Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Chemours consolidates local R&D at Newark STAR Campus

The University of Delaware STAR campus is filling out. 

The chemical company Chemours showed off its recently opened research and development center at the STAR Campus in Newark Monday.

The Science, Technology and Advanced Research Campus is intended to combine academic and industry research.

Chemours, a DuPont spinoff, is consolidating its local R&D operations into the 312,000-square foot Chemours Discovery Hub, which was expected to cost $150 million to develop. The company’s administrative headquarters are remaining in Wilmington.

Bill Raiford, a director of titanium technologies at Chemours, says the building is already facilitating collaboration. 

“Before we moved into the Discovery Hub, hundreds of our company’s scientists and engineers were working nearby— scattered across 19 different buildings on two different campuses over a mile apart,” he said. “Now we are truly neighbors and partners at work.”

University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis says the facility’s placement on the STAR campus will allow students to work with and be inspired by industry scientists. 

Elected officials joined representatives from the chemical company at Monday’s ribboncutting to praise what they saw as the company’s commitment to Delaware.

Gov. John Carney sees this as another step in the evolution of the former Newark Chrysler plant— and Delaware’s economy. 

“When Senator Carper was Governor he used to talk about Delaware’s economy being the four C’s— chemicals, credit cards, chickens and cars," said Carney. “We made cars here, and of course a lot has changed since he used those terms. But Chemours is creating that bridge … to the future.”

The STAR campus is designated as a federal opportunity zone, which gives tax benefits to investors in an attempt to incentivize revitalization of economically-distressed communities.

 

Sophia Schmidt is a Delaware native. She comes to Delaware Public Media from NPR’s Weekend Edition in Washington, DC, where she produced arts, politics, science and culture interviews. She previously wrote about education and environment for The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA. She graduated from Williams College, where she studied environmental policy and biology, and covered environmental events and local renewable energy for the college paper.
Related Content