Exhibit 99.2
CONTACT: Eli Sayegh
Director of Investor Relations of
Bell Microproducts, Inc.
408-451-1685, or
ir@bellmicro.com
Bell Microproducts to Locate New Corporate Technology Center in Montgomery,
Alabama; Over 300 to Be Employed
SAN JOSE, Calif., July 6/PRNewswire/ -- Bell Microproducts, Inc. (Nasdaq: BELM,
news, msgs) a leading international value-added distributor of storage,
semiconductor and computer products and services, today announced plans to
establish a new Corporate Technology Center in Montgomery, Alabama. The facility
is expected to begin operations in October, 2000, and will include high
technology positions in sales, applications engineering, technical support,
credit administration, information technology and other support functions. The
center will employ over 300 people during the next three years.
Montgomery Operation
Bell Microproducts selected Montgomery, Alabama, for the site of the new
Corporate Technology Center after an extensive evaluation of locations in the
Central and Mountain Time zones.
"Our objective was to find a site central to our North American businesses, said
Donald Bell, president and CEO of Bell Microproducts." Availability of a quality
workforce, proximity to local college and university resources, a competitive
business climate and quality of life were all important factors in our decision
process. Alabama clearly outpaced other locations after evaluating its overall
social and economic factors."
"Bell Microproducts' revenues over the past five years have grown at a compound
annual rate of over 35%," Bell added. "The significant growth of the Internet
and other information technology infrastructures has created an increased demand
for our storage and semiconductor products and solutions. With out geographic
expansion throughout the Americas and Europe, and our strategic thrust into
storage systems, we believe Bell Microproducts is poised for continued strong
growth. We will establish the Montgomery technology center as a central focal
point in the development and support of our corporate initiatives."
The Company will immediately begin to staff sales and sales support, customer
service, applications engineering technical support, field engineering, credit,
information technology, operations, web development and marketing, application
developers and network and PC technicians.
"We are looking for aggressive, energetic people who seek a career with a
fast-paced, high-growth, industry-leading technology company," stated Gary
Gammon, senior vice president of the computer products sales division of Bell
Microproducts.
Bell Microproducts has worked closely with the Alabama Industrial Development
Training (AIDT) organization to develop a recruiting and training program to
meet the staffing needs of the Company.
"We are very pleased with the AIDT organization and the benefits associated with
developing this program," commented Bell. "AIDT will assist Bell Microproducts
in fulfilling its staffing and training requirements, ensuring that a strong
group of potential employees are available to the company. In addition, a robust
offering of progressive high technology positions will be available in the
Montgomery area.
"Locating in Montgomery offers numerous advantages to the Company, including the
availability of potential employees across a five county area and the local
college and university excellence deliver an abundant talent pool from which to
draw," Bell continued. "The Company expects to achieve productivity and cost
benefits from the economies of scale associated with the growth of the
Technology Center.
Corporate Data Center
The Montgomery operations will also house Bell Microproducts' new corporate data
center. This state-of-the-art facility will be the computing nerve center for
Bell Microproducts' North American operations, in addition to serving as the hub
for global voice and data communications. The activation of the new data center,
by year-end, will also signal the completion of the Company's
disaster-recovery/business resumption plan. Facilities in San Jose will provide
complete computing and network redundancy to the Montgomery center.
"The world class data center in Montgomery will provide the bandwidth, computing
horsepower, technical resources and reliability needed to stay ahead of the
Company's ongoing expansion into global markets," said Bob Sturgeon, CIO, Bell
Microproducts.
During the evaluation process, Bell Microproducts worked closely with a number
of individuals and organizations to ensure Montgomery was the right location.
"Governor Siegelman and his staff, State Treasurer Lucy Baxley, the Economic
Development Partnership of Alabama, Mayor Bright and his office, the Montgomery
Chamber of Commerce, and the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) all worked
successfully and professionally to assist in our requirements," added Bell.
Bell also commented, "We are bringing high-technology jobs to the Montgomery
area and believe this is a sign of things to come. The demand for high tech
employees across the U.S. requires innovative, high-growth, technology companies
to look at geographical locations that can help sustain their growth. We believe
that Alabama is that location and are very pleased to be locating here."
The Bell Microproducts Corporate Technology Center will be located on two floors
in the RSA Tower at 201 Monroe Street in downtown Montgomery.
"We believe this site will be very attractive to our future employees and the
building has the capacity to support our future expansion," Gammon commented.
Gammon has been appointed the senior Bell Microproducts executive at the
Montgomery operation and will relocate from San Jose to Montgomery.
Gammon, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, added, "I'm very excited about
returning to Alabama to lead this operation for Bell Microproducts. This is a
win-win for both Bell Microproducts and Montgomery."
Individuals interested in further information regarding employment at the new
Bell Microproducts Corporate Technology Center may contact either the Alabama
Industrial Development Training (AIDT) Department at 334-242-4158 or Dick
Jacquet, vice president of human resources for Bell Microproducts, at 1941
Ringwood Ave., San Jose, CA 95131 or via e-mail at djacquet@bellmicro.com.
About Bell Microproducts
Bell Microproducts is a value-added provider of a wide range of high technology
products, solutions and services to the industrial and commercial marketplace.
The company's offering includes semiconductors, computer platforms, peripherals
and storage products of various types including desktop, high-end computer and
storage subsystems, Fibre Channel connectivity products, RAID, NAS and SAN
storage systems and back-up products. Bell Microproducts is an
industry-recognized specialist in storage products and is one of the world's
largest storage-centric value-added distributors, with 1999 revenues in excess
of $1 billion, an increase of 84% over 1998. Including the pending acquisition
of UK-based Ideal Hardware, sales are expected to approach $2 billion in 2000.
The Company's products are available at any level of integration from
components, to subsystem assemblies, to fully integrated, tested and certified
system solutions. The Company adds value with a broad range of services
including testing, software loading, kitting, mass storage system integration,
and computer system integration. Trained and certified technical personnel
complete each of these processes at Bell Microproducts' ISO 9002 facilities.
Bell Microproducts markets and distributes more than 100 brand name product
lines, as well as its own BellStor storage and Trademark (TM) computer brands,
to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), contract electronic manufacturing
services (EMS) customers, value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators in
the Americas and Europe. More information can be found in SEC filings, or by
visiting the Bell Microproducts Web site at www.bellmicro.com.
Safe Harbor Statement. This release may contain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company's current views of future
events and financial performance, involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties which could cause actual results or facts to differ materially
from such statements for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to:
industry conditions, changes in product supply, pricing, and customer demand,
competition, other vagaries in the computer and electronic components markets,
changes in relationships with key suppliers, ability to complete the acquisition
of Ideal Hardware, ability to successfully integrate the operations of Ideal and
other recently acquired businesses and the other risks and information described
from time to time in the company's reports to the Securities and Exchange
Commission (including the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Current
Reports on form 8-K regarding this and other transactions). Investors should
take such risks into account when making investment decisions. Shareholders and
other readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. The company
undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking
statements.
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