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>>> Sherwin-Williams: Minneapolis 'Like a second headquarters' after Valspar deal


By Mark Reilly

St. Paul Business Journal

Nov 12, 2018



https://finance.yahoo.com/m/93f8f70e-2d42-3858-9de1-5767feb14616/sherwin-williams%3A-minneapolis.html


Minneapolis may have lost a corporate headquarters when The Valspar Corp. was snapped up by the Sherwin-Williams Co. more than a year ago, but the paint giant is making the city a big part of its merged operations.

That's the takeaway from a Star Tribune report, which notes that Cleveland-based Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) has consolidated research and development work in Minneapolis, moving laboratory jobs here from a Chicago office. All told, five of the company's businesses are based at Valspar's former headquarters on the edge of downtown Minneapolis.

“Minneapolis is like our second headquarters,” said a Sherwin-Williams spokesman, adding that the company has also added information-technology jobs here.

Sherwin-Williams doesn't detail total jobs, however, and much of Valspar's administrative and headquarters jobs — from assistants to lawyers to the C-Suite — have been moved away since the merger closed in July 2017.

Still, even a big R&D hub is a lot better than some had worried about in the wake of the $11.3 billion deal for Valspar, even though Sherwin Williams said it planned to retain a presence here.

RELATED: Valspar loss will leave a mark

Among the businesses that Sherwin-Williams has kept in Minneapolis is its industrial coatings unit — a big business for Valspar that goes beyond basic paints into manufacturing techniques used in food packaging. Other businesses based here include coil coatings, protective/marine coatings and colorants, as well as a blending facility in Edina.

The company also notes that it's kept up Valspar's community ties to local nonprofits like Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and Hearts and Hammers.

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