THE FINNISH COMPANY’S FACILITY WILL BRING ROUGHLY 80 PEOPLE TO NORTH TEXAS
Finland-based KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, held the grand opening Monday for its newest U.S. facility in Allen.
![[Photo courtesy of KONE]](https://s24806.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/KONE-tower-220x300.jpg)
[Photo courtesy of KONE]
Located at 450 Century Parkway, KONE AllenPlace is the company’s first North American-based research and development center. Dallas Innovates recently reported on the center’s innovative technology features.
“This new facility is evidence of our commitment to that need. We’re investing in our supply chain infrastructure, research, and development, and importantly, in our people, so we can support our growing North American business,” Wash said.
The 173,952 square-foot facility houses KONE Americas’ supply operations, research, and development department, and other product and installation support functions. The facility also features a 128-foot-tall test tower with six elevator shafts to evaluate prototypes and new components before they go into production.
KONE provides innovative and eco-efficient solutions for elevators, escalators, and automatic building doors. Its objective is to enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably, and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment.
“As the world’s population continues to urbanize and move into cities, there’s a growing demand for taller, smarter buildings, and more innovative vertical transportation solutions.”-
Larry Wash
The facility is expected to bring as many as 80 jobs to Allen, in addition to roughly 250 KONE employees already working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Jussi Oijala, senior vice president at KONE, will serve as the site leader.
“The additional office space and improved testing facilities will accelerate our growth, and deliver innovative People Flow solutions for our customers,” Oijala said in a release.
“We’re extremely proud to be growing our research and development, along with manufacturing capabilities in Allen.”
The new KONE facility in Allen has a test tower. [Photo: Courtesy of KONE]
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