People driving in Merrimack may wonder what kind of business is underway just beyond the driveway, an entrance marked with a handsome stone engraved with a company name, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, an enterprise located at 701 Daniel Webster Highway.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics most recently was spotlighted when Gov. Maggie Hassan continued her Innovate New Hampshire business tour with a stop there. She visited the company in mid-September. The visit capped the company’s annual Environment, Health and Safety Day, an occasion highlighted with the announcement of eight years without incident.

The firm has international roots arising from 1665 when the Royal Glass Works was established in France. Today, some 193,000 employees in 64 countries focus on many aspects of the construction and habitat markets, along with innovative materials. Top priorities worldwide include safety and sustainable habitat. Saving energy and protecting the environment is a focus of the Saint-Gobain long-term strategy.

Executives and employees accompanied Hassan as she toured the Merrimack facility. She met with some individually and with others in groups and talked about her support of innovative businesses in New Hampshire. She congratulated everyone at Saint-Gobain on their exemplary safety record. "I’m going to be bragging about you in other places, if that’s OK,” Hassan said.

Hassan emphasized her effort to publicize the positive business environment of New Hampshire. She said she wants businesses to come to the Granite State. Those who investigate setting up an enterprise in the state, she said, often find reason to stay.

"They’re impressed with the quality of life we all share,” she said.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics is world renowned for its production of finely engineered, high-performance plastics products that support some key industries, especially manufacturing and engineering. The firm’s online resources note a continued commitment to reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

The specialty of the Merrimack facility – one with 260 employees – is fabrics coated with Teflon. These unique materials are used to make protective hazmat suits, cooking grill sheets and architectural membranes. The company also supplies the fabric that is constructed into military shelters impervious to chemicals and attack from lethal gas. The retractable roof of the Dallas Cowboys football stadium is made of Saint-Gobain’s “Sheerfill” architectural fabric.

Gwenael Busnel, plant manager, said that few realize the scope of the products made by Saint-Gobain. The company’s fabric can be found in products that include covers for satellite dishes, oven belts for the food industry, thermal blankets for NASA space programs and in the vast expanses of awnings that shelter visitors to the Denver International Airport.

Busnel emphasized the company’s commitment to innovation and noted the governor was impressed to learn of the wealth of new products completed each year by Saint-Gobain.

"The governor was very pleased to see that 50 percent of our products in 2013 are new compared to five years ago,” Busnel said. “After the plant tour, she also said that continuous improvements were standing out as one of the core values of the business and a clear path to bring added value to our customers.”

Busnel told the governor that every year, the Merrimack facility takes a day to pay special attention to safety, health and ways of sustaining the environment.

"The governor’s visit coincided with our safety day,” Busnel said. “We’ve always believed in safety as one of our core principles of conduct and action. As a result, every year, we take time to promote safety, environmental care and heath activities to engage our people.”

Busnel said on that day, Saint-Gobain North American, the division to which the Merrimack facility belongs, celebrated its Environment, Health and Safety Day, local authorities and organizations were a part of the festivities.

Officers from the Merrimack Police Department were on-hand to demonstrate seat belt safety on a simulator that replicates the impact of a low-speed crash. A team from Bedford Occupational Acute Care was there to give flu shots. Later, a team from the Department of Environmental Services explained ways people can improve air quality and reduce the presence of hazardous materials in their homes. In addition, staffers from the Merrimack water treatment plant gave a demo about what happens to waste water and gave some water-saving tips.

Busnel said the day was a special one, especially so with the added excitement of the governor’s visit.