W. R. Grace & Co., one of the world's best-known chemical companies, said yesterday that it is moving its corporate headquarters to Columbia from Boca Raton, Fla.
"We're planning to move as quickly as we can," said Grace spokeswoman Jane D. McGuinness. "But we expect the timing to be more or less midyear, to be completed by the end of the year."
Howard County officials hailed the move, saying it could bring scores of new jobs to the area. Grace's Boca Raton headquarters had 120 employees, 35 to 40 of whom will move to Columbia. Those relocating to Maryland include Paul Norris, Grace's chief executive officer, chairman and president, along with members of the company's legal, administrative and marketing departments.
"I'm just elated," Howard County Executive James N. Robey said last night while attending a Home Builders Association of Maryland reception in Columbia. "Any time you can attract a major corporation, it speaks well of the business climate in Howard County."
Richard W. Story, executive director of Howard's economic development authority, said the company's board voted yesterday to relocate the headquarters and add to the approximately 400 workers Grace has in Howard County. He was involved in negotiations between the county and Grace.
Grace, a $1.5 billion company, has three major business units: Grace Davison, with offices in Columbia and a plant in southern Baltimore, specializes in catalysts, silica gel products and other absorbents. The unit also has a major facility in Quebec.
Grace Construction Products, with major offices in Cambridge, Mass., and Ontario, Canada, produces concrete mixtures, cement-processing additives, fire-protection materials and waterproofing systems.
Darex Container Products, with headquarters in Lexington, Mass., makes container sealants and coatings and compound application equipment.
Story said that, given Grace's history and continued presence in Maryland, persuading the company to move here was not a tough sell. "This one was not one that took a lot of salesmanship."
The company has sold several operations in recent years, and industry analyst Fred Harold Siemer said the Boca Raton facility literally no longer fit.
"Because of downsizing, they would have had to move because they've got too much excess space in Boca Raton," Siemer said.
