NuVasive by the numbers
200 - estimated number of new jobs
$48,000 - average salary of estimated new jobs.
160,000 - square footage of West Carrollton facility.
$45 million - estimated investment in expansion.
Source: NuVasive Inc.
A global medical device company plans to move its Fairborn operations to West Carrollton, preventing nearly 100 area jobs from going out of state and bringing 200 new ones.
NuVasive Inc. announced Thursday it plans to invest $45 million over the next two years to employ 300 “high-tech” workers for the former Motoman site, which officials called a “major step” for the company with “huge impact” locally.
The positions will have an average annual salary of $48,000, and the operation’s payroll is estimated at $14.2 million upon full employment in 2018, West Carrollton City Manager Brad Townsend said.
The San Diego-based company had considered locations in Moraine, West Carrollton and Vandalia, as well as sites in Tennessee, Texas and overseas in a bidding war that involved state and local incentives.
With inadequate site for expansion at 1 Herald Square in Fairborn, NuVasive had scouted locations across the country for a state-of-the-art medical device facility for spinal implant and instrument manufacturing. It considered consolidating its manufacturing operations, which local officials said will occur at the 160,000 square foot building at 805 Liberty Lane, West Carrollton.
“We are happy to announce that we have selected a site in West Carrollton, Ohio, as the location for our new medical device manufacturing facility,” NuVasive’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregory T. Lucier said in a statement announcing the plan.
“The site selection and subsequent build-out is a major step forward in our efforts to enhance our manufacturing presence in the United States to support the self-manufacture of nearly 100 percent of select spinal products and instruments,” according to the statement.
The company plans to maintain its Fairborn operations — where it employs 97 workers — until it opens its new site in West Carrollton. Then, it will begin adding 195 more jobs, Townsend said. NuVasive said its future facility is scheduled to begin commercial scale production by the end of 2016.
The facility’s jobs will be “high-tech positions, including engineers and skilled machinists, as well as process development and validation specialists who will work with the company’s research and development teams to optimize and accelerate product launches,” according to NuVasive.
The company’s projected investment jumped from $39 million to $45 million as the deal was finalized, Townsend said. The tax revenue will be a windfall for a city projecting budget deficits for the next few years, officials said.
“It’s going to be a huge impact for West Carrollton – something we’ve needed for a long time,” said West Carrollton Mayor Jeff Sanner. “And I just look forward to them coming.”
The effort to land the project has involved state and local authorities.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority earlier approved a 65 percent, seven-year job creation tax credit for the project. NuVasive said it is in the process of finalizing a “package of incentives that reflects a continued partnership between the company and the state of Ohio.”
“It is not every day,” said JobsOhio Senior Managing Director Aaron Pitts, “that we have an opportunity to transform a long-dormant facility on (Interstate) 75 into a high-tech, and high-growth, medical manufacturing business.”
“It’s a great win for the region,” Townsend said. “I mean we’re excited they chose us. But more importantly this is just a great win for the Dayton region. You know, this is what we do in Dayton – advanced manufacturing, tool and die – this is our specialty, And it really came down to that.”
A vote approving the county funding, which will help renovate and upgrade its NuVasive’s future building, was made Thursday. West Carrollton offered incentives as well.
The city’s package includes 100 percent property tax abatements for 12 years; a 35 percent rebate of payroll taxes for five years; a $100,000 forgivable loan upon buying the land; $2,500 in property improvement reimbursement grants for exterior improvements; and the waiving of city permit and application fees.
NuVasive said it has an agreement to buy the 9-acre Liberty Lane site, which has been vacant since Motoman moved to Miamisburg after announcing its plans in 2013. Stag II Dayton LLC bought the land in 2006 for $8.2 million, county records show.
West Carrollton officials have started meeting with architects about needed improvements and city council is expected to address the agreement next week.
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