SAP Americas on June 11 broke ground on the $105-million phase one of its new 425,000-sq.-ft. regional headquarters expansion in Newtown Square, Pa., outside Philadelphia. The two-building project will eventually have room to welcome some 1,200 new employees, and is aiming for LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. If it attains that lofty status, it would be only the 35th such building to do so in the U.S. Designed by FxFowle, phase one should be ready for occupancy in 2009, with phase two coming online in 2012. Connecting the two buildings will be a 20,000-sq.-ft. atrium.

"SAP acknowledges that the nation is facing a critical energy crisis and the onus is on corporate America to step up to the plate," IAMC member LuAnn McHugh, vice president, real estate facilities, SAP Americas, told Interior Design. "With the construction of our new building, we are able to take the lead in making a positive contribution to the environment while providing an innovative, state-of-the-art facility for our work force."

McHugh delivered a presentation on the value of LEED certification and environmental facility initiatives in general at the IAMC Fall 2006 Professional Forum in Williamsburg, Va.

On May 14, 2007, Brazil President Luiz Inácio "Lula" Da Silva helped IAMC member firm Dell officially open its newest manufacturing facility in Hortolandia, Sao Paulo. The plant will manufacture desktop and notebook computers and servers for individual consumers, small business owners and large corporations in South America. The factory is the first of three global facilities the company plans to open this year, with others coming online in India and Poland.

The city that's hosting IAMC later this year just welcomed the latest expansion from an IAMC company affiliate. The PepsiAmericas production and bottling facility at Union Seventy Center was expanded by design-build firm Clayco to accommodate PET bottle production, filling and packaging needs and a water treatment area for the company's Aquafina water brand. The 40,177-sq.-ft. expansion was constructed using tilt-up concrete and structural steel framing. "In order to meet equipment installation deadlines required by PepsiAmericas, Clayco worked within a congested site, operated around PepsiAmericas's day-to-day business operations and encountered weather setbacks," said a release from Clayco. "Although Clayco's team was unable to pour concrete at the site for three weeks due to extreme winter weather, the project was completed in June."

Question: What Do Batesville, Miss., Singapore and Amsterdam Have in Common?

Answer: Within two days in late May, they all received major facility investments from IAMC member company General Electric Co.'s GE aviation division.

The company will break ground in August for a 200,000-sq.-ft. (18,580-sq.-m.) advance composite engine component factory in Batesville, which will employ more than 100 within the 18 months after it opens in early 2009. The company worked closely with IAMC organizations the Mississippi Development Authority and Tennessee Valley Authority to secure the location for "Project Bear" which was officially headed to Mississippi as of 2006, but had not come to rest on a final location. GE in 2006 also teamed with Mississippi State University's College of Engineering at its Raspet laboratory on an incubator program to demonstrate the production of composite components for jet engines.

"Support throughout the state of Mississippi for this new operation has been critical and very gratifying," said Scott Donnelly, president and CEO of Cincinnati-based GE - Aviation.

The company is also expanding its materials distribution with two new facilities, a 30,000-sq.-ft. (2,787-sq.-m.) center in Singapore and a 50,000-sq.-ft. (4,645-sq.-m.) center in Amsterdam - both expected to open later this summer. They join an Americas distribution center in Dallas, Texas, in distributing spare parts and components. GE Aviation Materials is a joint venture between GE Aviation and Snecma (SAFRAN Group).

Following the recent sale of IAMC member company General Electric's sale of its plastics business to Sabic, new IAMC member firm Owens-Illinois announced in early June its definitive agreement to sell its plastics packaging business to Rexam PLC for $1.825 billion. "This sale and the subsequent debt reduction will give us greater operating flexibility and allow us to better focus resources to improve our core glass business," said Al Stroucken, O-I chairman and CEO. O-I Plastics has approximately 2,800 employees in 19 plants in the United States (including Puerto Rico), Mexico, Brazil, Hungary, Singapore and Malaysia with a headquarters and technical development center in Perrysburg, Ohio.

IAMC member firm Johnson & Johnson will lease 1.6 million sq. ft. of warehouse and distribution space in the new 600-acre Arcadia North Business Park in the Poconos community of Coolbaugh Township, near Tobyhanna, Pa., thanks to a build-to-suit deal worth some $100 million and covering 100 acres purchased by Clayco Realty Group. Assistance on the project came from a variety of sources, including the Business In Our Sites program operated by IAMC member organization the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, which lent and granted a total of $9.7 million to Pocono Mountain Industries for site infrastructure. Also involved were the Pocono Mountains Economic Development Corporation, the Monroe County Commissioners (who authorized the redevelopment of the former Camp Tegawitha in 1999), local and state environmental officials and State Senator Bob Mellow (D-22) and State Representative Mario Scavello (R-176). St. Louis-based Clayco expects to complete the project by the end of 2007. The former girls field hockey camp is envisioned as a possible mecca for Wal-Mart supplier companies, as a Wal-Mart distribution center operates just up the road.

