Warrendale, PA, August 24 --- Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc. (MEPPI) announced today that its parent company, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, has approved an additional investment to build a new headquarters and engineering office, warehouse and factory near its Warrendale, PA, headquarters. The announcement was made at the opening ceremony of MEPPI’s new, extra-high bay assembly and test facility.
The new buildings, which bring Mitsubishi Electric’s investment in Warrendale expansion to more than $12 million, will be constructed on a 13-acre site in the Thorn Hill Industrial Park, north of Pittsburgh, near its present offices and factory. Construction should be completed in early 2003, providing for an initial increase of about 50 employees, with further growth expected.
The new headquarters will accommodate the corporate staff, engineering and administrative personnel of the company’s expanding new businesses --- Substation, Energy Systems, Industrial Systems, and Ozone Water Treatment Systems --- which are presently located in three separate locations in Warrendale’s Thorn Hill Industrial Park. Once the expansion is completed, the current offices and factory will be dedicated to MEPPI’s growing circuit breaker manufacturing operation.
The new headquarters will include training facilities, meeting rooms, a video conferencing center, cafeteria and a fitness center, which will be available to all of the company’s employees. The warehouse and factory will be used primarily to grow the company’s newer businesses.
Dr. Ichiro Taniguchi, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in Japan, stated that "The demand for power generation continues to be strong, and the need for transmission and distribution products is increasing. Mitsubishi Electric considers this investment as the best opportunity for further growing our power transmission and distribution business."
This will be the company’s fourth site expansion since moving into the Thorn Hill Industrial Park. Current facilities were built in 1989 for the manufacture of large high-voltage circuit breakers. In 1993, the original circuit breaker office and factory was tripled in size. In 1998 --- in the first phase of the expansion program --- the adjacent land, warehouse and office were purchased and refurbished. Phase II included the just-completed extra-high bay assembly and test aisle.
Roger Barna, CEO of MEPPI said, "Phase III of our expansion program will further enable us to strengthen the US electrical transmission infrastructure, which is critical to a reliable and economical electricity supply."
Founded in 1985, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc. is a leading US manufacturer of large high-voltage power circuit breakers, rated up to 550,000 volts, used by electric utilities in the US and overseas. It also supplies other electrical and electronic products and services, such as gas insulated substations, large power transformers, generator breakers, lightning arresters, power electronic systems for electrical transmission & distribution, power systems studies, industrial drive and control systems, and ozone water treatment systems. In addition to Thorn Hill Industrial Park, MEPPI has offices in Los Angeles, Sunnyvale, St. Louis, Orlando, Charlotte, and New York. MEPPI is one of more than a dozen Mitsubishi Electric US companies, which have more than 6,000 employees in 30 locations throughout North America. Sales in fiscal year 2000 were about $3.5 billion. More information about MEPPI may be found on its website: <http://www.meppi.com>.
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For More Information:
Mark S. Scott
Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA, Inc.
714.220.6896
mark.scott@meus.mea.com
