From Today's BOSTON HERALD
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EMC stays on growth track
by Todd Wallack
Tuesday, May 18, 1999
Just months after it built a massive new manufacturing plant in Franklin, EMC Corp. plans to build up to 1.2 million square feet of engineering and office space in Massachusetts.
''That's a pretty substantial expansion - even in the scheme of (the state's) economic growth,'' said Joseph Alviani, president of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, a quasi-governmental economic research group.
EMC has filed an environmental impact statement that sketches out plans for 1 million square feet of office space on 156 acres it owns along the same road.
EMC, of Hopkinton, which builds large computer storage systems, confirmed it will build a 165,000-square-foot engineering facility on South Street in Hopkinton, opening in November.
EMC has long wanted to expand the property, but has been hindered by an inability to hook into town sewers. The company finally decided to build its own wastewater treatment plant.
EMC may wind up building less than 1 million feet of space, though. Spokesman Mark Frederickson said the plans filed with the government describe the ''full potential'' for the property.
Separately, EMC is close to securing approval from the town of Franklin to build a 204,000-square-foot building across the street from its new plant. Local officials expect EMC to construct the building in less than a year.
''It's my belief that they are expanding more quickly than they originally planned,'' said Franklin Town Administrator Ronald Owens. Again, however, EMC said it hasn't decided whether to go forward with the project.
EMC plans to formally detail some of its expansion plans on Friday, when Gov. Paul Cellucci tours the Franklin plant. In addition, the company has already said it plans to add at least 1,000 new jobs in the Bay State this year. EMC hired 1,200 workers last year. It now has about 4,200 workers in Massachusetts.
''They've been hiring like mad,'' said Joe Donovan, at the state's Economic Development office. ''They're certainly one of the fastest-growing tech companies in the state.''
Demand for EMC's high-end storage products has been booming. Analysts now liken it to other tech franchises like Cisco Systems Inc. and Oracle Corp. EMC's sales climbed 35 percent last year, to nearly $4 billion.
The growth isn't without problems, however.
Owens, the Franklin official, said it has increased traffic in the region. And businessmen and politicians have been grappling with managing such growth in the Western suburbs. One group tackling the issue is the I-495 Technology Corridor Initiative and Shared Solutions.
The Interstate 495 corridor, Alviani said, ''is now the fastest-growing part of the state ... The challenge is how you balance the accelerated growth with its impact ... on basic quality of life issues.''
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Steve |
