Lockheed Martin has found more Chantilly space to its liking.

The IAMC member firm broke ground in April on its new Stonegate II office building in Chantilly, Va., expanding its operations there to support the work it conducts for Dept. of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community. To be filled primarily by the company's Integrated Systems & Solutions (IS&S) business, the six-story, 145,000-sq.-ft. (13,471-sq.-m.) facility will welcome approximately 600 employees.

Terri Beattie, president, Lockheed Martin Corporation Properties.

"The capabilities developed in this facility will enable the intelligence community and our military to quickly turn information into actionable intelligence," said Bill Graham, Lockheed Martin vice president for systems integration. "We also look forward to expanding our relationship with the local community as true corporate citizens as we continue to grow our presence in Fairfax County."

The same division opened a new two-story, 85,600-sq.-ft. (7,952-sq.-m.) office facility in Papillion, Neb., in March. The building, which has room for as many as 340 employees as business grows, consolidates four existing facilities into one site and expands the corporation's laboratory space in the area. The facility becomes a new node in the corporation's Global Vision Network —a capability that currently links 36 Lockheed Martin laboratories and facilities across the country.

IS&S on June 5 opened a new lab in Farnborough, England. Photos of the new facilities were not available due to security concerns.

Terri Beattie, president of Lockheed Martin's LMC Properties, is an IAMC member, as is Geoffrey J. Troan, director of real estate.

In addition to its office furniture business, Jasper, Ind.-based IAMC member firm Kimball International also operates a global contract electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company. In early May, Kimball Electronics Group, Inc., entered into an agreement with Ontario-based Magna Donnelly to produce printed circuit board assemblies. Under the terms of the agreement, Kimball Electronics acquired Magna Donnelly's PCB (Printed Circuit Board) assembly operation in Longford, Ireland. The two companies have agreed to combine their efforts in a long term manufacturing strategy to support the needs of the Magna Donnelly automotive mirror business.

Kimball International President and CEO Jim Thyen said, "This important agreement follows closely on our recent announcement of a major Kimball Electronics acquisition in Wales, and emphasizes our strategic expansion of global capabilities and responsiveness in serving our customers."

Kimball International headquarters in Jasper. photo: www.jasperin.org

Shane Caher, General Manager, Magna Donnelly Ireland, said "With this agreement, we have charted a longer term future for the Longford operation, while securing a world class partner in automotive electronic manufacturing, giving Magna Donnelly access to high quality electronic assemblies at a competitive cost."

Don Charron, President, Kimball Electronics Group, stated, "Magna Donnelly is a worldwide leader in automotive mirrors and we are excited to offer them access to our own global footprint of certified automotive manufacturing facilities." As of 2005, all of Kimball Electronics' facilities have achieved TS16949 Certification.

Dean Vonderheide, vice president safety, environment & facilities, and Chris Whann, facilities operations manager, are IAMC members from Kimball International.

(For more on EMS project activity, look for the Semiconductors & Electronics Industry Report in the July issue of Site Selection.)

Kimberly-Clark boasts two IAMC corporate active members too (Greg Saylor, business analyst, and Leonard Anderson, director). But the company's Kimberly-Clark Professional division brings things full circle from the service provider side too. In early June, the division launched its "Get Clean & Get Green" sweepstakes is open to all property and facility managers, commercial and corporate real estate owners and owners of building service contracting companies. One lucky winner will receive a 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid vehicle, whose key will be drawn at the GreenBuild show in Denver in November. Kimberly-Clark Professional is committed to sustaining the environment through the ongoing education of its commercial real estate customers on how they can use less and waste less in their commercial office buildings. The division offers a number of source-reduced products, which are created to use more efficient dispensing methods and less packaging in their manufacture. Many of these products also last longer than standard tissue, towel and skincare products.

