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Kemper selects local site for HQ

German firm buys West Seneca plant

By Matt Glynn

 A German-owned maker of waterproofing and roofing membranes has chosen West Seneca for its North American production headquarters.

Kemper System Production acquired a vacant plant in North America Center business park and initially will hire 10 people, said the company’s president, Richard W. Doornink. It expects full production to be under way by year’s end.

Its local employment could increase to about 25 to 30 people over the next couple of years as the company grows, he said.

Kemper System will keep its U. S. sales and marketing headquarters in Teaneck, N. J., where it has operated for 15 years.

Kemper System is a subsidiary of Germany-based Kemper System GmbH in Germany, which is part of the IBG Group of Companies, headquartered in Cologne, Germany.

Kemper officials decided they needed a North American manufacturing presence in order to be more competitive in the U. S. market, as well as to tap into potential sales in Canada and South America. “This is sort of the push into North America,” Doornink said.

Kemper was scouting sites in Florida and North Carolina for the North

American production headquarters, but Doornink was in a unique position to recommend Buffalo Niagara to the higher-ups.

IBG early this year acquired Doornink’s Buffalo welding chemical products company, Cantesco Corp., and added it to its welding technology division. Doornink then moved over the construction chemical side of IBG’s business.

Doornink suggested Buffalo for the Kemper System operation, based on the area’s geography, work force and labor costs.

“I think I showed them that Buffalo was a great city to be located in,” he said.

He was also confident Kemper System could find a suitable building here. The company found a fit with a vacant plant on North America Drive that was built in 2003 and formerly used by Excel Precision. The 45,000-square-foot building can be expanded by 25,000 square feet depending on the company’s space needs.

Kemper Systems’ products are used for high-end specialty roofing applications, Doornink said.

Among the current installations are the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden and High Museum of Art/Woodruff Art Center in Atlanta.

Doornink said Kemper officials see an opportunity to make more headway in the U. S. market. “This is a project that has been on the drawing board for quite some time. This is a long-term view they take.”

mglynn@buffnews.com