Anton Paar GmbH, a global company with more than 3,000 employees, chose to make Hanover County home to its American headquarters. Anton Paar USA and Anton Paar The Americas are both located in Hanover County. The company manages both their North and South American business operations from their Ashland campus.
The nearly 100-year-old company, with 36 worldwide locations, provides precise scientific instruments for quality control or use in research and development projects. The instrumentation they manufacture and service precisely analyzes the physical properties of liquids, semisolids and solids.
“Every kind of liquid or solid you can think of has probably been tested by one of our instruments,” says Reinhard Eberl, President and CEO of Anton Paar USA and Executive Director of Anton Paar The Americas. “As an example, if you have coffee in the morning, the coffee grounds were probably measured by our instruments. We have instruments that measure the particle size of grounds.”
Their instruments also measure things like sugar content in orange juice, viscosity in peanut butter, alcohol content in beer and even how easily paint on your car scratches.
In their Ashland location, their employees handle the sales and services of these advanced tools. They’ve been in their current location in Hanover County since 1991, where they have grown and expanded. On their 4-acre property, they have added new buildings in 2012 and 2016 to reach their current size of about 60,000 square feet of work space.
They’ve also grown their annual revenue from $12 million to $70 million and expanded their workforce from 27 employees to nearly 200 employees. Diversity is a priority for the company as employees from 24 different countries work at the Hanover location. Most of their Ashland employees have bachelor’s degrees in chemistry, engineering and other sciences and choose to call the area home for many reasons.
“What I really like about Hanover County is that it offers a lot of quality of life,” says Eberl. “It is attractive to many employees relocating here to the Ashland area. Especially for employees with families, it is a great place to live.”
Eberl says Hanover County gives families a lot of option for quick trips, whether to the beach, mountains or to Washington, D.C. Having so many things to do really makes the area attractive for employees who are moving in. The area also supports a great work-life balance.
“We have very steep growth and with that there is always something new, lots of new challenges to undertake,” says Eberl. “It’s great when we have that balance and can also enjoy life outside of work. I think Hanover County offers that balance to me and my family.”
Improvements to the area’s infrastructure have also helped Anton Paar USA conduct its international business efficiently. With new flights into Richmond International Airport for business travel and fast transportation between Hanover County and Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia, the company can easily receive goods that come from Austria, Germany and other European countries in just 3 business days.
After almost 30 years in Hanover County, Anton Paar USA and Anton Paar The Americas continue to grow in a place they feel at home.