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Published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on July 26, 2000. All rights

reserved.

Firmenich Expansion: Nearly Double

Firmenich, the flavors, fragrances, and chemicals firm

on Plainsboro Road, plans to expand 50 percent in the next three

years,

going from about 600 employees this year to an estimated 900 workers

in 2003.

"By the end of 2003 our current expansion plans call for an

increase

in our production and warehouse square footage of 118,000 feet,"

says John Layendecker, vice president/corporate secretary of

Firmenich.

"At the same time we are putting up a 115,000 foot

office/laboratory

research center and a garage with the potential for 800 spaces."

Firmenich currently has 14 R&D and manufacturing buildings totaling

388,276 square feet. This campus is the North American headquarters

of a century-old, family-owned firm based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The company went to Plainsboro’s planning board on Monday, July 17, to

present

a preliminary concept review of its expansion plans.

"We are trying to build the parking garage first, then the plant

expansion, followed by the perfume research labs and office

buildings,"

says Mike Koziel, vice president of logistics/operations. Of 1,124

planned parking spaces, 800 of them would be in the new three-level

45,000-foot parking garage.

Hillier Group architects Steve McDaniel and Peggy Fitzpatrick are

working on the project, with Fitzpatrick focusing on the new

four-story

115,000-foot R&D and office building (www.hillier.com). Additions will

also be made to

various sections of the current plant: the I building for flavors,

the 41,000-foot K perfume manufacturing facility, and the 17,000-foot

K-1 automated warehouse. A loading dock will also be added.

Firmenich has had an active building program on this campus: the most

recent addition is the flavor center built in 1997; it is a $10

million,

113,000 square foot stand-alone structure named after a retired family

member, George Firmenich. Nine members of the family currently work

in the business.