Welcome home, PPG Industries; although you never really left.

The global supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, specialty materials, chemicals, glass and fiberglass began in 1883 at Pittsburgh Plage Class Co., and has been in Western Pennsylvania for 130 years.

Last week, PPG opened a new regional headquarters for architectural coatings in the Westinghouse Electric complex in the Cranberry Woods business park in Cranberry Township.

The 118,000-square-foot headquarters, which PPG is leasing from Westinghouse, is projected to have 550 employees by the end of the year. Most of those positions, in management, marketing, information technology, customer supportand administration,will be transferred here from other communities as the company consolidates its architectural coatings division.

Officials attending the ribbon-cutting, including Gov. Tom Corbett, said PPG’s continuing expansion exemplifies several principles that lead to successful business.

Among them is good planning. John Skorupan, a Cranberry Township supervisor, called the PPG headquarters a validation of the value of planning. “The speakers today spoke about this all being open fields and woods just a few years ago,” Skorupan said. “Today, it is a world-class business park hosting over 8,000 employees.”

That kind of growth was no accident, Skorupan said; it was the result of a “strong community visioning process and the implementation of a strategy to make it happen.”

Corbett mentioned how PPG, an internationally recognized brand, has identified with Western Pennsylvania for more than a century — and the company’s decision to locate its new divisional headquarters in Cranberry only strengthens the brand’s regional identity.

“If you say ‘PPG’ anywhere in this country, everyone knows what you’re talking about,” Corbett said. “You have to be excited for what’s happening here.”

The consolidation speaks well not only of the work ethic in Western Pennsylvania, but also of the region’s quality of life and commercial climate. PPG knows Western Pennsylvania; PPG stays in Western Pennsylvania.

“The official opening of this facility further strengthens our presence in the state and in the Pittsburgh area, which has been home to our global headquarters for more than 130 years,” said CEO Charles E. Bunch.

Corbett told the crowd that they should be encouraged about the future of Western Pennsylvania, given its emergence as a leader in natural gas, medicine and education — all the more reason for global corporations like PPG to maintain a strong presence.

Welcome home, PPG Industries; although you never really left.