IAMC member firm ConocoPhillips has turned the tables on the usual economic development picture by offering the state of Alabama an "economic guarantee," should it be allowed by state and federal regulators to go ahead with its Compass Port LNG terminal project, planned for federal waters some 12 miles (19.3 km.) south of Dauphin Island. Not only would Alabama be promised the option to purchase as much as 20 percent of the terminal's capacity at average spot rates, but at least half of the $200-million construction cost would be steered toward Alabama-based companies. Tank construction for the project — like so many others in the works — would be executed by firms in Texas.

But there are other projects in other lands: In December the company received approval of the Norsea Pipeline Limited Shareholders to make an application on their behalf to obtain planning permission for an LNG regasification facility and combined heat and power (CHP) plant at their existing oil terminal site at Teesside, U.K. (For more on Teesside, read the May 2005 Site Selection article about Huntsman's expansion there.) Suitable land has been identified within the existing Norsea Oil Terminal for potential LNG and CHP facilities. The

This LNG tank is one of numerous construction projects ongoing at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar. photo by John McCurry, Site Selection

In addition, Essent and ConocoPhillips in March completed a feasibility study for an LNGterminal at the Port of Eemshaven in the North Groningen municipality of Eemsmond in the Netherlands, and have submitted the Environmental Impact Assessment Starting Memorandum to the Province of Groningen, officially starting the permitting process. Detailed joint studies continue on the terminal which could be in operation by 2010.

ConocoPhillips also in December launched its Qatargas 3 project Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar. (For more on Qatar projects, read John McCurry's first-person account from the May 2006 issue of Site Selection.)

Jon David Baccus, regional director, and Mark R. Headley, manager, are both IAMC members from ConocoPhillips.

Unisys Corp. in April opened a new European Biometrics Center of Excellence in Brussels, Belgium.

With security and identity management high on the agenda of European businesses and governments looking to reduce risk and protect themselves against fraud, the new centre will offer executives the opportunity to see first hand the benefits of biometrics technology. For example, the centre will showcase such applications as fingerprint identification tools that could be used to limit access to buildings and areas within an office or a combination of technologies such as voice and iris recognition to control access to data storage facilities.

According to a company release, business interest in biometrics and Unisys investment in the centre are re-enforced by the findings of a new global Unisys study. "The research, which assesses citizens' attitudes across the globe towards the importance and value of different identity verification methods, reveals that 69 percent of the European general public now accept the use of the relatively new and unknown technology of biometrics, making it a feasible investment option for businesses looking to address risk associated with false identification," says the company.

Roberto Tavano, VP European Programmes, Global Public Sector, Unisys, says, "The need to combat fraud and ID theft is particularly high on Government and business' agendas. This is not only due to the risk of financial losses, but also to maintain secure business operations along with customers' confidence and trust in the organization. Biometrics technology offers the potential for reliable and secure identification to address these issues and the Unisys Centre of Excellence provides an interactive and open environment to illustrate potential solutions in real-life scenarios."

Richard J. L'Ecuyer, corporate director, real estate operations for Unisys, is an IAMC member.

New Castle County, Delaware

Honeywell announced in March its selection of New Castle County, Dela., for a new eastern U.S. data center, which will host approximately 50 percent of the company's computer servers and software applications. It is anticipated that the center will open in early 2007 and employ up to 100 new employees.

Honeywell Senior Vice President Administration and Chief Information Officer Larry Kittelberger and Honeywell Vice President for Global Real Estate Rick Kriva joined U.S. Senator Tom Carper, New Castle County Executive Christopher A. Coons and the Delaware Economic Development Office for the announcement at the site of the new facility, which is located in New Castle County at 3 Boulden Circle. According to Kittelberger, New Castle County was chosen because of its business-friendly environment, highly-educated work force, and because it is a great place to live and work. The site itself has modern IT and utility infrastructure and access to a robust and talented labor market.

