Pontiac, Michigan — It is not often that a company gets an opportunity to make a literal impression on history, but AkzoNobel has earned such an honour with the unveiling of a new mural at the new Pontiac Transportation Museum in Michigan.
AkzoNobel, a fixture in the historic Pontiac, Mich. auto industry since as far back as 1907, spent its Fourth of July being immortalized in a mural on the side of the 55,000 square foot automotive museum.
“Paint for the transportation industry has been made continuously on this site for 116 years, and today the proud tradition is carried out by AkzoNobel Coatings Inc. who acquired the site in 1985 from Wyandotte Paint Products and replaced it with a modern factory,” said site manager of the Pontiac Automotive and Specialty Coatings factory Ricardo Rosso.
“Today we manufacture premium coatings for commercial vehicles, vehicle refinishing and collision repair, signage and emergency vehicles for our North American customers.”
The international auto paint developer gathered together employees from its Pontiac and Troy, Mich. facilities on that sunny Tuesday afternoon to help lay a primer coat, before mural artists from Diaz Sign Art got to work.
AkzoNobel said in its Thursday morning press release that this gesture for the city of Pontiac aligns with the company’s goal to complete community projects at each of its factories across North America.
“The city of Pontiac has a tremendous legacy in wheeled vehicles. The Pontiac Transportation Museum intends to illustrate this proud history and use it for inspiration of STEM education and for economic development in Pontiac,” said director of the Pontiac Transportation Museum, Terry Connolly.
“We also have a robust automotive supply industry in Pontiac. We’ve been pleased by the support of AkzoNobel, and their paint and coatings plant in Pontiac and R&D Center in Troy.”
The Pontiac Automotive Museum is expected to open to the public at some point in August.
