Ecolab Inc., an IAMC member company that calls itself "the leading global developer and marketer of premium cleaning, sanitizing, pest elimination, maintenance and repair products and services for the hospitality, foodservice, healthcare and industrial markets," is establishing new facilities worldwide. Among the projects in the first quarter of 2007 were establishment of an operation in the United Arab Emirates (through the purchase of a distributor), the purchase of pest elimination services firm Green Harbour in Hong Kong and a new customer service center in Caerphilly, Wales, that will employ 55. The company in June 2006 purchased U.K.-based Shield Medicare, which had recently quadrupled its presence at the Baglan Energy Park near Swansea, Wales. In the company’s April 24 earnings report, Ecolab Chairman, President and CEO Douglas M. Baker, Jr., said, "We think 2007 will be another terrific year for Ecolab. We expect to do it the same way we always have — by delivering superior growth today while investing for superior growth for the future, leveraging our strong performers to develop areas of strategic focus, and building strong management teams. To that end, our new team in Europe, put in place last fall, is undertaking important initiatives and investments that will help us develop stronger and sustainable profit growth in that region. We are confident in our strategy and actions, and in the strength of our global operations and outlook." Bruce Nettleton, director of engineering and real estate for St. Paul, Minn.-based Ecolab, is an IAMC member.

Frito-Lay’s distribution center in Rochester, N.Y., was its first exclusively "green" building. For more, read Site Selection’s Sept. 2005 coverage .

Considering a LEED-certified project? Then you’ll want to check out this case study presentation by Peter Arsenault, principal architect for Stantec Architecture, about IAMC member company Frito-Lay’s distribution center in New York. The presentation was made at last fall’s "Turning Green Into Growth" conference, hosted and sponsored by IAMC member organization Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE), Stantec Architecture, and the U.S. Green Building Council. Russell Burton, corporate manager for economic development for PepsiCo Global Real Estate, is an IAMC board member. Kyle Ballard, economic development manager for Frito-Lay, is also an IAMC member.

Michael R. Splinter, President and CEO, Applied Materials

New IAMC member firm Applied Materials, a provider of equipment, service and software products for the fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat panels, solar photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy efficient glass, in March celebrated the grand opening of its Xi’an China Global Development and Technology Support Center. The 106,000-sq.-ft. facility on 25 acres offers state-of-the-art laboratory, tool demonstration and assembly space in its cleanrooms. "We are attracting quality employees from local technical universities, and this development and support center will be a cornerstone of our growth strategy throughout China and, indeed, all of Asia," said Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials. In the 22 years since establishing itself as the first semiconductor equipment company in China, Applied Materials has opened seven offices located in Beijing, Kunshan, Shanghai, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuxi and Xi’an and employs more than 500 people. That’s also the number of AKT plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition systems the company has shipped, most recently to China. Applied Materials’ manufacturing remains concentrated in Austin, Texas, with product development in Silicon Valley. Josh Davidson, senior director of global real estate for Applied Materials, is an IAMC member.

In early March, IAMC member firm Kimberly-Clark opened its first offshore R&D center in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The $40-million, 56,000-sq.-ft. Innovation Center Asia will be host to more than 80 researchers, primarily focused on healthcare industry hygiene products, reported the JoongAng Daily. Among other incentives, according to the paper, the facility saw an infusion of $1.6 million from the national government. Kimberly-Clark is represented in IAMC by Leonard Anderson, director of real estate services, and Greg Saylor, business analyst.

IAMC member firm Gray Construction was featured in an Engineering News-Record cover story in its March 5 issue, which examined how the firm uses the kaizen principles it learned from Toyota in delivering facility projects. Jeff Bischoff, vice president at Gray, is an IAMC member.

USEC's American Centrifuge is based on the U.S. Dept. of Energy's original centrifuges, which operated in the 1980s at the Piketon facility.

