Story ID: 671BellNBAA12NM
Bell Breaks Ground on New HQ
By: Mark Huber
Caption: 
Word Count: 259
Bell Helicopter broke ground October 15 on its new Fort Worth, Tex. headquarters building. 
  
Bell’s new, energy-efficient 210,000-sq-ft headquarters will house administration, support functions, program offices, a customer center and an integrated training facility. The Bell Helicopter training facility, currently located at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, will be moved to the new global headquarters. 
  
The new building is part of a $1 billion research and development initiative announced by the company last year that includes $230 million worth of facilities improvement designed to rid Bell of leased and widely scattered training, office and warehouse space across the greater Fort Worth area. The move creates more centralized, efficient and attractive facilities to provide employees with “a better, safer, more comfortable work environment, and to attract and retain the talented workforce needed to expand its business in Texas,” the company said. 
  
Bell’s building program is designed to consolidate more than 1.2 million square feet of excess space, reduce building maintenance costs and reduce 20 percent of the company’s waste and energy use by 2015. These changes are expected to save Bell Helicopter $19 million in annual operating expenses by improving coordination and collaboration and increasing cost-competitiveness.
  
Most of the new construction and refurbishment will take place on Bell’s 33-acre Fort Worth campus. Earlier this year the company opened a new 30,000-sq-ft employee center there that incorporates the use of natural lighting to save energy and efficient landscaping that requires 40 percent less water than traditional methods. Bell currently employs more than 6,000 people in North Texas.