Pepperl+Fuchs, a German company that specializes in industrial sensor and explosion protection technologies, held a ribbon-cutting for its new U.S. distribution center in Katy on Oct. 15. The new center in Katy is one of six locations worldwide, located in England, Germany, China, Australia and Italy. Pepperl+Fuchs is a global company specializing in design, manufacture and application of factory process automation and services. Katy was chosen as a location for the new 110,000-square-foot center due to the prominence of the oil and gas industry in the area, according to a press release. "You might wonder why we picked Katy," Regional HR Manager Laura MacLoughlin said. "We found a community that fits our culture and would be comfortable for our employees given that we are the third-largest city in population and in size in the U.S. We want to have a local economic impact in this area, which has this phenomenal growth mode." The center was scheduled to be done by summer 2017 but was delayed due to tornado damage from Hurricane Harvey. After two years of extensive repairs, the center is fully functional. The warehouse and manufacturing plant has a solution engineering center, customer training area, warehouse space and distribution facilities. It also showcases 1,000 Pepperl+Fuchs sensors, which—along with automation technology—can help control a complex automated storage and retrieval system for the transport of materials for shipment, per the release. MacLoughlin said Pepperl+Fuchs employs 385 people in the U.S. and roughly 6,200 worldwide including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. The distribution center serves as the central warehouse from which Pepperl+Fuchs distributes more than 10,000 products worldwide.[/caption]