NASHVILLE—Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty along with Fresenius Medical Care officials today announced the company will locate its new East Coast manufacturing facility in the Panasonic building in the Forks of the River Industrial Park in Knoxville. Fresenius Medical Care will invest up to $140 million in the project and correspondingly create approximately 665 new jobs in Knox County over the next several years.
“I want to thank Fresenius Medical Care for investing in Tennessee, and I appreciate the new jobs being created in Knox County,” Haslam said. “Here in Tennessee we’re working to create an environment where companies like Fresenius Medical Care can succeed and expand, and today’s announcement supports our goal of becoming the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs.”
“Fresenius Medical Care’s decision to locate a new manufacturing facility in Knox County demonstrates how Tennessee’s strengths are aligned with the needs of the global business community,” Hagerty said. “As a company with operations in more than 120 countries, Fresenius Medical Care understands the competitive advantages our state offers with its business friendly environment, quality workforce and excellent location. I am pleased to welcome Fresenius Medical Care to Tennessee, and I appreciate the significant investment this leading health care company is making in our state and its citizens.”
“In Knoxville, we’ve found a home with an excellent workforce pool, a facility that will work well for our purposes, and a location that will enable us to serve our customers in the eastern half of the U.S. more efficiently,” Fresenius Medical Care North America Vice President of Manufacturing Troy McGhee said. “We are additionally drawn to the area’s outstanding business climate, and are looking forward to developing and expanding our presence here in the coming years.”
Fresenius Medical Care will begin moving one production line to the Knoxville facility in September 2014, but actual production at the facility is not expected to begin until early 2016, pending a designation from the Food and Drug Administration that the facility is a qualified plant for production.
The Knoxville facility will produce dialysis related products, which will be distributed to Fresenius Medical Care’s clinics and distribution centers in the eastern part of the United States.
“I am excited to welcome Fresenius Medical Care to Knox County, and am thankful for their considerable investment in our community,” Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett said. “Not only will their expansion into Forks of the River utilize a now-vacant piece of industrial property, the hundreds of high-tech manufacturing jobs they will bring to Knox County will have significant economic impact on our entire region.”
“We are so pleased Fresenius Medical Care has decided to establish its East Coast operations in Innovation Valley,” Rhonda Rice, executive vice president of the Knoxville Chamber, said.
“The Knox County Industrial Development Board is thrilled to have been part of the recruitment of such an outstanding company to Knox County, Tenn.,” Knox County Industrial Development Board Chair Trey Coleman said. “With the number of new jobs and capital investment being reported, Fresenius Medical Care will have a very positive long-term economic impact on our community, which made it easy to support local tax incentives for this project. “
“TVA congratulates Fresenius Medical Care on its decision to locate and add hundreds of new quality jobs in Knox County,” TVA Senior Vice President of Economic Development John Bradley said. “TVA and Knoxville Utilities Board appreciate the opportunity to work with state and local economic development partners to assist Fresenius Medical Care’s commitment to grow in our region.”
The company will begin hiring in different phases. Toward the middle of 2014 it will begin hiring for support jobs, such as engineering facilities management, and in the fourth quarter of 2015, it plans to begin hiring for other positions such as supervisors, technicians, production line workers and maintenance. Job opportunities will be posted on the Fresenius Medical Care North America website, http://jobs.fmcna.com.
About Fresenius Medical Care
Through our leading network of more than 2,150 dialysis facilities in North America and our vascular access centers, laboratory, pharmacy and affiliated hospitals and nephrology practices, Fresenius Medical Care provides renal services to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. We are also the continent’s top producer of dialysis equipment, dialyzers and related disposable products and a major supplier of renal pharmaceuticals.
About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
Tennessee was named “2013 State of the Year” for economic development by Business Facilities magazine. The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies which help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. The department seeks to attract new corporate investment in Tennessee and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tn.gov/ecd. Follow us on Twitter: @tnecd. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tnecd.
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