Aspen Surgical

CALEDONIA -- Aspen Surgical Products is not hearing the same grim economic forecasts the rest of us are. The Caledonia manufacturer plans to double the size of its plant by January.

Aspen will break ground in November on a 50,000-square-foot addition to its Southbelt Industrial Park building and add 50 to 75 jobs by 2010. The growth comes as Aspen expects sales to grow 50 percent in the next three years, Chief Operating Officer Terry O'Rourke said.

The company has 210 employees in Caledonia and 25 in Redditch, England -- up from about 100 employees last year.

O'Rourke credited the growth to marketing, product development and acquisition.

"Acquisition is definitely an important part of our growth strategy," he said. "We acquired four companies last year, three in the U.S. and one in the UK."

Only the UK plant still is producing; jobs from the other facilities were brought to Caledonia.

Aspen specializes in manufacturing single-use surgical devices, including patient and staff safety products, wound care supplies, surgical accessories and ear-nose-throat devices.

The company offers about 30 disposable products.

Aspen's orders have doubled. To keep up with demand, the Caledonia plant runs three shifts.

"We're logging a lot of overtime right now," O'Rourke said.

Aspen's distribution center processes about 350 orders a day Distribution manager, Deb Libby said.

"This is a busy, busy place," she said.

Product goes to 6,500 operating rooms and surgical centers throughout the U.S.

The expansion, with an estimated value of $2.6 million, has been granted a 50 percent tax exemption by Caledonia Township, where officials are thrilled to have the plant.

"I am encouraged that, in a struggling economy, we can partner with a growing company to add new jobs, provide economic opportunity for citizens and expand our tax base. This is good news for Caledonia," Supervisor Bryan Harrison said.

Township Tax Assessor Laura Stob estimated the tax savings at about $25,000 a year or about $250,000 over 10 years.

In return, the township requires a commitment that operations will stay in Caledonia and all 210 jobs will be retained, plus 50 to 75 jobs will be added.

The abatement is only the third in the township.

Aspen was founded in 1999 when then-president Dan Bowen purchased six product lines from a medical supply firm in Kalamazoo. He grew the company through product development until 2004, when Aspen made its first acquisition, of Sterion Inc. in Minneapolis. Until then, 75 percent of the company's business was in surgical needles.

That year, the company moved to the Caledonia location from a 20,000-square-foot building in Wyoming.
Two years later, Bowen sold Aspen to the current owners, Roundtable Healthcare Partners, a private equity group in Lake Forest, Ill.

Bowen resigned as president but serves on Aspen's board.

Aspen started adding product lines in 2007, acquiring Ultracell in Connecticut, Precision Dynamics in California and Colby in Pennsylvania.

"Aspen moved at least 80 jobs to Michigan from other states last year through our acquisitions," O'Rourke said. "Roundtable not only provides the capital we need, they also have the health care expertise."

Last year, Aspen made room for additional manufacturing, engineering, quality and technical personnel and products by leasing 25,000 square feet for a distribution center.

Aspen expects to grow product lines that protect the safety of surgical patients and personnel from infection. O'Rourke believes fluid management in the operating room will be a big part of Aspen's future growth.

http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/07/aspen_surgical_to_add_up_to_75.html

Reference Media:

Aspen Surgical to Add Up to 75 Jobs by 2010