Another milestone has been achieved in Saarland’s recent success with company relocations: the international family company Viega from North Rhine-Westphalia will be establishing a new production site in Kirkel. Viega has already taken over Michelin Reifenwerke AG & Co. KGaA’s former logistics building, including its 70,000 m2 plot. The company has now also acquired a neighbouring 30,000 m2 plot from the gwSaar Saarland Economic Promotion Corporation. At the purchase contract signing on Wednesday 28 May at Viega’s headquarters in Attendorn (Sauerland), Minister of Economic Affairs Jürgen Barke took advantage of the opportunity to talk face-to-face with representatives of the Viegener owner family and the executive management.
The Viega Group is investing around 150 million euros in establishing a new production site at the ‘Am Zunderbaum’ industrial area in the district of Kirkel. The new site is a total of 100,000 m2 in size, 30,000 m2 of which were previously owned by the state. Alongside the notary appointment in Attendorn, Minister Barke met with the chairs of the Viega shareholders’ committee Walter Viegener and Anna Viegener, as well as Andreas Brockow, a member of Viega’s management board. The topics covered in these discussions included needs-based energy supply and measures to enable further training and qualification for potential specialists.
Barke: ‘Viega’s move to Saarland is the epitome of successful structural change. This investment not only enabled an existing industrial site to be kept going, but also created numerous future prospects for growth and employment. I am delighted that we have once again managed to persuade another world market leader of the benefits of Saarland. It was therefore important to me to talk to the Viegener owner family in person about the next steps to take with the collaboration.’
Thomas Schuck, CEO of gwSaar: ‘By purchasing the gwSaar plot, which is right next to the Michelin site, Viega has ensured the ideal conditions to make its relocation project future-proof. The location offers the company the security of long-term planning, and the site long-term prospects. I am delighted that the dedication shown by all involved to Saarland as a hub of business and industry has now paid off.’
‘Opting for Kirkel as our sixth German site is a clear commitment to Germany as an industrial location’, chair of the Viega shareholders’ committee Walter Viegener emphasised. ‘We received strong, very constructive support from gwSaar in our search for a site. We are hugely grateful for this. The positive local response shows us that our commitment are being met with open arms. We are now working extremely hard to transform the existing storage space into a modern production site for metal pipe connectors – and with an ambitious schedule.’
‘Our goal is to start production in Kirkel by the end of the year’, co-chair of the Viega shareholders’ committee Anna Viegener added. ‘As a family company, it is particularly important to us to integrate employees early on and offer them long-term growth. We are planning around 150 jobs in the initial phase. The response to our job openings has already been very positive. These will of course include thorough initial training and an introduction to our plants in Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Background
Viega is a leading international family company in the field of installation technology, based in Attendorn with ten sites across the world. Production is centred around four German sites with additional manufacturing sites in the USA and India. Viega also exports to more than 75 countries and has a global presence primarily via its own distribution organisations. Viega produces a wide range of products for sanitation and heating technology. These include piping systems made from a variety of materials such as copper, stainless steel or plastic, notably used for drinking water and gas pipelines inside buildings. Locations where Viega systems are in use include the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, Allianz Arena, Barangaroo International Towers (Australia) and the Pentagon in the USA.
