Battery maker Duracell plans to invest $56 million to put a new global research-and-development headquarters adjacent to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, deepening its commitment to Georgia, where the company already has two factories.
Duracell employs 400 people in LaGrange and 275 in Fairburn, and it will add 110 more jobs in the new office at Science Square, an 18-acre development west of Tech’s Midtown campus featuring 1.8 million square feet of lab and office space. The building’s address will be 101 Nerem Street NW in Atlanta.
Investment giant Berkshire Hathaway acquired Duracell in 2016.
The American company follows a well-worn path of corporations setting up innovation centers near Georgia Tech, though this constitutes the most recent landmark win for Science Square, a mixed-use facility that will also include 500 residential units and 25,000 square feet of retail space.
Kemira, a Finnish company specializing in water and fiber management, has long had its offices and facilities in the area, and global medical device company Abbott is also present. Portal Innovations, a Chicago-based venture capital fund that helps biotech companies start and scale, was the first tenant in the Science Square Labs building, taking 33,000 square feet of lab space.
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