Endress+Hauser Canada breaks ground at new Customer Experience Centre

Endress+Hauser has broken ground for its new $28 million Customer Experience Centre for Central and Eastern Canada. When construction of the approximately 47,000 sq ft facility in Burlington, ON, is completed late next year, it will provide customers from Manitoba to Atlantic Canada with a generously equipped, state-of-the-art training and support hub for selecting and familiarizing themselves with the company’s latest innovations for process automation.

In his welcoming remarks, Anthony Varga, CEO and general manager of Endress+Hauser Canada, hailed the decision by the company’s Executive Board to fund the project “as a strong endorsement of the continued growth and strong potential in the Canadian market.”

“Providing great customer experiences is a key differentiator for Endress+Hauser,” he added, “With a full-scale Process Training Unit ­(PTU) among other features, our new Customer Experience Centre will be an unrivalled asset for solidifying current relationships and starting new ones by sharing the company’s valuable process knowledge. And by pursuing bold sustainability goals for this exceptional facility – such as LEED Gold green building certification and net zero energy and emissions – we are aspiring to set a new standard for progressive corporate leadership for our industry and community.”

The new facility will include the company’s second PTU in Canada; the other, in Edmonton, opened two years ago.  A PTU in Southern Ontario will make the technology of this pilot plant accessible to more customers in the region, with less travel time and expense than it takes to visit an Endress+Hauser PTU elsewhere in North America.

Additionally, given the diverse customer industry base in the region, it is important for customers to be able to evaluate nuances and differences in their applications and in the variety of raw and processed materials measured and analyzed by our company’s sophisticated product portfolio. “At the new Burlington experience centre, customers will have the opportunity to simulate the performance of that equipment under conditions similar to their own operations, an invaluable resource.” stated Varga.

The groundbreaking ceremony was also used to introduce the company’s lead project partners; mcCallumSather of Hamilton, architect and mechanical engineer; WSP, structural and electrical engineers; and Maple Reinders, construction manager. All three have considerable local expertise in designing and managing green building projects. The project will be led by Genesis Property Development.

The new building is almost double the size of the company’s current 27,000 sq ft office building located just around the corner. The latter, wholly owned by Endress+Hauser, is mainly used for administrative functions, and once those activities are relocated to the new facility, the building will be sold.

The official groundbreaking included a traditional Land Acknowledgment Ceremony performed by Chief R. Stacey Laforme of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations. It recognizes the four-acre site as part of the traditional territory of the Mississaugas – which encompasses metropolitan Toronto and Hamilton as well as the Niagara peninsula. Inviting Chief Laforme to perform this ceremony is a gesture of respect for indigenous peoples and their values, such as living sustainably in the natural environment, which aligns with Endress+Hauser’s own global environmental and sustainability commitment.

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Anthony Varga (sixth from left), General Manager of Endress+Hauser Canada hosted the event. Guests (L-R) included Burlington city councillor Paul Sharman, Harold Reinders of construction manager Maple Reinders, local Member of Parliament Pam Damoff, Drew Hauser of mcCallumSather (project architect and mechanical engineer), Varga, Burlington mayor Marianne Meed Ward, Todd Lucey, corporate sales director of Endress+Hauser North America, and Bill Poland, Genesis Property Management. The Experience Centre is being designed to achieve LEED Gold green building certification and will feature a Process Training Unit – the second in Canada and first in the eastern half of the country – as well as a calibration lab, training facilities and administrative offices. Completion is scheduled for fall 2020.