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When Greatbatch Inc. officials dedicated a new $17.5 million manufacturing plant Monday morning, they hinted that another investment might be in the works.
But when pressed for details, they clammed up.
Thomas Hook, Greatbatch Inc.’s president and CEO, built expectations when talking about the company’s growth strategy that includes building the core business, making targeted acquisitions and creating new medical devices.
Greatbatch Medical, a subsidiary of Greatbatch Inc., designs and manufactures orthopedic instruments and devices. Customers include Biomet, Zimmer, DePuy Synthes, Stryker and Medtronic.
“We look forward to expanding here in the near future, and you’ll hear more about that soon,” Hook said under a white tent in front of the new building at 4545 Kroemer Road.
Mauricio Arellano, Greatbatch Medical’s president, fanned the flames of his boss’s remarks.
“Our strategy is about growth, so more to come,” he said with a smile.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony and first tour through the complex, Arellano said in a brief interview that the company expects “significant growth.”
The 80,000-square-foot structure dedicated Monday and announced in January 2011 was built for growth, officials said. Greatbatch Medical employs 120 now and plans to create about 75 new jobs with the operation’s move from 40,000 square feet of leased space in Columbia City.
The current operation doesn’t completely fill the Kroemer Road facility. And the building was designed to easily allow a 45,000-square-foot expansion, spokesman Christopher Knospe said. Greatbatch will fill the open space before building again, he said.
If someone had asked Hook three years ago to predict where the company’s newest plant at would be built, he would have said near the corporate offices near Buffalo, N.Y.
But Indiana officials’ aggressive attempts to win the project paid off, the Greatbatch president told elected officials, employees and invited guests. State and local organizations offered the company more than $3 million in incentives to build the plant in Allen County.
