Conair Plans to Relocate Headquarters

Conair is moving its world headquarters from Emsworth, PA to another Pittsburgh suburb, Cranberry. The move, which will be completed December 31, 2007, involves administrative, sales, and engineering personnel. The new building will also accommodate the Conair Technical Center, a technology showcase and process-development facility. Conair manufacturing operations in Franklin, PA, about 60 miles to the north, are not affected.

The 10-year lease on the Emsworth facility expires January 30, 2008, leaving the company with the option to buy or move. “While our current site is a fantastic showcase facility and has served us well for the last decade,” says Chris Keller, Conair President, “the lease expiration gave us the opportunity to explore new options and, in the end, the decision was easy. This beautiful single-story building will allow for vastly improved workflow and communication, giving us the opportunity to improve how we operate and how we serve our customers. The new, full-size Tech Center will accommodate everything we had in Emsworth, plus added space for a product showroom and lab space for customer application testing of material conveying, dryers, blenders, heat transfer, granulators, and extrusion equipment.”

Conair’s new Tech Center will showcase a broader range of capabilities and resources. An expanded drying laboratory will more easily accommodate increasing demand for customer application testing, moisture sampling and analysis as well as crystallizing trials on PET and PLA. The Center will also house a fully-operational 2000 lb/hr installation of the new EnergySmart drying system, demonstrating how high-volume PET processors can save as much as 66% of drying energy by recycling hot-air and improving process control.