Hydromer Moving from New Jersey to North Carolina

Hydromer Inc., a company producing hydrophilic polymers that work well with liquids, for use in coating heart stents and in other medical, industrial and “green chemistry” applications, is moving its headquarters and manufacturing from New Jersey to North Carolina.

The 39-year-old Branchburg, N.J., company plans to complete its relocation to the suburban Charlotte city of Concord this summer. Its 33 planned North Carolina employees will continue the company’s mission of inventing, developing, patenting, licensing, manufacturing and selling hydrophilic polymer-based products and services.

Martin von Dyck, Hydromer's executive vice president of operations, says the presence of international companies in the Charlotte region, the area's growing hub for talent, its "culture of growth" and low corporate income tax rate made the region its target for relocation "for quite some time."

Von Dyck says he expects the company to be able to respond to customers' requests more quickly from the new headquarters, in an existing building in International Business Park.

"It will feature modular production elements, empowering more agile and leaner productivity, therefore allowing our company to adapt and change much faster to meet its diverse customer requirements," he says.

Hydromer officials said the average salary for Hydromer workers at the new Concord site will average slightly more than $70,000 a year. The company said data provided by the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance were among the numerous reasons it chose North Carolina for its new home. Those data showed that the plastics manufacturing industry is 85 percent more concentrated in the Charlotte region than the national average, with over 10,000 people working in the sector.

“We are very excited about Hydromer coming to our area,” says Concord Mayor Bill Dusch. “Their highly inventive polymer-based products and manufacturing processes will create high-quality jobs that will fit in well with our community.”