Dutch-based specialty chemical company, Stahl Europe will celebrate its 50th anniversary on April 18, 2005. Half a century ago, Wil Levenbach and Frans Bernards set up Stahl Chemische Industrieën nv in Waalwijk, Holland – the firm that was eventually to grow into Stahl Europe, an important part of the Stahl Group.
The “Stahl” brand-name is now known world-wide, and over the years the leather product range has been expanded to include a complete range of wet-end products, dyestuffs and finishes. Other products now produced by Stahl Europe include a wide range of Permuthane coatings for flexible substrates.
Fifty years of Stahl in Europe has seen continual new investments in plants and buildings. The facility in Holland has grown from a factory of approximately 1000m² and a staff of ten to a multimillion Euro world-wide enterprise. In Waalwijk, Stahl employs around 300 staff on the prestigious 55000 m² site on which new and modern production, research and development, and application facilities have been built around the original factory, laboratory and office building that is still in use today. Elsewhere there is now a major manufacturing unit in Spain and important application laboratories and distribution centres in France, Italy and Turkey.
Today Stahl Europe is run by executive vice president, Michael Vaskovich. The Waalwijk site also houses the headquarters of the world-wide group, Stahl Holdings bv, headed by CEO Frank Policky.
The fiftieth anniversary was marked by a celebration for staff and their families and local suppliers and customers who enjoyed an evening together.
