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 The recent announcement by Dow/UCC that more than 150 scientists and engineers employed at the South Charleston Technology Park will be released provides an opportunity for MATRIC to gear up to keep those jobs and that income in the region. Toward that end, MATRIC will be hiring additional management and sales personnel to broaden its business development efforts with the goal of doubling its total number of employees in each of the next two years. Not only does this announcement provide intellectual capacity for MATRIC's growth, it should also provide access to additional office, laboratory, and pilot plant facilities that become vacant as Dow/UCC staff are released. These circumstances will allow MATRIC to provide additional unique laboratory and pilot scale development to our customers. The MATRIC family of companies includes: Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center, Inc.; Mid-Atlantic Commercial Research, LLC; Mid-Atlantic Holdings, Inc.; Mid-Atlantic Technical Engineering, Inc.; and Mid-Atlantic Technical Consulting, LLC. These companies currently employ approximately 75 full and part-time staff, more than 40 of whom are former UCC/Dow employees. The companies offer a myriad of employment opportunities including full-time and part-time employment, project work and a consulting incubator for subject matter experts. MATRIC will work with Dow/UCC during the layoffs announced for 2008/2009 to provide as many positions as possible for those employees wishing to remain in the Kanawha Valley. While MATRIC cannot guarantee one for one job replacement, applications will be accepted from Dow/UCC employees affected by this announcement and MATRIC will try to fill positions as transition notice periods expire over the next two years. Positions currently available include chemical engineers, process, analytical and catalyst chemists, and laboratory technicians. | ||||||
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 The Mid-Atlantic Technology Research and Innovation Center
(MATRIC) is pleased to announce its merger with The National Institute for
Chemical Studies (NICS). The merger of these two non-profits will result
in stronger organizational capabilities. Keith Pauley, President of MATRIC
announced, "MATRIC is highly committed to continuing the important mission
of NICS to make communities surrounding chemical facilities safe,secure
and environmentally healthy".To take advantage of the considerable expertise resident at MATRIC (e.g., process engineering, environmental engineering, chemical safety, explosives , and plant management and operations) the NICS mission will be expanded to cover other environmental issues as well as laboratory safety, process operation safety, chemical risk analysis, incident investigation and safety audits within the chemical industry. NICS will be co-located in MATRIC's offices at the Dow Technology Park, 3200 Kanawha Turnpike, Building 740 in South Charleston. NICS was organized in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1985 by a group of Kanawha Valley community leaders led by businessman Russell S. Wehrle. Joining him were representatives from the chemical industry, labor, education and government. The effort to establish NICS began soon after the tragic chemical release accident in Bhopal, India, and the subsequent release of another chemical at Union Carbide's Institute, West Virginia plant. NICS was formed with the intent of helping communities nationwide manage risks associated with the manufacturing of chemicals. | ||||||
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 The Homeland Security Act of 2007 gave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the power to regulate high-risk chemical plant security and DHS has issued proposed regulations intended to improve security at plants across the United States. Chemical plants are required to go through an online risk assessment to find out their level of risk category. The US Congress and President Bush have set a deadline for compliance of April 4, 2008. Non-compliance will carry a $25,000 daily fine or may lead to a complete facility shutdown. If termed high-risk, plants are required to perform vulnerability assessments and put forward a security plan. DHS will validate the plans through site inspections and audits. According to proposed regulations, a chemical plant can appeal if a security plan is turned down by the DHS. The security strategies that will be employed depend on the risk category of each plant. DHS has identified a few requirements, such as securing the perimeter, controlling access, preventing internal sabotage and discouraging pilfering of potentially dangerous chemicals. MATRIC can provide assistance to enable companies to meet all the requirements of the risk assessment, the vulnerability assessments and the development of a security plan. For more information, contact Deepay Mukerjee, President, National Institute for Chemical Studies. | ||||||
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From
inception, MATRIC's mission has been twofold: (1) to perform life changing
research and development, and (2) to contribute to economic development
through the commercialization of its own and others' intellectual
property. Research alone can't change lives, but bringing the results of
research to the marketplace certainly can.
After careful consideration, MATRIC chose the greater Knoxville area as the location for additional commercialization and federal contracting efforts. Located within this area is the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and many other government agencies as well as those companies that serve them. Access to these entities will provide increased potential for significant partnerships that will advance MATRIC's mission. While several of MATRIC's customers are located in Tennessee, the charge given to the Tennessee Operation is to increase MATRIC's federal contract base and identify commercialization opportunities available at ORNL and elsewhere. | ||||||
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Diane
McDaniel recently joined MATRIC as Vice President of Tennessee Operations.
Diane has both a technical background and business development expertise,
obtaining a BS in Environmental Science from Tennessee Technological
University and an MBA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Diane
is both an experienced federal contracts manager and an entrepreneur,
having worked for such diverse companies as Perot Systems Government
Services, Martin-Marietta Energy Systems, and the PrSM Corporation, an
employee owned company. Diane exudes energy and enthusiasm and will be
hard to match in productivity. She has already obtained one commercial and
one federal contract during her first month of employment!
 Greg Clutter is another recent addition to the
MATRIC family. He will lead MATRIC's new business startup operation as
Director of Commercialization. With over ten years of commercialization
experience, most recently as Director of Commercialization for the West
Virginia High Tech Consortium Foundation, Greg brings both financial and
business development expertise to MATRIC. Greg received an MBA from the
University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School and is a
registered CPA in North Carolina and West Virginia. At 6'4" Greg has the
distinction of being MATRIC's third tallest employee and can light up a
room with his great winning smile! He has already been involved in funding
negotiations for two of MATRIC's startup partners. | ||||||
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Analytical Chemists
Biological Laboratory Manager Catalyst Chemists Chemical Engineers Process Chemists Systems Engineers | ||||||
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