W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., maker of GORE-TEX^® fabrics and thousands of other innovative products, recently announced it will break ground on a new 21,700 square meter facility and begin renovation on 6,000 square meters of recently leased space in Shenzhen, China, on May 13. The new site will be located adjacent to an existing facility, currently leased for manufacturing of fabrics and electronic products. The project is part of a long-term commitment to expand Gore´s R&D and manufacturing capabilities in Shenzhen. It will also accommodate the company´s disk drive filtration operations. The facility will result in more than 400 new jobs over the next five years.

The added high-tech R&D and manufacturing capabilities will support the growing variety of Gore business activities in the region. Gore´s vision is to create a campus-like setting in which several different business units are located adjacent to one another. This permits a common infrastructure and offers "associates," as Gore employees are known, greater opportunities for career development, including cross-functional training and exposure to the company´s broad range of capabilities and culture.

Gore President and CEO Terri Kelly, who will be in Shenzhen for the groundbreaking, believes the expansion is meaningful for the company on a global scale. "This is a tremendous opportunity for Gore to grow our presence and talent in a region that represents one of the fastest growing and most important markets in the world," Kelly said. "This manufacturing hub will have an enormous impact on our ability to continue to deliver high quality products and superior service to customers worldwide," she added.

Tom Zeng, Gore´s Shenzhen operations leader, said, "This is an important step because it demonstrates Gore´s commitment to new product development and manufacturing in the region, in addition to brand sales leadership."

Upon completion of the project, slated for 2010, Gore will own more than 21,700 square meters and lease 27,100 square meters. The complex is in the Futian Free Trade Zone in the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, just north of Hong Kong. Gore employs more than 300 associates in the current location.

Source: China Textile Leader