After months of negotiations that included the passage of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement by Town Meeting last month, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, the parent company of Keurig, has decided to move its headquarters from Reading to Burlington. 

As reported by Patch, Town Meeting members voted 93 to 7 to approve the Tax Increment Financing agreement with the town that would save the company an estimated $3,256,352 over 15 years in an attempt to lure the company to Burlington during the annual May Town Meeting.

Town leaders supported the TIF agreement for a variety of reasons.

As reported, Keurig representatives have stated, and Town Administrator Robert Mercier confirmed to Town Meeting, the planned relocation of the company headquarters to Burlington is expected to bring benefits for the community.

First, the relocation wold mean that between 400 to 500 current, well-paid employees would be in town spending money in Burlington businesses.

Second, Keurig also plans to hire 400 to 500 new employees over the next four to five years. In the presentation last week, Keurig VP of Finance John Heller said jobs will be advertised to qualified Burlington residents first if the company were to come to town.

The following is a release on the headquarters move issued by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters today:

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. today announces the relocation of its Massachusetts-based Keurig business unit to an office complex in Burlington, Mass. The newly leased location will provide the increased square footage required to support the Company’s expanding innovation efforts and new product development capabilities.

"Based on the continued growth of our business and the strategic opportunities we see to pursue innovations in categories adjacent to our current single-serve products, it was essential to find a location that could support our current and anticipated growth,” said Michelle Stacy, president of GMCR’s Keurig business unit.  “This new campus will enable us to consolidate our resources in a single location, allowing for even greater collaboration among our functional teams while, at the same time, giving us the ability to greatly enlarge and improve space dedicated to research and development.”

The new campus will be located in the area of 63 South Avenue in Burlington. The relocation from the Company’s three existing Massachusetts facilities in Reading, Wakefield and Woburn is anticipated to take place in phases over the next several years. GMCR currently has 519 employees in Massachusetts.

“In addition to enabling the expansion of our research and development capabilities, the design and layout of the new Burlington-based campus will provide an atmosphere that strengthens the underpinnings of the GMCR culture, as well as the Keurig^® brand, by fostering closer teamwork and providing for space dedicated to the ongoing training and education of our employees, a critical facet of GMCR’s culture and philosophy,” said Stacy.

In addition to its current Massachusetts locations, GMCR has research and development facilities in Waterbury, Vermont and Montreal, Quebec. GMCR also operates production and distribution facilities in Castroville, Calif.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Essex, Waterbury and Williston, Vt.; Sumner, Wash.; Toronto, Ontario; and, Montreal, Quebec and is in the process of beginning production at a new facility in Windsor, Va.

For two consecutive years, Keurig has been named one of the Top Places to Work in Massachusetts in the annual employee-based survey from The Boston Globe. 

About Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR)

As a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR), is recognized for its award-winning coffees, innovative Keurig® Single Cup brewing technology, and socially responsible business practices.  GMCR supports local and global communities by offsetting 100 percent of its direct greenhouse gas emissions, investing in sustainably-grown coffee, and donating at least five percent of its pre-tax profits to social and environmental projects.