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| 4/9/2008 7:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| (L to R) Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and OrthoPediatrics co-founder Nick Deeter spoke Tuesday during an announcement that the company will add 100 jobs during the next four to five years. Photo by Jen Gibson, Times-Union |
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Local Firm Announces
Expansion, 100 Jobs
Jen Gibson
Times-Union Staff Writer
"It's always a good day when the governor comes to Warsaw," said Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins at a press conference outside OrthoPediatrics Corp. Tuesday afternoon.
Governor Mitch Daniels and Wiggins were present at the Warsaw business as OrthoPediatrics co-founder Nick Deeter officially announced the expansion of the company and the addition of about 100 new jobs in the next four to five years.
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Also, the company plans to build a $5 million facility in Warsaw within the next few years.
"We want to keep that Warsaw address," said Deeter, who added that Warsaw is well-known in the worldwide orthopedic industry. "Everyone in orthopedics knows where Warsaw is."
The company, which currently employs about 26 workers, designs orthopedic implants and devices for children and small adults. Although the idea for the company came about around 15 years ago, the company has been in business for about a year and a half. Its first product was approved by the FDA in January, and a second has received FDA approval as well.
"All great businesses start like this," said Daniels Tuesday afternoon outside OrthoPediatrics, 210 N. Buffalo St. "I am delighted to help launch this great company. ... This is a business that is destined to grow and grow."
OrthoPediatrics is responsible for the design of all the products they make. The company then outsources the actual production of the devices to local manufacturers such as Micropulse and Precimed in Columbia City, Symmetry Medical in Warsaw, and Mack Tools in South Bend. The company does not foresee building its own manufacturing facilities at this time.
"We are blessed with the industry we have here (in Warsaw)," said Wiggins. "I think you hit a home run here, and we want to be at the plate with you when you do that $5 million expansion. We want to be part of it."
The jobs that will be added to company include technical and managerial positions, engineering, professional management and scientists. According to Deeter, the jobs will be in the $75,000 to $150,000 pay range.
"We have to be competitive with highly paid talent in this field," Deeter said.
Deeter also said the company has grown "a lot faster than expected." The company has exceeded both sales and hiring projections in the past year.
While the company is privately owned and does not release sales projections, Deeter said that by the time the 100 employees are hired, he believes the company will have more than $100 million in sales.
"Even in a weak national economy, new growth is continuing in Indiana," Daniels said. "Our state's orthopedic industry, the best in the world, is a good example of a recession-resistant business cluster that wins globally even in times of economic slowdown."
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered the company $75,000 in training grants and $1.7 million in performance-based tax credits because of the company's job creation plans.
Wiggins said the city also would consider tax abatements for the company in the future.
"We know that more than $500 million of orthopedics products go into children here in the United States, many of which are the wrong product and originally designed for adults," Deeter said. "Research indicates the total global market is in the billions. Many of the innovations we have in development will change the way children with orthopedic conditions ar treated, with the goal of helping children get back to the business of being kids.
"The rich talent and manufacturing environment of Warsaw, and the generous support of the governor and his team at the IDEC greatly helps us achieve our mission."
"You guys have done it again here in Warsaw," Daniels said. "This company cannot lose."
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