Biomet’s upgrades buoy jobs (Journal Gazette)
Biomet Inc.’s incremental steps toward a planned $26 million expansion have created 84 new jobs in Warsaw as of July 31, a spokesman told The Journal Gazette.
During the company’s fiscal year, which ended May 31, Biomet invested $14 million on new equipment for its advanced manufacturing center, expanded its polyethylene manufacturing center in Warsaw and moved 40 percent of trauma products manufacturing from New Jersey to Warsaw, among other projects, spokesman Bill Kolter said in an email.
Kolter declined to place a timeline on additional investment, saying such forward-looking statements aren’t allowed.
Most of the new jobs were in manufacturing. Other positions added were in distribution, quality assurance and control, research and development, and general administration, Kolter said. Some jobs were filled by workers transferring from other Biomet locations, but “the vast majority were filled locally,” he said.
The orthopedic devices maker in July 2010 asked Kosciusko County officials for a tax abatement tied to a plan to invest $26 million and create about 280 new jobs. This month, DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. secured a tax abatement on a $27 million investment in manufacturing and research equipment at its Warsaw operations before 2014.
— Sherry Slater