Dr. John Kasarda, Director of Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and Kenan Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship, UNC-Chapel Hill

The Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina that has received so much attention of late from the aerospace sector got a little more attention in June from self-styled "aerotropolis" expert Dr. John Kasarda. The aviation and logistics expert, interviewed in the past by IAMC official publication Site Selection, told the annual community meeting of new IAMC member organization the Piedmont Triad Partnership that it could leverage its Piedmont Triad International Airport into such an aerotropolis and, in the process, "fundamentally transform the region's global competitiveness."

"Air logistics and the new economy are inextricably interwoven," said Kasarda. "World air cargo traffic is expected to triple over the next 20 years, and more and more firms are clustering near major airports because of the connectivity to corporate customers nationally and worldwide." Kasarda said that if all the elements fall in place (including government partnership and education efforts) "the region's multi-modal logistics assets - including a central East Coast location, superior interstate highways, PTI and its new FedEx mid-Atlantic hub - provide an advantage that can attract investment, generate tens of thousands of new jobs and raise the image and awareness of the Piedmont Triad. I would expect to see well over 100,000 jobs created with 60 miles of Piedmont Triad International Airport over the next 30 years."

Watch for more coverage of these trends in Site Selection's annual infrastructure and logistics stories, now being reported for the magazine's September 2007 issue.

IAMC member firm Hanesbrands, headquartered in Winston-Salem, announced in June it would cut 5,300 jobs and close nine sewing and assembly plants in four countries, including plants in Statesville, N.C., Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The move also means the cutting of 350 administrative and management jobs, including 260 in Winston-Salem. "Hanesbrands expects to take restructuring and related charges of approximately $3 million for the closures, including severance, lease exit costs and accelerated depreciation of fixed assets," read a late June release from the company. "Hanesbrands expects to incur restructuring and related charges for these actions, including severance costs and accelerated depreciation of fixed assets, totaling approximately $42 million."

"We are making significant progress in consolidating our organization and executing our global supply chain strategy," Hanesbrands Chief Executive Officer Richard A. Noll said. "This streamlining is part of our larger cost-reduction and process-standardization strategies to increase competitiveness and become a more effective organization. We have an outstanding work force that exhibits continued commitment and professionalism even when receiving difficult news. We will work diligently to assist in their transition."

Those investments mean the addition of approximately 3,000 positions at other plants in order to absorb shifted production to operations in Central America and Asia. The company said it will continue to move production and operations to lower-cost countries, "operating fewer and bigger facilities and aligning production flow for maximum flexibility. In the long-term, the company expects to balance its supply chain between the Western Hemisphere and Asia."

"In addition to improving cost competitiveness, these moves will improve the alignment of our sewing operations with the flow of textiles and will leverage the company's large scale in high-volume products," said Gerald Evans, Hanesbrands executive vice president and chief global supply chain officer. "This realignment will also better position us for expansion of our Asian supply chain. In November, we acquired a sewing facility in Thailand, our first self-owned Asian production facility."

Greenland, encompassing (2,166,086 sq. km.) is the largest island in the world. More than 80 percent of the country is covered by the ice cap. Its population is 57,000, mainly of Inuit origin. A hunting society not that long ago, its primary industries today include sea-going fishing, mining, tourism and oil exploration.

Know your far northern hemisphere? If you don't, ask IAMC member firm Alcoa. As the company moves forward with its huge smelter and power plant plans in Iceland, in May it announced its intent to work with the government of Greenland to study the feasibility of a 340,000 metric-ton-per-year hydro-powered aluminum smelter. According to a company release, the MOU encompasses a hydroelectric power system and related infrastructure improvements, including a port. "Under the MOU, the parties will begin site selection, environmental studies, engineering assessments, and other aspects of the project," it read. "If the viability of the project is proved, ground breaking for the hydroelectric power system would be expected in 2010, and for the smelter in 2012. The smelter could then commence operation by the end of 2014."

"The three municipalities of Nuuk, Sisimiut and Maniitsoq, which have all selected potential locations, support the project, and will take active part in the continued work," continued the release. "Final recommendations will go to the Greenland Home Rule Government for ratification. Upon completion, this development project would represent one of the largest investments in Greenland's history, stimulate economic growth and manufacturing diversity, create up to 600 direct, stable jobs, and contribute to increase Greenland's overall productivity and economic self-support."

Meanwhile, Bechtel's work on Alcoa's Fjarðaál smelter in Iceland has earned Iceland's Shell Award, given annually to companies that contribute to environmental protection and that motivate other companies to focus on the environment. "Bechtel has become an influential role model for other construction companies and contractors in Iceland regarding environmental protection," said Minister of Environment Jónína Bjartmarz of the company's first project ever in Iceland. "Hopefully, this award will underscore the level of success Bechtel has reached and other contractors can reach as well, if they adopt the work plan this company has shown us."

In early June, member firm Pfizer announced the hiring of The Staubach Company to market its 28-building, 2.2-million-sq.-ft. campus in Ann Arbor, Mich. The space includes 720,000 sq. ft. for offices, 750,000 sq. ft. of laboratory and other research space and a 234,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility.

The campus's expansion announcement in 2001 earned it a Top Deal of the Year honor in Site Selection.