleveland-Massillon Road will be for employees who work solely on Schulman’s U.S.-related business.
In the old building, the employees were intermingled.
“The responsibility of the corporate people is the world,” Gingo said. “Their responsibility is not to be focusing on the U.S.”
An atrium in the middle serves as common ground. Off the atrium is a large training area and lunch room/gathering spot. A collapsible wall can be kept open to create a large, “all hands on deck” meeting area, said Kim L. Whiteman vice president of global human resources.
Also off the atrium is a conference room, one of 14 gathering spots designed to encourage teamwork.
“In the old building, we have only three conference rooms and the meeting space is at a premium,” Whiteman said.
Worldwide, Schulman has about 3,300 employees and 35 facilities, including one local plant in Akron, which employs nearly 100.
The company’s compounds and resins end up in myriad items, including packaging for the food and cosmetic industries, agricultural films, car parts and personal hygiene items, such as toothbrushes.
Fiscal 2012 revenues were $2.1 billion.
Earlier this year, Schulman made a move to get dramatically bigger, making a hostile bid, valued at $875 million, for chemical company Ferro Corp. of Mayfield Heights, which employs 4,900 worldwide. Asked if the new building had space to house any Ferro headquarters operations, Gingo said, “That’s a question for later — if the bid works.”
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.