“We carefully considered a number of options and Arlington (County) hits all the right marks,” said Paul Grimwood, chairman/CEO of Nestle USA. “Not only is it attractive to our current employees while offering a great talent pool for the future, but this location allows us to be closer to our business operations, our customers and other important stakeholders.”
Dismayed Glendale officials said they only learned of the move recently from media reports, and they would have made every effort to convince the company to remain in their city.
The company will move its corporate headquarters to Rosslyn, Virginia, completing the transition by the end of next year.
Officials said 75 percent of its factories and 85 percent of its top customers are located in the eastern half of the United States. Company officials said Nestle will still have about 5,500 employees in California, with nine manufacturing facilities located in the state for products including Dreyer’s Ice Cream, Purina PetCare and Nestle Waters North America.
Glendale city officials said they would have been open to negotiating an agreement to keep Nestle, but “the city only became aware of their desire to move via media outlets such as the Washington Post, explaining their desire to be closer to their operations and `stakeholders in Washington and on Capitol Hill.”‘
The city cited published reports indicating there are 1,200 employees at Nestle’s Glendale offices, with 750 expected to transfer to Virginia, 300 expected to move to Ohio and the other 150 transferring to other facilities, primarily Purina offices in St. Louis.
“The dynamic California economy will be the major driver in absorbing those workers that decide not to move — it’s our economy that sets the pace for America,” according to the city. “For Glendale’s part, Nestle’s departure is seen as closing a chapter and opening doors to future opportunities to re- tenant the space with forward-looking businesses that have a bright future.”
The new Nestle headquarters will be in Rosslyn, just over the Key Bridge from Georgetown. The company will move into an office building at 1812 N. Moore St., which has sat vacant since construction finished nearly four years ago. A media report out of Virginia indicated the company will occupy up to 10 floors, and bring at least 700 employees.
The building is the tallest in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area.
Nestle, which has been described at times as the world’s biggest food company in terms of revenue, has its global headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland.
—City News Service