On an unusually warm and windy fall day, Endress+Hauser double-downed on their future in Greenwood.
Endress+Hauser and its sales and service partner, George E. Booth Co., broke ground Monday on an approximately 106,000-square-foot commercial office and light industry facility located west of Endress+Hauser’s Greenwood headquarters. The facility — dubbed the Endress+Hauser Innovation Center and George E. Booth Co. Headquarters — will house Endress+Hauser’s projects and solutions, human resources and legal departments, as well as a Design and Innovation Studio for early education and workforce development.
It will also house the new headquarters for Indianapolis-based George E. Booth Co., or G.E. Booth, the exclusive sales representative for Endress+Hauser in Indiana, along with parts of Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky. Construction of the facility — a $50.9 million investment — is expected to be completed in the summer of 2025.
“It marks the beginning of an exciting journey that I have no doubt will bring a positive impact and a long-lasting impact not only to our community but to Endress+Hauser as a whole and G.E. Booth as well,” said Marisol Sanchez, vice president of legal affairs and general counsel for Endress+Hauser.
The investment will bring an enhancement to education excellence when it comes to STEM opportunities for students, bring in new jobs and improve the local economy and infrastructure, Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said in remarks before Monday’s groundbreaking.
“[W]e’re celebrating an improvement in the quality of life for the community, and for making Greenwood a better place to live, work, play and stay,” Myers said.
Big investment, more jobs
Endress+Hauser, the Swiss-based operating process and laboratory instrumentation and automation supplier, is making the investment into the new facility for its customers, which shows its commitment to the U.S. market, said Todd Lucey, general manager for Endress+Hauser USA.
But it’s not just a commitment to its customers or to Greenwood, but also to their employees and to talent attraction, development and retainment, Lucey said.
“That’s a key part of what we’re trying to do,” he said.
G.E. Booth II, CEO and chairman of G.E. Booth’s board, said the facility cements the bond between the two companies.
“The other message it sends out to the competition is ‘Oh wow, they have this figured out.’ … When we go to market, we’re one team,” said Booth, whose father started the company 60 years ago.
The new facility is expected to house 190 employees over the next 10 years. Of these positions, 95 will be new to Johnson County, including 50 immediate jobs from the relocation of G.E. Booth. During the same time frame, Endress+Hauser plans to add 75 additional jobs and G.E. Booth plans to add 20 jobs, officials said.
Endress+Hauser previously came before the Greenwood City Council in January to ask for a 10-year, approximately $3.2 million tax abatement for the project. During the course of the abatement, the company is expected to pay nearly $33.8 million in taxes, according to city documents.
The tax break, which was approved unanimously by the city council, is not a traditional one. Most breaks usually start with 100% of taxes abated the first year, with the percentage going down to zero by year 10. Endress+Hauser’s abatement would be 50% across the board.
New roads would also be built to connect the facility to both Worthsville Road and U.S. 31, with the U.S. 31 connection utilizing the existing stoplight at Declaration Drive, documents show.
At the same time, Endress+Hauser revealed they had teamed up with Unicorp National Developments, Inc. to split up and purchase 70 acres of land located between their campus and U.S. 31 — including the land for the facility. Unicorp plans to develop the northwestern portion of the property, west of the new facility, into retail shops and restaurants, Endress+Hauser Deputy General Counsel Krista Taggart told the city council in January.
Community benefits
For Endress+Hauser’s Design and Innovation Studio, about 2,500 square feet will be dedicated to STEM, allowing K-8 educators to visit the company’s campus for field trips and extracurricular enrichment. In addition, the studio will house a smart classroom and maker space, Sanchez said.
In cooperation with Purdue Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center, or IN-MaC, students will be equipped with Industry 4.0 technology and other cutting-edge innovations. High school students also will have the opportunity to use the studio’s 3D printing, robotics, Spheros, Little Bits, engineering and science modules and coding tools, according to Endress+Hauser.
For G.E. Booth, the facility will allow their team to work with Endress+Hauser face-to-face every day. G.E. Booth will bring their executive, sales, finance and human resources to Greenwood, along with a warehouse, fabrication and panel shop, said Scott Young, the company’s president.
Ultimately, what they want is for customers to be able to come to the facility and see what both E+H and G.E. Booth can do together, Young said.
“What we see today is continuing to pursue large complex projects. It takes a lot of effort jointly between the two entities, and with the partners that are referenced, and we all work equally together,” he said.
Browning Day is handling the architectural design for the project, with landscape architecture and civil design led by Rundell Ernstberger Associates, or REA. The project will be constructed by Meyer Najem Construction of Fishers. Additional members of the design team include V3 Companies, Applied Engineering Services and Fink Roberts & Petrie, according to Endress+Hauser.
Sustainability focus
The facility will also boast several sustainable elements. Among them are geothermal heating and cooling, a solar panel-covered roof, rain gardens and permeable pavers, officials said.
“We’re really setting the building up for success,” said Paul Wolfe, a design architect for Browning Day.
Additionally, there will be an expansive native prairie, native plantings, pathways and trail connections to Endress+Hauser’s existing campus and the city’s trail network.
Architects have also designed the facility to have a “zero-discharge” stormwater design, meaning that roughly 50,000 gallons of stormwater will be diverted from Grassy Creek for every half-inch rainfall — the majority of rainfall events in the area — reducing flooding and associated damage throughout the community, said Kevin Osburn, a partner and landscape architect for REA.
These investments in green infrastructure showcase Endress+Hauser’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, which aligns with its brand value of sustainability, company officials said.
Endress+Hauser also said they have plans for the facility to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certified. LEED is an international standards organization for sustainable environmental architecture.
CORRECTION: 12:15 p.m. Nov. 9
Due to an error, a previous version of the story said the CEO and chairman of the George E. Booth Company’s board was G.E. Booth III. It is actually G.E. Booth II.
Also, a previous version contained a paragraph about the facility being the first and the largest Net Zero Energy and Net Zero Carbon building in Indiana. This was outdated information, and has since been updated with information about it being LEED certified.
