LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS TO LOCATE CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS IN DENVER METROPOLITAN AREA
Company Selects 46 Acre Site for Campus at Interlocken Park In Broomfield
More Than 2,000 Jobs Projected For Location
Denver, Colorado, February 19, 1998 -- Colorado Governor Roy Romer and James Q. Crowe, President and CEO of Level 3 Communications, Inc., a telecommunications and information services company, today jointly announced the site for the company's new corporate headquarters at the Interlocken business park in Broomfield, Colorado -- a northwest suburb of Denver. The announcement was made at a press conference in the Governor's office and was attended by dignitaries and senior company executives.
"I was very pleased to learn that the Denver metropolitan area was ultimately chosen as the location for Level 3's world headquarters," said Governor Romer. "This move will further underscore Denver's and Colorado's stature as a national center for high-technology firms.
"Additionally, this will serve to strengthen educational opportunities available as local schools seek to prepare their students for careers with Level 3 and other high technology oriented companies that are locating here," said Governor Romer.
Level 3 President and CEO James Q. Crowe said, "We see a great opportunity in Colorado for us to grow Level 3 into a major telecommunications company. The support we have received from the State, Boulder County and City of Broomfield has helped make this project possible. Beyond that, there were a number of factors that led to this decision. We were looking for a city with an international airport and a city of sufficient size to provide the infrastructure and services our growing employee base will need. But, perhaps most importantly, we were looking for a city that would make it possible for us to attract and retain the highly specialized work force we need including computer specialists, network and electrical engineers, and other technical specialists," said Crowe.
"Recognizing that there are not enough of these specialists to meet the strong demand for their expertise, we worked with outside experts to survey the work force. It's fair to say that our potential employees led us to Denver. The surveys cited the life style, natural beauty, climate and opportunities for employees to continue their technical education among the attributes of Denver. These attributes are especially attractive to a company such as ours that intends to grow by attracting talented individuals not only from Denver but across the nation," said Crowe.
Level 3 Strategy
Noting that the company intends to build a new national telephone network based on Internet technology, Crowe explained, "There is a fundamental shift occurring today that will affect how businesses communicate -- an economic change as fundamental as that from the mainframe to the PC. That is the shift from traditional telephone technology to Internet based communications.
"Driving that shift are the dramatic and compelling economics made possible by Internet technology. This new technology simply makes it less expensive to operate and use a network--a lot less expensive--than traditional hundred-year old, telephone networks. As far as I know, we are the only organization with a business plan that includes building a national network--both local and long distance--from the ground up, incorporating Internet technology end-to-end, so our business customers can fully benefit from the many advantages of this new communications system."
About The New Facility
Level 3 has acquired 46 acres in the Northwest corner of the Interlocken office park and will build a campus facility that is expected to eventually encompass over 500,000 square feet of office space. The new facility will house an estimated 2,000 employees, many of whom will be recruited from the Denver area. Interlocken, within the City of Broomfield and within Boulder County limits, is about midway between Boulder and Denver. The office park is bounded by major regional highways and limited access highways including the Denver-Boulder Turnpike, U.S. 287 (Wadsworth Parkway), Colorado Highway 128 and the future Northwest Parkway.
At today's press conference, the Mayor of Broomfield, Bill Berens said, "We certainly echo the Governor's comments, in that we are very pleased that Level 3 has selected Broomfield as the community to locate its corporate headquarters. In terms of construction alone, the project represents approximately a $70 million investment in our community and solidifies the area as an outstanding location for some of the leading companies in Colorado."
Level 3 is currently headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska -- where its parent company, Peter Kiewit Sons', Inc., and Level 3's existing subsidiary operations will remain and will continue to grow and create jobs. One of the subsidiaries of Level 3 is PKS Information Services (PKSIS), which assists corporations in updating and structuring their systems to take advantage of the new Internet technology. This is a significant competitive advantage for Level 3, because it will make it possible for those corporate customers to move seamlessly to Level 3's Internet-based network. PKSIS also provides computer outsourcing and systems integration services to business customers, and employs approximately 1,000 employees.
Level 3 expects to relocate a small group of executives and their staffs from Omaha to the Denver area.
A larger group will also be moving from the Chicago area. However, the majority of employee growth expected will come from new employees drawn from the existing Denver base and elsewhere around the country.
Level 3 anticipates using some temporary office space in the Denver area while its headquarters campus is under construction. Construction is expected to get under way this spring with completion of the first phase of the campus complex expected in the second quarter of 1999.
Level 3 Communications, Inc. is a telecommunications and information services company that has announced its plans to build and operate an advanced fiber network across the U.S. based on Internet technology. Level 3 will focus primarily on the business market using its network to provide a full range of communications services -- including local, long distance and data transmission as well as other enhanced services and Internet access services. Plans also call for the company to expand internationally. Level 3's World Wide Web address is www.L3.com.
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