Bayer CropScience Announces $29.6 Million Expansion at North American and Global Seeds Headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
June 29, 2014
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. (June 30, 2014) – Bayer CropScience announced today that it will invest $29.6 million in the expansion of its North American and global Seeds headquarters in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. This investment includes the construction of a 29,500-square-foot greenhouse as well as the necessary infrastructure and land development to support the state-of-the-art research facility and potential future growth. The new facility will accommodate the company’s seed trait research, providing dedicated and isolated greenhouse space for insect testing, consolidated space for nematode trait research, and the capability for groundbreaking plant disease research.
The RTP site has experienced significant operational growth in recent years. This expansion marks the beginning of the development of land acquired in Dec. 2012. Work on the greenhouse, or GH1, is scheduled to begin in the late summer of 2014, with completion scheduled for late 2015. GH1 is the second greenhouse constructed at Bayer CropScience’s North American and global Seeds headquarters in the past two years. The $20 million, 60,000-square-foot Greenhouse 5 was opened in July 2012 to support company sustainability and productivity efforts focused on soy, corn and other broadacre crop research.
“The construction of this greenhouse represents our continued commitment to RTP and to leaving a better world for the industries and communities we serve through advanced agriculture and bioscience research and development,” said Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP. “Our new facility will allow our scientists and other researchers to discover innovative solutions to the world’s ever-changing agricultural issues, and will help us feed a growing planet in need of plentiful food sources grown without threat from dangerous insects and other pests.”
GH1 will replace Greenhouses 3 and 4, which have been in operation for more than 30 years. This new facility will serve to further promote innovative research and development efforts. To accommodate staff growth, the project will also increase campus parking by 200 spaces and provide a new security hut. To date, Bayer CropScience has approximately 700 employees based in the greater Research Triangle Park area.
“Our greenhouses are a hallmark of our ability to serve as an industry leader and innovator, and these sustainable structures provide a path for the development of future plant and insect initiatives that will support our growers around the world,” said Frank Terhorst, global head of Bayer CropScience’s Seeds business unit. “We look forward to beginning development of our newly acquired land with the construction on GH1, and to enhancing the work of our employees and the quality of life for those who depend on our growers’ products.”
The completed GH1 will include several sustainable and environmentally friendly features designed by international architecture and engineering firm Clark Nexsen. These include a rainwater collection system for greenhouse plant irrigation; low flow, sensored plumbing fixtures; occupant sensored lighting; daylight harvesting; MERV 13 filters to improve indoor air quality; an HVAC energy management system; and reflective roofing to reduce the building’s heat intake.
GH1 is the latest in a series of recent investments in the RTP area, including a $2.1 million, 6,000-square-foot North American Bee Care Center, which opened in April of this year. Other investments include $16.1 million in renovations and remodeling of the Development North America facility, with 40,000 square feet of space dedicated to crop protection and environmental science research; $33 million in renovations to the North American headquarters, scheduled to be completed in 2015; and the purchase of 70 acres of land adjacent to the North American and global Seeds headquarters to accommodate the GH1 project and other future growth.
“Our newest greenhouse is the latest in a series of sustainable innovations that reinforce our commitment to growing along with the greater Triangle area and improving the lives of people in the communities we serve,” said Blome. “The high-level research and development enhanced through GH1 will not only allow us to continue to produce solutions for our growers, but will also help us to leave a better world through our leadership in the agriculture and bioscience industries.”
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Bayer CropScience is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer CropScience representative, or visit Bayer CropScience online at www.bayercropscience.us.
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About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, has annual sales of EUR 8,819 million (2013) and is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an outstanding range of products including high value seeds, innovative crop protection solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action as well as an extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of products and services to control pests from home and garden to forestry applications. The company has a global workforce of 22,400 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.press.bayercropscience.com.
Contact:
Bayer CropScience Media Hotline, 1-877-879-6162, or
Becca Hogan
External Communications
Bayer CropScience
Tel: (919) 549-2998
Email: becca.hogan(at)bayer(dot)com
Jennifer Fair
MMI Public Relations
Tel: (919) 233-6600
Email: jennifer(at)mmipublicrelations(dot)com
USA-BCS-2014-0146
Find more information at www.bayercropscience.us.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
