KONE announces grand opening of the KONE Centre in Moline, Illinois

LISLE, Ill., Aug. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- KONE Inc. is pleased to announce that the new KONE Centre in Moline – which is expected to achieve LEED Gold status based on leading environmental efforts – is now open. The centre is home to KONE's U.S. Operations, including nearly 250 Quad Cities' area employees.

"As one of the leading manufacturers in the elevator and escalator industry, we are proud to call the city of Moline our home, and we remain committed to supporting our employees who live and work in the area," said Larry Wash, KONE EVP and Area Director for the Americas.

The interior of the new facility was designed to support KONE's mission on employee engagement and customer focus.  The floor layout and choice of furnishings creates an atmosphere for great collaboration, while at the same time provides an opportunity for improved efficiency and support for our customers.

The project was designed to replace KONE's previous location at the historic KONE Tower in Moline. The new KONE Centre in Moline was constructed at a cost of more than $40 million and is a mixed-use development.

The development includes sustainable KONE products, including three KONE MonoSpace® Machine Room-Less elevators with Regenerative Drives and KONE Polaris™ Destination Control technology.

A combination of active and passive energy strategies includes an array of 1365 distributed solar panels, which is now the third largest in the state of Illinois.  By implementing a host of sustainable design features throughout the construction and planning process, the centre is expected to achieve LEED Gold status.

As part of the financing, $470,000 Community Renewable Energy Program American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds were allocated to this project. A ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce included Mr. Wash and dignitaries including IFA Executive Director, Chris Meister, representing Ill. Governor Pat Quinn, Mayor Don Welvaert, Congressman Bobby Schilling, State Senator Mike Jacobs and State Representative Rich Morthland was held on Thursday, Aug. 9th.

About KONE

KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. The company has been committed to understanding the needs of its customers for the past century, providing industry-leading elevators, escalators and automatic building doors as well as innovative solutions for modernization and maintenance. The company's objective is to offer the best People Flow™ experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. In 2011, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 5.2 billion and on average 35,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland.

www.kone.us

SOURCE KONE Inc.