Influx

It would be easy to think of chewing gum as a fairly conservative product category with little need for innovation. For the market leader, Wrigley, nothing could be further from the truth. The company is committed to innovation. Since 2001, new products have contributed at least 20% to annual sales.

Last year, the company confirmed its comittment to innovation by opening a $45 million Global Innovation Center.

This 193,000 sq ft center is all about enabling innovation and creativity.

Some of the features of the new building include:

- Flexible office space designed with collaboration in mind- lab and office spaces can easily be re-configured
- The facility is equipped with the latest technology with wireless connectivity, Voice over IP, and video conferencing technology.
- Meeting rooms, break rooms, rest rooms, and copy areas are scattered among the departments facilitating circulation and maximizing interaction.
- Labs and offices in the main building have a direct connection to a 40,000-sf pilot plant, located on the tip of Goose Island, which enables Wrigley to scale up from lab-size batches to commercial production of new products.

It’s interesting that Wrigley is placing innovation at the center of the company’s future growth plans. The Center is an irrefutable action that single handedly demonstrates commitment to employees and the competition.

Innovation can be talked about, but a specially designed $45 million center makes sure it happens. Given the critical importance of innovation to corporate America, this type of center might emerge as the new model for a corporate HQ, placing innovation in the heart of the company, not in a remote location.