CDI Announces 400-500 Jobs in Kanahwa Valley

20-Apr-2001

Gov. Bob Wise today joined representatives from the Dow Chemical Co. and CDI Corp. to announce plans to create and maintain 400 to 500 jobs in the Kanawha Valley.

"West Virginia's long and profitable relationship with Dow Chemical and CDI continues as the companies find ways to provide stable employment and to maintain our technology and engineering jobs in the Kanawha Valley," Gov. Wise said. "Dow has come up with a unique solution, working hard and quickly to arrange this deal with CDI."

Wise credited Senator Jay Rockefeller and other state and local officials for their continuing effort to bring high quality jobs to West Virginia.

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CDI, a leading technical and engineering services firm, said most of the jobs will be in the South Charleston Technical Center and will give preference to former Union Carbide employees.

"What Dow has done to make the partnership work is commit a portion of its North American engineering work for construction projects to CDI," said Peter Berner, vice president for Dow's West Virginia operations. "CDI, in turn, has agreed to do much of this work in West Virginia."

Discussions with state officials will begin as soon as the two companies have worked out final details. West Virginia will participate to the level of its capability to ensure that the Dow-CDI arrangement works but Dow Chemical officials emphasized that the deal is not contingent upon any action by the state.

CDI will create jobs in several areas. A substantial number will staff a global Center of Excellence in the South Charleston Technical Center, which will focus on providing engineering services for Dow and other customers. The center also would focus on safety issues as they relate to government regulations in the chemical industry.

Other new jobs will result from CDI consolidations in a 10-state region and still others will be created as CDI increases activity with customers other than Dow Chemical in areas such as telecommunications, engineering and technical outsourcing. The jobs generated from today's announcement should be on line in two years. No specific salary figures are available, but the average compensation for engineering positions at CDI is in excess of $70,000 a year.

"The agreement is tangible evidence of Dow's commitment to West Virginia," Berner said. "We are bullish on West Virginia as a place to do business. We hope over time to attract other business partners."

Richard G. Giannone, executive vice president CDI Engineering Group, pointed to his company's 29-year relationship with Union Carbide and its more than 20-year presence in the state as evidence of CDI's commitment to West Virginia. "We are delighted with the opportunity to expand our presence here," he said.

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