MORRISTOWN, N.J., Oct. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) announced that it will relocate its central New Jersey regional headquarters next year to the Bell Works complex, at 101 Crawfords Corner Road, in Holmdel, N.J.

JCP&L has signed a 10-year lease agreement with Somerset Development to occupy 64,000 square feet in Building One at the four-building Bell Works. The lease at the current JCP&L regional headquarters in Red Bank expires next year.

Nearly 200 JCP&L engineering, corporate billing, human resources, senior management, outage restoration, and support staff employees will be relocated from the current Red Bank facility to Bell Works by early summer next year.

"This move keeps our jobs, tax dollars, and ancillary support services in Monmouth County," said Jim Fakult, JCP&L president. "After reviewing multiple locations, the Bell Works site best met our needs with its proximity to our current headquarters and accessibility to the Garden State Parkway. The new location offers the modern office space needed to help our employees perform their jobs at a high level on behalf of our customers."

A key component of the relocation effort will be moving JCP&L's central region dispatch office from the Red Bank facility to Holmdel. System operators and support staff monitor the electric system and dispatch line personnel or substation workers, as needed, to restore service interruptions for customers in Burlington, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties.

"New Jersey's infrastructure and economy are powered in large part by JCP&L, and we're thrilled that they've found a new home at Bell Works," said Ralph Zucker, president of Somerset Development. "We hope this flexible, state-of-the-art workspace will provide an environment where JCP&L employees look forward to coming to work each day."

Bell Works, formerly Bell Labs, is Somerset Development's two-million-square-foot adaptive reuse initiative in Holmdel. Once the home of some of the most monumental technological innovations of the 20th century, Bell Works reimagines the historical building as a workplace of the future. Originally designed by renowned architect Eero Saarinen, including a timeless open-atrium scheme, the building served as an innovation headquarters for over 6,000 Bell Labs employees from 1962 to 2007. Today, it's being revived as a dynamic 'metroburb,' complete with a blossoming ecosystem of technology, traditional office, retail, dining and hospitality. For more information on Somerset Development go to www.SDNJ.com.

JCP&L is a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE). JCP&L serves 1.1 million New Jersey customers in the counties of Burlington, Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren. Follow JCP&L on Twitter @JCP_L, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JCPandL or online at www.jcp-l.com.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. Visit FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.

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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.