O-I to Move World Headquarters; Staying in Northwest Ohio
May 05 2005 - 12:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
O-I to Move World Headquarters; Staying in Northwest Ohio
Relocation will unite area employees in one location TOLEDO, Ohio,
May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Owens-Illinois, Inc., (NYSE:OI)
today announced that the Company intends to relocate over 300
employees from the current headquarters building, One SeaGate, to
its Levis Development Park campus in nearby Perrysburg, Ohio,
subject to the receipt of certain state and local incentives.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050412/CLTU028LOGO )
The company-owned Levis Park campus, located about 15 miles from
One SeaGate, is the current home of about 550 O-I employees. Some
employees currently occupying One SeaGate will move into vacant
space at Levis Park resulting from the divestiture of the
blow-molded plastic container business in October 2004. In the
spirit of the cultural transformation now underway at O-I, the
Company intends to remodel and modernize the three buildings in
Levis Park. The Company is also planning to build a fourth
building, approximately 75,000 to 100,000 square feet, to house
corporate support functions. More details surrounding this
construction project will be forthcoming. The move is scheduled to
begin in the second quarter of 2006 and to be completed by the
expiration of the current One SeaGate lease on September 30, 2006.
"This decision was not an easy one, to say the least," said Steve
McCracken, O-I Chairman & CEO. "We looked at many options,
including staying in One SeaGate, moving to Levis Park, or
relocating out of state. We had to keep in mind our vision and our
transformation agenda as well as our heritage. Our decision is
based on our future, not our past, and is what we feel is best for
a vibrant and growing O-I. We look forward to finalizing the
necessary agreements with the State of Ohio and the City of
Perrysburg that will make this move possible." "O-I's intention to
keep its headquarters in northwest Ohio is a testament to the
quality of our workforce," said Ohio Governor Bob Taft. "In a time
when we're competing with other nations and other states for jobs,
I am pleased that O-I has reaffirmed its desire to remain in Ohio."
Levis Development Park was established in 1966 as an industrial
campus dedicated to research and development. Products such as
composite cans, metal containers, television tubes, lightweight
glass containers and other developmental products were formerly
manufactured onsite. Today, Levis Park is still dedicated to
research and development with a packaging design studio, innovation
center and plastic closure sampling center. The property is named
in honor of William E. Levis and J. Preston Levis, both former O-I
presidents and Board chairmen. Construction of One SeaGate began in
May 1979 and was completed in late December 1981. At the time the
building opened, O-I occupied most of the building with about 2200
employees. Over time, those numbers have steadily decreased due to
downsizing associated with the divestiture of several businesses
including timberlands, railroads, containerboard, Libbey glass, a
financial company and a health care company. O-I employees
currently occupy about eight floors of the 32-story One SeaGate
building, which is located in downtown Toledo. O-I leases the
entire building from an unrelated third party and sub-leases space
to other organizations, which employ about 700 of the building's
occupants. About O-I Millions of times a day, O-I glass containers,
healthcare packaging and specialty closure systems deliver many of
the world's best-known consumer products to people all around the
world. With leading positions in Europe, North America, Asia
Pacific and South America, O-I provides consumer-preferred products
that enable superior taste, purity, visual appeal and value
benefits for our customers' products. Established in 1903, the
company employs nearly 30,000 people and has more than 100
manufacturing facilities in 23 countries. In 2004, annual revenues
were $6.2 billion. For more information, visit http://www.o-i.com/
. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050412/CLTU028LOGO
DATASOURCE: O-I CONTACT: Sara Theis of O-I, +1-419-247-1297 Web
site: http://www.o-i.com/
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