Updated: Beckman Coulter expands medical molding operations in Indiana

Beckman Coulter, a manufacturer of biomedical test equipment and testing supplies announced the start of its second major expansion in Indianapolis in the last two years, making a multimillion dollar investment to relocate its Fullerton, CA injection molding operation to the Park 100 business park on Indianapolis’ northwest side. The Orange County, CA-based Beckman Coulter has been in Indianapolis since acquiring a start-up business there in December 1996, and expects this transition to be completed in the second quarter of 2010. Director of corporate communications, Mary Luthy, told Plastics Today the total investment in the site will exceed $10 million, with plastics making up the majority of the expansion. As part of this new capacity, Beckman Coulter plans to hire additional manufacturing and supervisory associates, and by locating portions of its field service and product development operations in Indianapolis, it also expects up to 100 new jobs in marketing, engineering, and technical areas. In 2007, the company announced it would relocate its centrifuge development and manufacturing operation from Palo Alto, CA to the same Indianapolis business park.

The expanded plastics molding and support operation in Indianapolis will initially occupy between 20,000 and 30,000 ft² of space, according to Luthy. The space will include relocated injection molding machines, automation lines, and support equipment from Fullerton, CA, as well as “a modest expansion of molding and automation capacity for selected products,” according to the company.

Indianapolis’ mayor, Greg Ballard, and Indiana’s governor, Mitch Daniels, were on hand for the announcement. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Beckman Coulter up to $830,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $450,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. The city and the economic development group also plan to push for property tax abatement for Beckman Coulter before the city’s Metropolitan Development Commission.

On Feb. 27, Beckman Coulter announced the acquisition of Olympus Corp.’s (Tokyo)  diagnostic systems business for $800 million. That transaction closed in the third quarter, when the company announced revenue was up 8.4% to $822.8 million, over the prior-year quarter, with $65.1 million contributed by the acquisition. — [email protected]