[Image courtesy of Google Earth]
LISI Medical Remmele—a maker of minimally invasive surgical devices, spinal implants, and drug infusion, urologic and vascular components—plans to nearly double the size of its Big Lake, Minn. facility to 115,000 square feet, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development announced yesterday.
The news comes weeks after implantable device outsourcer Cirtec Medical said it is adding 30,000 square feet to its 54,000-square-foot plant in Brooklyn Park, Minn., which Cirtec acquired last year through its purchase of Stellar Technologies.
The 240-year-old LISI Group of France owns LISI Medical Remmele, employing 330 people in Big Lake and at a sister operation in Coon Rapids. The company plans to add another 19 jobs to its Big Lake facility, with the state government providing a $345,000 grant from the state Job Creation Fund to help pay for the project.
“With a $9.4 million investment, LISI Medical Remmele is making a strong commitment to Big Lake and strengthening the state’s position as a leader in the medical device sector,” DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy said in a news release. “More than 29,000 people work in this industry in Minnesota, making it a vital part of the state’s economy.”
Cirtec CEO Brian Highley had high praise for Minnesota when announcing the Stellar Technologies acquisition last year.
“The greater Twin Cities area has long been known as a major center for medical technology and device companies. A defining rationale for this acquisition is having access to the talented and well-educated workforce in the area, as well as providing continued support to our customers based here,” Highley said.
Cirtec officials expect to complete the Brooklyn Park expansion by the end of the year. The new space will include additional cleanroom space, new office areas, engineering labs and other engineering services. The expansion will boost Cirtec’s manufacturing capacity for precision machining and medical device assembly. Highley in a news release spoke of the goal of creating a “center of excellence for neurostimulation leads and low-volume, high-mix minimally invasive surgical device assembly.”
Besides Minnesota, Cirtec recently opened 38,000-square-foot facility in Enfield, Conn., as well as operations in Los Gatos, Calif.. The company specializes in outsourcing services for active implantable devices in the areas including neuromodulation and neurostimulation, drug delivery, cardiac rhythm management, ventricular assist and minimally invasive surgical devices.
Other Minnesota medical device plant expansion announcements over the past year include startup Corvida Medical’s plans for a $3.1 million expansion in Eagan, contract medical device manufacturer Biomerics’s $6.5 million expansion in Brooklyn Park, die caster Pace Industries’s $6.3 million expansion in Maple Lake, and Sil-Pro’s $11 million expansion in Delano.
Microbiologics, which supplies microorganisms and lab-testing products, announced last year that it would spend $7.24 million to build a 30,000-square-foot addition and create 35 jobs at its St. Cloud, Minn. headquarters.
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