A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Jim Winter
IAMC Chair

It is the day after one of the top five snowstorms ever recorded on the East Coast. As I sit in my home office looking at the amount of snow all around me, I realize how lucky I am to be surrounded by neighbors, and I begin to contemplate what a neighborhood actually is — people helping each other during times of extraordinary circumstances.

Now I know most of my neighbors primarily through my children — soccer and football games, gymnastics, cheerleading practice and other school functions. I see them on the street walking their dogs or cutting the grass, and we always take time to say hello and exchange a few words.

When the snow came, its sheer volume prevented me from keeping up with clearing my driveway and walkway. Two of my neighbors helped me clear these areas, which saved me hours and hours of work, not to mention the wear and tear on my snow blower. After I had thanked them for their kindness I wondered what I could do for them to show my gratitude.

I then thought about what I was going to do with all of the time saved. Why, surf the Web, of course. As I browsed from my cozy confines, I saw a great amount of information related to the Golden Globe, SAG and Grammy Award winners, commentary and speculation on who or what movie would win Academy Awards and, since this was Super Bowl Sunday, whether the Colts or Saints would become World Champions. But what sort of award would best recognize my neighbors for helping me in my time of need?

At IAMC we have a number of ways to recognize individuals and companies for going above and beyond the call of duty. One in particular is the Michael P. Hickey Award, which honors service providers who exemplify the spirit of IAMC. Individuals to be considered must:

uphold the highest standards of ethics and integrity in their profession;
strongly believe in giving back to their industry;
work to make this world a better place;
be mentors within the profession;
be stalwart ambassadors for IAMC.

This award will be presented for the first time at the Spring 2010 Forum in Colorado Springs, Colo. Also at the Spring Professional Forum, Site Selection — our official publication — will recognize its Top Economic Development Groups for 2009, some of which might be IAMC members. In the meantime, Site Selection and IAMC are refining and preparing to reintroduce the Excellence in Corporate Real Estate Awards at the Fall 2010 Professional Forum in Hot Springs, Va. Watch for more on these awards in the coming months.

All of these awards are opportunities for each and every one of us to nominate those who have shown creativity, flexibility and a "get it done" attitude during difficult economic times in their respective fields. What a great way for each of us to make known to the corporate real estate industry those who have made an impact and are advocates of change.

By the way, I knew the Saints would win. And my neighbors really appreciated sharing my beer as we watched the Super Bowl.

Jim Winter
IAMC Chair

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From Site Selection magazine, March 2010

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Haiti Response and Resilience

any IAMC member organizations and their employees have donated generously to the people of Haiti in the wake of the January earthquake, including PepsiCo's donation of $1 million as well as many of its food and beverage products. Some had corporate real estate and work force recovery to contend with: Hanesbrands announced Jan. 22 that production had resumed at its Haitian contract sewing operations affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake, putting hundreds of employees back to work as the country tries to rebuild its economy. In addition to setting up a staging operation in the Dominican Republic to supply necessities, the company is donating more than $3 million in earthquake aid in the form of cash, basic necessities, the company's men's and women's underwear products, and 2,000 family-sized tents to employees of its contract sewing operations in Haiti.

Hanesbrands has three primary T-shirt sewing operations in Haiti, and all three had at least partial production under way as of Jan. 22, having been inspected by engineers and cleared for resumed production and safe occupancy. Production at one of the plants located near the Dominican Republic was not affected by the earthquake, and initial production at the two operations near Port-au-Prince resumed Jan. 22, with all employees expected to be back to work by the first week of February. The company has two primary sewing contractors in Port-au-Prince, each of which had production suspended because of the Jan. 12 earthquake. Virtually all of the 3,200 contractor employees who worked on Hanesbrands T-shirt sewing are back at work.

"Our contractors have done heroic work, supplying food and humanitarian aid to workers, getting their operations functional again and putting employees back to work," said Gerald Evans, Hanesbrands' president, international business and global supply chain. "We are proud of the efforts of our contract partners and the outpouring of support from Hanesbrands employees around the world, including in the Caribbean basin, Central America and North America. We are committed to getting these Haiti contract employees back on their feet. In addition to ongoing food, shelter and humanitarian aid, one of the most important things we can do is to get employees back to work to provide stability in their lives and a source of income."

