Wacker Chemie has opened its regional innovation centre at Ann Arbor, Michigan. The building covers 13,000 m² on a 70,000 m² site and will bring R&D in biotech and silicone under one roof in over 20 technical and analytical laboratories.

This will also be the headquarters of the Wacker subsidiary managing business activities in North and Central America. Some 50 employees will relocate there from another site Adrian, also in Michigan, where the company has produced silicones for over 50 years.