"I would like to thank Senator Carper, Governor Minner, and County Executive Coons for creating a business-friendly environment that is conducive to increasing the number of high-tech jobs in Delaware," said Dave Cote, chairman and chief executive officer of Honeywell. "Without Senator Carper this would not have happened. His personal involvement in helping us ensure that Delaware is the location of our new data center demonstrates his commitment to growing the economy of his state. We are grateful to the County Executive for his tenacity and to the Governor and her staff for finally making this project a reality."

Phil Hammel, director of real estate for Honeywell, is an IAMC member.

U.K.-based BOC Group, the world's largest helium supplier, announced in May will locate a new distribution center in Montgomery, Ill., just south of Aurora to the west of Chicago. BOC will ship gaseous and liquid helium from Montgomery to customers throughout the central Midwest. BOC is moving to Montgomery from an older, multi-product facility in Carol Stream, Ill., northeast of the new location. The new, larger plant will be totally focused on helium and will provide BOC with better access to major highways in the Chicago area.

Pete Garra, director-real estate, and Leonard Paterno, real estate manager, are both IAMC members from BOC Group.

In April, Sikorsky Aircraft, a division of IAMC member firm United Technologies Corp. (UTC), announced a nationwide campaign to recruit more than 300 engineers. Sikorsky plans job fairs in several states to fill engineering positions at company and subsidiary facilities in Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Alabama, and New York. Sikorsky is on a path to double revenue between 2003-2008 and significantly increase aircraft deliveries across the company product lines over the same time period.

"We are ramping up several new military and commercial programs at a rapid pace, while continuing to invest in innovative research and development projects that set the stage for continued growth in the future," said Mark Miller, vice president, research & engineering for Sikorsky.

Among the company's recent ventures in this vein is a collaboration between engineering services provider Belcan and the University of Kentucky in Lexington. The company has recently announced similar engineering centers in Bozeman, Mont., and Lafayette, Ind.

Charles Veley, director of global real estate for UTC, is an IAMC member.

Belcan, a provider of engineering services to Sikorsky, announced an engineering center in partnership with the University of Kentucky in December 2004. But the relationship between the company and the school goes back further than that: Ralph G. Anderson, founder of Belcan Corp. in 1958, was a 1950 alumnus of the university's School of Engineering. In September 2002, he dedicated the Ralph G. Anderson Mechanical Engineering Building on the UK campus in Lexington.

A rendering of Dal-Tile's forthcoming facility in Elk Grove, Ill.

A redevelopment and expansion of Dal-Tile's Elk Grove, Ill., warehouse facility will combine several Dal-Tile operating divisions into one building to accommodate the company's home stone and tile groups. The 110,000-sq.-ft. (10,219-sq.-m.) redevelopment of the distribution center will include the replacement of exterior walls, a building expansion, and the addition of nine new interior docks, says a release from the project's design/build contractor Morgan/Harbour. The Dal-Tile facility will also feature the conversion of the roof structure to add 50,000 sq. ft. (4,645 sq. m.) of crane bays, new parking and storage areas, 19 roll-up doors, as well as the development of a new showroom and offices. Construction for the new facility is slated for completion in June 2006.

Stephen Diffenderfer, director of real estate for Dal-Tile International, is an IAMC member.

Kip Thompson

In late May, new IAMC member firm Dell Computer announced it would build a new hardware factory at the technology park in Hortolandia, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Dell already has a plant near Brazil's southern city of Porto Alegre, which will continue to produce hardware and extend its development center, where the company will continue to employ 700 people.

Sherry Vance, Project Senior Consultant and Kip Thompson, vice president, global workplace, environment and facilities for Dell, are both IAMC members .

IAMC member company Whittaker Associates has announced the hiring of Dennis Burnside as president of its real estate advisory services group. Burnside has held senior positions with Grubb & Ellis, Colliers International and Equis over the course of his 25-year career. A resident of Shaker Heights, Ohio, Burnside will split his time between Shaker Heights and Holland, Mich., headquarters of Whittaker Associates. Dean Whittaker, president and CEO of Whittaker Associates, is an IAMC member.