LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa.,
July 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/
-- Air Products' (NYSE: APD) Chairman, President, and Chief
Executive Officer Seifi Ghasemi
today told an overflow gathering of employees during a Town Hall
that the company's new global headquarters facility will, as
previously stated, be built in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. In fact, it will be constructed
not far from the company's existing headquarters
location.
Air Products has made the decision to build its new headquarters
facility a little over one mile from its existing location on an
available 50-acre tract of property southeast of the intersection
of Mill Creek Road and the Route 222 Bypass. Groundbreaking is
expected in March 2019 with occupancy
targeted by Summer 2021. The new location will be the base for
approximately 2,000 Air Products employees with capacity for
growth.
"From the beginning of this process to develop a new
headquarters facility, we have never wavered in our commitment to
remain in the Lehigh Valley. Now,
we have made the location decision and we begin our preparations to
build facilities that represent our world-class company," said
Ghasemi. "This is a very exciting time for Air Products as we
evolve our headquarters environment to be more beneficial to our
employees and take advantage of sustainable technologies to lessen
our footprint and reduce operating costs."
The new headquarters site will include new administration
offices, a research and development (R&D) facility, and an
enclosed parking structure for employees. A cost estimate is not
being disclosed at this time. Air Products' headquarters will
remain at its current location (7201 Hamilton Boulevard,
Allentown), and employees will
continue to work there during construction and completion of the
new facilities. The company plans to make its existing 235-acre
location available to the real estate market.
Steadfastly focusing on Industrial Gases, Air Products had
divested non-core businesses over the last two years. These moves,
in combination with other operational changes, have resulted in
excess building space at Air Products' present location, compounded
by annual maintenance costs of approximately $20 million at its current 60-year-old
location.
"The decision to leave our current headquarters location, with
its rich history, was not one we made lightly," Ghasemi said. "But
we believe our new location will afford us a special opportunity to
modernize and optimize our office space and R&D facilities and
invest in a work environment that motivates and energizes our
employees. As a global company operating in more than 50 countries,
this new headquarters will reflect the safety, speed, simplicity
and self-confidence that move us forward as a world-leading
industrial gas company."
About Air Products
Air Products (NYSE: APD) is a world-leading Industrial Gases
company in operation for over 75 years. The Company's core
industrial gases business provides atmospheric and process gases
and related equipment to manufacturing markets, including refining
and petrochemical, metals, electronics, and food and beverage. Air
Products is also the world's leading supplier of liquefied natural
gas process technology and equipment.
The Company had fiscal 2017 sales of $8.2
billion from continuing operations in 50 countries and has a
current market capitalization of about $35
billion. Approximately 15,000 passionate, talented and
committed employees from a diversity of backgrounds are driven by
Air Products' higher purpose to create innovative solutions that
benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the
challenges facing customers, communities and the world. For more
information, visit www.airproducts.com.
NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements
within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are
based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of
the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual
performance and financial results may differ materially from
projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking
statements because of many factors not anticipated by management,
including risk factors described in the company's Form 10K for its
fiscal year ended September 30,
2017.
Editor's Note: A conceptual rendering of Air
Products' future headquarters facilities will be available at
http://www.airproducts.com/Company/news-center/2018/07/0717-new-corporate-headquarters.aspx.
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SOURCE Air Products