Olympus Celebrates New Headquarters Move, Positioning Company for Long-Term Growth

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    CENTER VALLEY, Pa., July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Olympus, a precision
 technology leader, designing and delivering imaging solutions in
 healthcare, life science and photography, today celebrates the dedication
 of its new headquarters for the Americas in Eastern Pennsylvania,
 positioning the company for continued long-term profitable growth. A
 building dedication ceremony later this morning will be attended by Dennis
 Yablonsky, secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic
 Development, on behalf of Governor Edward G. Rendell; F. Mark Gumz,
 president and chief operating officer, Olympus America Inc; Tsuyoshi
 Kikukawa, president, Olympus Corporation, Tokyo; Masaharu Okubo, president,
 Olympus Imaging Corporation, Tokyo; as well as state and local politicians
 and Olympus customers and business partners.
     (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060720/NYTH053 )
     "Today marks the beginning of a new era for Olympus," stated Gumz.
 "Olympus' strategic decision to relocate its headquarters to the Lehigh
 Valley is the result of a comprehensive two-year study that involved 16
 different U.S. markets ranging from the midwest to the east cost. The
 analysis was based on a broad range of factors, such as the cost of
 conducting business, living costs, recruitment needs and quality of life. I
 would like to thank Governor Rendell for championing Olympus' relocation to
 Eastern Pennsylvania."
     "Landing an internationally recognized company like Olympus is a
 tremendous accomplishment for Pennsylvania," said Governor Rendell, "and
 proof that our aggressive efforts to create a competitive business
 environment are paying dividends. In the last three and a half years, we
 have targeted investments in our businesses, communities, infrastructure
 and workforce to help companies succeed. This approach has helped create
 new opportunities for the State's hard working men and women, as more and
 more employers choose to expand or relocate here in the Commonwealth."
     State-of-the-Art Building Design
     Olympus' new 337,400 square-foot headquarters, located in the Stabler
 Center at 3500 Corporate Parkway in Center Valley, provides maximum
 flexibility to reconfigure workspaces as needed to accommodate the
 company's growth. The building, designed by architectural firm EwingCole of
 Philadelphia, reflects Olympus' commitment to customer-centricity, allowing
 customers access to facilities for conferences and continuing medical
 education events. Its silver-metal and glass exterior architecturally
 expresses the Olympus brand by mirroring the company's opto-digital
 products, such as industry-leading gastrointestinal endoscopes, research
 microscopes and digital cameras. The facility's design also supports
 employee creativity, collaboration and productivity, which are key pillars
 of Olympus' culture, and addresses the demand that modern workplaces more
 closely resemble home life.
     "The innovative design of our new headquarters allows us to better
 interact with our customers, reflects our culture of fostering employee
 creativity and productivity, and also gives us maximum flexibility to
 support the company's long-term growth," added Gumz.
     Strategic Decision to Relocate Headquarters; Positive Economic Impact
 to
     Community
     Gumz noted that three years before the decision was announced in 2004
 to relocate to Lehigh Valley, Olympus conducted a thorough analysis of how
 its employees worked, the role of technology, the need for face-to-face
 collaboration in that work, the changing needs for physical space and
 storage of files, and several other factors impacting a headquarters
 facility. Findings underscored that Olympus, as a customer-centric and
 marketing-focused company, would require a technologically well-appointed
 environment that emphasized teamwork to best meet its growth objectives.
     The relocation of the Olympus headquarters to the Lehigh Valley from
 Melville, N.Y., illustrates how economic incentive programs like
 Pennsylvania's KOZ package can benefit companies and contribute to regional
 development in the U.S. Compared to Olympus' previous operating costs, the
 tax abatement from the State, based on "earn out" against taxable operating
 income and abatement of local real estate taxes and sales taxes on activity
 within the KOZ will save Olympus tens of millions of dollars during the
 incentive period and will result in substantial annual savings representing
 millions of dollars, even after the tax abatement ends December 31, 2013.
     Offering premium compensation, the company has attracted thousands of
 job applicants and is expected to employ nearly 600 people at the new
 facility by the end of 2006. The building has been built to sustain the
 company for seven years of growth and can accommodate up to 1,000 people.
 Olympus America and its sister companies, Olympus Imaging America and
 Olympus Medical Equipment Services America, of which Mark Gumz is also
 president and COO, collectively have approximately 2,100 employees in the
 U.S. and Canada.
     Olympus is also becoming an increasing cultural force in Eastern
 Pennsylvania, supporting art and education programs at the Banana Factory
 in Bethlehem, including the Olympus Digital Imaging Center, and is the
 principal sponsor of Musikfest for 2005-06, held in Bethlehem each August.
     Construction of Olympus' new headquarters was managed by Alvin H. Butz,
 Inc., Allentown, Pa. The project involved numerous subcontractors from the
 region and 600 workers throughout the construction period. Olympus
 estimates that its ongoing payroll and operations expenditures spent
 locally should help contribute hundreds of new jobs in the Lehigh Valley
 annually, above and beyond jobs held by Olympus employees.
     ABOUT OLYMPUS
     Olympus is a precision technology leader, designing and delivering
 imaging solutions in healthcare, life science and photography.
     Olympus works collaboratively with its customers and its parent
 company, Tokyo-based Olympus Corporation, to leverage R&D investment in
 precision technology and manufacturing processes across diverse business
 lines. These include:
     * Gastrointestinal endoscopes, accessories, and minimally invasive
       surgical products;
     * Advanced clinical and research microscopes;
     * Lab automation systems, chemistry-immuno and blood bank analyzers and
       reagents;
     * Digital and film cameras and digital voice recorders.
     In the U.S. and Canada, Olympus America serves healthcare and
 commercial laboratory markets with integrated product solutions and
 financial, educational and consulting services that help customers
 efficiently, reliably, safely, and easily achieve superior results. Olympus
 is the leader in gastrointestinal endoscopy and clinical and educational
 microscopes. The company's consumer products business spans North and South
 America. For more information, visit http://www.olympusamerica.com .
     NOTE TO EDITORS: Fact sheets and additional information about Olympus'
 new headquarters for the Americas are available at
 http://www.olympuspresspass.com .
 
 

SOURCE Olympus