ATHENS, GA. — Ethicon, a surgical care goods provider, plans to invest $185 million to renovate and expand its Georgia facility, located at 655 Ethicon Circle in Cornelia, near Athens. The company is expected to create 75 positions by 2016.
“Ethicon has been an important business partner and a growing member of Georgia’s health care products manufacturing community for more than 30 years, so this expansion speaks well of our state’s supportive business environment,” says Gov. Nathan Deal. “We look forward to the impact this expansion will have for the Athens-Clarke County community and for Georgia’s thriving healthcare industry.”
The 100,000-square-foot expansion will complement the current facility in the production of suture raw materials. The building will be located on the current site of Ethicon’s sister company, Noramco, which manufactures pharmaceutical ingredients used in medications and medical devices.
Additionally, Ethicon plans to make capital improvements to the Cornelia facility, which currently produces the majority of the world’s supply of surgical sutures. Both Ethicon and Noramco are subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson.
“We are pleased to be making this investment to enhance our suture manufacturing capabilities,” says Gary Pruden, worldwide chairman of the global surgery group at Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices & Diagnostics. “It will enable us to support better solutions for surgeons and positive outcomes for patients around the world, and it will also help us to support local communities in Georgia where people live and work.”
The Georgia Department of Economic Development partnered with the Athens-Clarke County Development Foundation for the expansion. Groundbreaking is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 20.
— Savannah Duncan