Canon U.S.A. Signs Agreement for Melville, N.Y. Site for New Corporate Headquarters

Digital Imaging Leader to Continue its 35-Year Relationship with the Long Island Community and 50-year Relationship with New York State

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y.– Canon U.S.A., Inc., today announced that the Company has finalized an agreement to purchase 52 acres of land in Melville, New York, to build a new, state-of-the-art corporate headquarters and remain on Long Island. The purchase of the land was made from The Holiday Organization, a Long Island-based commercial and residential real estate developer, and the Tilles Companies.

“Canon has been a proud member of the Long Island community for more than 35 years, and we look forward to remaining an active and growing part of the community for years to come,” said Joe Adachi, president and chief executive officer for Canon U.S.A., Inc. "The support of the New York and Long Island communities has been tremendous as our company has grown and matured over the years. These communities have been and will continue to be the foundation for Canon’s current and future success in the Americas, providing us with a base for our talented and quality workforce.

“Over the years, we have had outstanding relationships with state officials and representatives in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties. We greatly appreciate the efforts made by the state, both counties and town officials to help us remain on Long Island,” added Adachi. “We specifically thank the hard work and personal involvement of Governor Eliot Spitzer, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, Huntington Town Supervisor Frank Petrone, Huntington Councilman Mark Cuthbertson and Empire State Development Corp./Downstate Chairman Pat Foye.”

“We applaud Canon’s commitment to Long Island and to New York State. It is an affirmation of the company’s loyalty to the community and the state’s dedication to preserving and attracting well-paying jobs,” Governor Eliot Spitzer said.

“We are pleased that we were able to contribute to the package of incentives that helped sway Canon’s decision to stay in New York, preserving 1,100 jobs and adding 750 more over the next five years. Decisions by companies such as Canon to expand in New York send the critical message that New York is once again a welcoming place to do business,” said Pat Foye, chairman of Empire State Development Corp./Downstate.

“We are happy to have helped secure the largest number of jobs for Suffolk County since Computer Associates in the 1980s,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. “Canon will be bringing to the region quality jobs, upon which people can build careers and take root in Suffolk County.”

“We are pleased to welcome Canon U.S.A. to the Town of Huntington. Our beautiful and diverse municipality has everything to offer Canon, and this outstanding global corporation’s presence in Huntington will in turn provide unquantifiable economic benefits to our area and its residents,” stated Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone. “Canon’s move to Huntington, along with our individual and collective efforts to make this happen, will remain a success story for years to come. For now, we look forward to a long and productive partnership.”
“The financial windfall that Canon provides to our local economy is infinite,” remarked Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, one of the key brokers of the partnership between the Town of Huntington and the corporate giant. “According to a recent cost-benefit analysis, the sheer impact of its presence means the injection of $459 million into our Town and the creation of 6,678 jobs in fields that range from construction and manufacturing to administration and health care. This is a win-win situation for everyone involved and in every sense, our alliance with Canon is a tribute to productive cooperation between local government and the private sector. ”

The site for the new Canon U.S.A. headquarters is located just off of the Long Island Expressway at Exit 49. The site is bordered by the Long Island Expressway service road on the North and Walt Whitman Road on the East.

Canon currently employs more than 1,000 on Long Island and occupies nearly 400,000 square feet of office space in Lake Success. It is expected that the new location will allow Canon to substantially expand its office space, depending on the final approved design and plan.

Canon U.S.A. began in 1955 with five employees as the New York branch of an up-and-coming camera company. Today, the company is a global imaging brand leader that every American looks to for consumer and business innovations and technologies. Canon has been a fixture in the Long Island community since 1971 when the company moved its headquarters to Lake Success, N.Y., from Woodside, Queens, N.Y. When Canon moved to Long Island in the 1970s, the Company employed approximately 80 people.

Canon U.S.A. Corporate Headquarters is responsible for more than 10,000 employees in 35 facilities across North, Central and South Americas.

In addition to having its Corporate Headquarters on Long Island, Canon has been active in the community supporting a number of local activities. For example, Canon has been a sponsor of The American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Walk for Breast Cancer,” held every fall at Jones Beach. Canon has also been a sponsor of the Eisenhower Park Summertime Concert Series for more than 17 years, and a sponsor of the Boomer Esiason Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and its New York-area high school all-star classic since 1996. Also, one of the leading and most visible environmental initiatives in the U.S. is the Canon Clean Earth Crew. Through this program, Canon employees volunteer their time for conservation efforts at local parks, beaches and nature preserves.