This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Biomerics LLC, a supplier of polymer solutions to the medical device and health care industries, has completed a major upgrade of its Salt Lake City plant that will add to its employment base.
The 10,000-square-foot project inside the company's existing 75,000-square-foot facility included a clean room for injection molding and device assembly, a medical-device packaging facility and a fulfillment warehouse.
The expansion will generate 15 additional jobs, bringing the total number of employees at Biomerics to 65.
"It also is expected to support the creation of an additional 20 positions over the next 12 months," said Troy Mohr, the company's vice president of business development.
"The new packaging and warehouse space expands our capability to manage sterile medical-device fulfillment for our customers," said President and CEO Travis Sessions.
He added that in addition to the expansion, Biomerics has invested $1.5 million in plastics manufacturing equipment.
Gary Harter, managing director for business outreach and international trade at the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said companies such as Biomerics play a key role in the state's growing life sciences industry, which is dominated by medical products manufacturers such as Merit Medical of South Jordan, Edwards Lifesciences of Draper and Fresenius in Ogden.
"It is great that we have the companies that actually make the widgets, but having the support companies for those manufacturers out there is also essential," he said.
Harter noted that over the past decade the state's life sciences industry grew by 24 percent compared with a national growth rate of just 9.8 percent.
The industry now employs over 24,000 workers who earn an average annual wage of $56,000 compared to the state's average annual wage of $38,000.
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