FERNDALE — Gage Products, a developer of automotive paint systems, solvents and fuels, has opened a new multi-million-dollar Gage Innovation Center at the company’s 12-acre headquarters campus inFerndale.
Community leaders along with state and local officials took part in grand opening ceremonies for the new center, which will house research-and-development, quality control and customer service laboratories.
“The new Gage Innovation Center underlines our ongoing
commitment to customer service, innovative product
development and continued growth,” said Dan Finkiewicz,
chairman and president of Gage Products. “It also will lead to
up to 10 to 15 new jobs over the next several years.”
He added that the company has invested more than $3 million
in the new 5,000-square-foot facility, which nearly doubles
laboratory space previously housed in two separate buildings
at Gage’s Ferndale headquarters.
Gage Innovation Center Director Bob Patzelt noted that
laboratory “bench space” devoted to quality control and R&D
work will more than double along with storage capacity for
customer-product test samples.
More than a dozen technicians and scientists work in Gage’s
quality control and research-and-development labs. Co-
locating quality control and R&D activities in the same building
will facilitate more collaboration and enable both teams to
make full use of new state-of-the-art laboratory equipment
installed at the center.
The new Gage Innovation Center will contain more than 50
pieces of highly technical lab equipment. The new facility will
include the additions of a gas chromatograph and a
combination gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer, both
critical to a multitude of tests run by Gage scientists.
Officials on hand for the grand opening ceremonies included
U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak), Oakland County Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard, and David Schreiber, Oakland County’s business development team leader. Representatives from nearly three dozen key automotive customers and other neighboring civic and business leaders from Ferndale and Oakland County also were present.
Sheriff Bouchard and Congressman Levin took part in
ribbon-cutting ceremonies with Dan Finkiewicz, the company’s
chairman.
“Gage Products’ investment in Oakland County improves the
quality of life for all of our residents,” Bouchard said. “The
company’s innovative techniques for responsible recycling will
bring long-term benefits to the region.”
Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter added that “As one of
Ferndale’s largest employers and oldest companies, Gage
has succeeded in a tough market by giving customers great
service. The Gage Innovation Center is another example of
Gage growing to meet the changing needs of their industry. It
should help them remain leaders in their field and successful
employers in our community.”
Steve Hellem, executive director of the Suppliers Partnership
for the Environment, noted that Gage has been the recipient
of the SP’s Creativity in Implementing Sustainable Practices
Award.
“This new, impressive addition to their facility in Ferndale will expand and enhance their ability to collaborate and innovate in ways that further enhances their growth in this community, while improving the environment,” he said.
“We’ve seen significant growth over the past several years and this investment will allow us to further improve customer
service and grow our business in the years to come,” Gage
Chairman and President Finkiewicz added. “The Gage
Innovation Center will help us bring new products to market
and bring new markets to Gage.”
Gage Products serves nearly 100 customers, including most major automakers and suppliers as well as other manufacturers of consumer products and fuels. A third-
generation, family-owned business, Gage was founded in
1936 and has more than 29 years of chemical distillation
experience. The company has pioneered development of
sustainable, closed-loop manufacturing processes for
automotive paint systems and custom chemical mixing
capabilities to reduce process costs and increase effective
resource management.
Gage provides high-performance solvent blends, solvent
reclamation, recycling and custom chemical toll manufacturing
and remanufacturing, custom test fuel blends, calibration
fluids, as well as paint line cleaning programs and specialty
product solutions for its customer base of more than 20
global vehicle manufacturers and two dozen automotive and
industrial suppliers.