The United States Enrichment Corporation’s (USEC) American Centrifuge Program Commercial Plant at the former U.S. Department of Energy’s Piketon Enrichment Plant in Scioto Township, Ohio, received its 30-year plant license on April 13, clearing the way for only the second major nuclear facility to be licensed by the NRC in the past three decades under the NRC’s licensing process for uranium enrichment facilities. USEC expects to operate a Lead Cascade of centrifuge machines in the American Centrifuge Demonstration Facility by mid-2007. The Company is working toward beginning commercial plant operations in late 2009, and the facility will eventually employ 400. That news is good not only for IAMC member Greg Simonton of the Piketon, Ohio-based Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative, it’s also good for corporate member firm Honeywell International, Inc., which has been looking at Scioto Township and a site in Tennessee to manufacture and assemble centrifuge machines for the USEC project. In granting Honeywell a 60-percent, six-year tax credit, Ohio said Honeywell proposes to lease space at an existing 900,000 square-foot building at the USEC facility and invest in new manufacturing machinery and equipment, and leasehold improvements. The project represents an investment north of $80 million, and has the potential to create 100 jobs in the plant’s first three years. USEC hopes to have deployed 11,500 of the machines by 2012. Phil Hammel, development director for Honeywell, is an IAMC member.

After good results with a three-site pilot program, IAMC member firm Shaw Industries in March announced it would roll out its RFID program to seven primary distribution sites and 30 regional distribution centers across the United States, employing the services of ODIN technologies. "Our proof of concept implementation confirmed our contention that an accurate RFID infrastructure can improve supply chain visibility," said Shaw's Jim Nielsen, manager of technology planning, in an ODIN news release. ODIN is deploying an RFID-enabled Master Bill of Lading tracking and visibility system for Shaw that allows for real-time visibility into the status of trucks and customer orders in its distribution network. Shaw’s real estate team includes IAMC member John H. Wilkinson, director of real estate.

The project has not gone forward yet, but the incentives are there for the taking in Theodore, Ala., where IAMC member firm Holcim (U.S.) has proposed a $60-million, seven-job expansion of its 156-worker cement plant. The Mobile Industrial Development Board approved $1.4 million in incentives that include a five-year property tax abatement and a waiver on sales and use taxes. Holcim is represented in IAMC by Kathy Shanteau, real estate manager, and Sharon Patchett, real estate coordinator.

Alcoa, Bechtel and community officials broke ground for the Iceland project in July 2004.

The huge smelter project in Iceland from IAMC member firm Alcoa has earned its lead contractor, Bechtel, the nation’s highest environmental award, the Shell Award, presented in late April. "Everyone familiar with Bechtel’s vision on environmental affairs believes that it has led to a new work culture in Iceland," Iceland Minister of Environment Jón ína Bjartmarz said in announcing the award. "Bechtel and its customer, Alcoa, have placed a heavy emphasis on environmental protection in the construction of the Fjarðaál smelter, which is scheduled for completion later this year," read a Bechtel news release. "The project has been designed for minimal environmental impact specifically in waste disposal. No process water is discharged into the nearby fjord. Paper, glass, metals, timber, plastic, and other byproducts are recycled or reused, and biodegradable waste is safely decomposed." Three days earlier, Alcoa announced it would double its investment in Russian aluminum production to $500 million, in order to modernize facilities in the Rostov and Samara regions. Jim Winter, manager of corporate real estate for Alcoa, is an IAMC board member.

One month earlier, high-volume aluminum user and IAMC member firm Coca-Cola announced its own expansion plans in the Rostov region, where it will build a $160-million bottling plant that will employ 1,000. Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia owns and operates 13 bottling plants in Moscow, St Petersburg, Central Russia and the Far East. Matthew J. Fanoe, director of real estate for Coca-Cola Enterprises, is an IAMC member.

In April, IAMC member firm Newmark Knight Frank, together with its management team, acquired a majority controlling interest in Gale Global Facility Services (GFS), formerly a subsidiary of Mack-Cali Realty Corp. The acquisition establishes a new division, Newmark Knight Frank Global Management Services (GMS). "Our goal is not necessarily to be the largest real estate services firm, but to offer our clients the full range of value added services while maintaining the highest reputation for execution and implementation," said Scott Panzer, executive vice president and principal of Newmark Knight Frank. "GFS is known in particular for its expertise in crisis management and superior facilities management systems. Ian Marlow, president of GFS, and the executives at GFS are considered some of the top authorities in their field with a proven record of cost savings for clients." Richard Taylor, the Washington, D.C.-based senior managing director for Newmark Knight Frank, is an IAMC member.