Stihl Inc. announces new administration facility to accommodate planned growth

Rendering of the new Stihl Inc. administration facility

Stihl Inc., headquarters for U.S. operations of the worldwide Stihl Group, announced October 17 that it is moving forward with plans to expand its Virginia Beach, Va.-based facility with a more than $25-million investment in a new administration building and other campus improvements.

Construction of the state-of-the-art, 80,000-square-foot facility is part of the company’s commitment to continual investment in infrastructure projects in support of growing U.S. operations. The new building will combine the sales & marketing, finance & controlling, legal, and customer & technical service teams under one roof. It will also house a brand experience and customer welcome center.

“Stihl Inc. has enjoyed strong year-over-year growth in our sales, as well as our manufacturing operations,” said Bjoern Fischer, president of Stihl Inc. “While the current structure has served us well for the last 40-plus years, the new building will improve administrative operational efficiency, allowing us to better serve our network of 9,000 independent servicing dealers and their customers.”

Since its inception in 1974, Stihl’s Virginia Beach facility has grown from a single, 20,000-square-foot rented warehouse to more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing and administration space on more than 150 acres of land. This growth has been strongly supported by Stihl’s positive, long-standing, partnership with the city of Virginia Beach.

“The city of Virginia Beach has been an ideal business partner,” added Fischer. “For over 40 years, the city has continued to create a positive economic environment for manufacturers like Stihl, supporting our continued growth and expansion.”

Virginia Beach-based Hourigan Construction — a firm with extensive experience in construction management, and specifically, corporate headquarters facilities — has been selected as the general contractor for the project. Another Hampton Roads company, HBA Architecture Interior Design, was selected as the lead architect. Virginia Beach-based Ingenuity Development will serve as the owner’s representative.

“We look forward to this terrific opportunity to build a strong relationship with an exceptional organization that understands its people are the company’s strongest and most important assets,” said Chris Brandt, executive vice president of Hourigan Construction. “It’s important to us that our core company values align with those of our clients, and we are pleased to affiliate ourselves with Stihl. We are eager to bring our unparalleled experience to the forefront for this important and exciting project.”

The groundbreaking is set for early 2018, with a target move-in date in 2019. Employees working in the current administration building will temporarily move to Stihl-owned office space at the International Industrial Center (formerly Lillian Vernon).

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