Centennial gets new business

The global packaging company MeadWestvaco has announced plans to open a packaging innovation center on Centennial Campus.

With it, the center will bring approximately 200 jobs and an investment of $14 million over the next four years.

"This makes a strong, positive statement for the forest products industry," David Ashcraft, executive director of development and college relations, said.

According to Ashcraft, there are many advantages of having a corporation like MeadWestvaco on campus.

"This will provide research opportunities as well as the possibility for seminars and co-op opportunities for students," Ashcraft said.

MeadWestvaco and N.C. State have a long-standing relationship and the company has been a major supporter of the University's wood and paper science, forestry and environmental resources programs. The company's president, James Buzzard, is a graduate of NCSU and was named the 2003 College of Natural Resources distinguished alumni.

In 2005, MeadWestvaco became a member of the College of Textiles' Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center.

As a result,of the new research center, MeadWestvaco will begin collaborative research with the University's Colleges of Design and Engineering.

MeadWestvaco is a leading international producer of packaging, coated and specialty papers and consumer and office products.

Students may be familiar with MeadWestvaco products such as Five-Star and AT-A-GLANCE. The company has 153 operating locations in 29 different countries, with customers from nearly every industry in more than 100 countries.

According to Ashcraft, the MeadWestvaco's decision to open up facilities on Centennial Campus speaks highly of the University and the community alike.

The fact that they chose NCSU over other locations, "says something about the quality of life in the area," Ashcraft said.

The University is recognized as a leading institution in science and technology, ranked ninth among national research-intensive universities for industry-funded research.

Many of the specific types of research that will take place have yet to be determined. According to Rick Lemaster, research associate in the Department of Wood and Paper Science, professors have to speak with MeadWestvaco to determine if their research objects meet the company's goals.

This is positive news for textiles, an industry that, according to textiles graduate student William Barnes, is often portrayed as on the decline.

He said the company's decision to move to Centennial "shows the public that textiles is not a dead industry in North Carolina."

The company will move into a temporary location on Centennial Campus this summer with a permanent facility to be determined.