Polymer Solutions Moves to New Facility

Polymer Solutions, a Virginia-based independent materials testing company, has moved its operations to a new state-of-the-art facility in Christiansburg, which is not far from Roanoke in the southern part of the state. The company had been based in nearby Blacksburg.

The new $2.9 million building in Christiansburg’s Falling Branch Corporate Park has been built to Polymer Solutions’ specifications. According to the company, the facility features two labs—one for each of the company’s biggest departments. Each lab functions as a centralized location at which employees can store and access their top-of-the-line testing equipment.

According to the firm’s leadership, the move is a “welcome change” from the company’s prior location, which “felt more like a bit of a maze.”

Despite the large-scale move, the company has been able to follow through on its clients’ projects without any delay, officials reported.

“We’ve always had great people, great instruments and equipment, and now we have a great facility,” said Polymer Solutions’ Founder and CEO, Jim Rancourt. “With this move into our brand new, state-of-the-art, custom testing lab we are poised for sustained growth.”

Because testing instrumentation is so sensitive, the labs need to be able to maintain precise environmental conditions in order to ensure accurate results. Each lab is equipped with centralized climate controls that can maintain specific levels of temperature and humidity guaranteeing a precise testing environment. The building’s new HVAC system features various customizations that allow for minimal variation of temperature and humidity levels so as to mitigate the chances of test disruption.

The company is planning an additional 10,000 square feet of lab space, as more personnel and testing capabilities come on board.

Polymer Solutions started in Rancourt’s garage in 1987. Since then, the company has been, according to its leadership, “answering difficult questions” regarding polymers, plastics, metals and composites.

The company uses advanced techniques such as chromatography, metals testing, microscopy, spectroscopy, wet chemistry, titrations, liquid chromatography and gas chromatography to determine material identification, toxicity evaluations, and chemical migration.