Gold Medals All Around on Silver Anniversaries

Frito-Lay’s headquarters in Plano, Texas (above) and its snack food facility in Casa Grande, Ariz., are both celebrating their silver anniversaries with LEED-Gold designations.

Photo courtesy of Frito-Lay

wo months after its 25-year-old Plano, Texas, headquarters became the first Texas facility to achieve LEED-EB Gold certification and only the 12th corporate headquarters in the nation to do so, Frito-Lay's 25-year-old facility in Casa Grande, Ariz., in December become the first food manufacturing site in the nation to be awarded LEED-EB Gold from the U.S. Green Building Council.

"There are many challenges to retrofitting a 25-year-old building to meet LEED EB Gold standards," said George Guck, director of facilities and corporate Services, Frito-Lay North America, in Plano. "Constructing a building from the ground up allows you to be more thoughtful about the sustainable choices you make, but it's extremely challenging to retrofit a 25-year-old building to make it more environmentally friendly," said Jason Gray, technical manager, Frito-Lay Casa Grande.

Among the highlights at the 188,000-sq.-ft. (17,465-sq.-m.) Casa Grande facility where 300 employees make snack foods:

Energy reduction: The Casa Grande facility has reduced its energy consumption by nearly 20 percent since 2006 by installing a heat recovery system that preheats cooking oil on the production line, skylights to supplement lighting systems in office areas and high efficiency ovens.
Water reduction: The Casa Grande facility has introduced water-efficient landscaping with native plants and water-saving technologies in the manufacturing line to decrease the site's usage by 17 percent since 2006.
Recycling: The Frito-Lay Casa Grande site won Innovations Credits from the USGBC for its Zero Landfill recycling program. As of September 2009, more than 99 percent of the facility's wastes were diverted from landfills. The site achieves this milestone through many initiatives including a stellar employee-led recycling program, reusing cardboard shipping boxes multiple times, and allocating waste product for use in animal feed.

In Plano, a solar thermal water heating system used to heat all hot water at the headquarters has reduced energy consumption by 130,000 kilowatt-hours (KWH); new chillers have reduced annual energy consumption by 975,000 KWH; and new lighting control systems are saving 266,000 KWH per year. Meanwhile, more than 70 percent of the company's wastes are diverted from the landfill.

Another IAMC member firm, Caterpillar, has received its own LEED-EB Gold certification for operations and maintenance at its world headquarters in Peoria, Ill. (pictured above). It is the first Illinois facility outside Chicago to earn the LEED-EB designation, and the second in the Caterpillar portfolio to do so, after its financial center in Nashville, Tenn., earned the honor in April 2009. Highlights include:

Decreased energy consumption by 40 percent through improved control systems, operating methods, and lighting automation;
A new irrigation system for all landscaped areas resulting in a 50-percent water use reduction;
New green cleaning and pest management programs;
Leveraging Caterpillar's purchasing and recycling practices to reduce the environmental impact of materials used, and conducting waste stream audits to drive continuous improvement efforts.

Avon Moves Its Headquarters

Designed in the International Style by Swiss-born architect William Lescaze, 777 Third Avenue was built in 1963 by current landlord the William Kaufman Organization.

Photo courtesy of CB Richard Ellis

von Products, Inc., has moved its North America headquarters from more than four floors on the Avenue of the Americas to 246,500 sq. ft. (22,900 sq. m.) on 10 floors at 777 Third Ave. in Midtown New York. Expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2011, the move of 900 associates came about through a 15-year lease brokered jointly by CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield on behalf of Avon.

"We are very pleased to relocate our North America headquarters to 777 Third Avenue," said Geralyn Breig, senior vice president and president, Avon North America. "This well-situated mid-town location affords us a significant moment in today's market to reduce occupancy costs, while at the same time enabling us to create more contemporary, collaborative and efficiently designed office space for our associates. Along with these benefits, we're also very excited with the outstanding opportunities we'll have to create signage and branding to showcase Avon's image."

Traffic Increases

he IAMC.org Web site saw an increase in traffic of 113 percent between 2008 and 2009, to 132,949 unique visitors. Total visits increased by 102 percent, to 228,662.