Mike McGhee recalls that when he started working at Shin-Etsu Silicones of America in 1995, its then-president and CEO Hajime Tomisato would talk with the team about a vision he had for the silicone manufacturer's Akron headquarters to stretch more than a mile from Home Avenue to the west to Brittain Road to the east.

"I may be retired before then, but at some point, Shin-Etsu will probably own from Home Avenue to Brittain Road, and it will be one big business," said McGhee, the site manufacturing manager for Shin-Etsu Silicones of America, a subsidiary of Japanese corporation Shin-Etsu Chemical .

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