WILMINGTON — DuPont CEO Edward Breen announced that the company’s board of directors has approved $200 million to modernize and upgrade the DuPont Experimental Station on Powder Mill Road.
Breen made the announcement to a crowd of nearly 900, including Delaware’s congressional delegation, who had gathered for the Delaware State Chamber’s 180th Annual Dinner on Monday at the Chase Center on the Riverfront.
“We’re going to optimize many of the labs, create a network for collaboration, and create centers for scientists and for suppliers,” said Breen. “We’re going to put space aside for third-party companies to come in, science-based companies.”
The 150-acre site was established more than a century ago and is one of the first industrial research laboratories in the world. Scientists at The Experimental Station have produced some the company’s best-known products, including Neoprene, Nylon, Tyvek, Kevlar, and Butacite.
Breen said renovations to The Experimental Station will include space for an incubation center. Already, the site is home to other tenants. DOW will also be housed at the site.
Breen said 2016 was a turning point for DuPont, which was forced to cut $1 billion in expenses in 2015 and 2016, including about 1,700 employees, before it merged with DOW Chemical to form Dow-DuPont. It’s a move that Breen said places the company at the forefront of the ag chemicals industry.
“I am very excited about this,” Breen told the crowd. “It creates tremendous value for shareholders and employees and stakeholders. You put two big companies together tax free so every move we make from day one will create value.”
Breen will remain CEO of the merged Dow-Dupont, which will separate into three separate companies, two of which will remain headquartered in Delaware.
“I’m convinced all three are going to be ‘must-own’ stocks because of the significance they’ll play in their industries,” said Breen.
