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May 12, 1999 HP Spinoff Lands On Familiar Turf When Hewlett-Packard spins off its tests and measurements organization into a new unit currently dubbed "NewCo," the company will have a familiar site to call home: 395 Page Mill Road in Palo Alto, Calif. That's where HP founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard launched their first full-size factory in 1943. According to HP archivist Karen Lewis, the site selection--just a half-mile from the famous garage where Hewlett and Packard launched their company--was a natural for the new venture. "Palo Alto means a lot to NewCo," she says. "Really, the roots of Hewlett-Packard are the test and measurement roots." The original building was dubbed "The Redwood Building," after its primary construction material, which was more plentiful in the 1940s, Lewis says. In its early days, the building housed nearly every facet of HP's operations: administration, laboratory work, production, and shipping. Company archives even have photographs of after-work parties at the site. Says Lewis, "It was the whole thing in one building." NewCo won't be housed in the original building, however. Construction is under way on a new, four-story facility that's supposed to be completed by next spring. When completed, Lewis says, the lobby will contain a display explaining the history of the site--as well as NewCo's plans for its future. -- Dominick Calicchio |
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