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Merit Medical Systems Inc., a maker of disposable medical products, is poised to begin construction of a fourth building on its South Jordan campus.

The $45 million, 240,000-square-foot structure is expected to take two years to complete and will create approximately 350 construction jobs during that time, said spokeswoman Anne-Marie Wright.

"We've been growing very rapidly, and this is something that we have been planning for quite a while," she said, adding the new building eventually will house an additional 700 new employees who are expected to be brought onboard over the next five to 10 years.

Merit, founded 23 years ago, employs approximately 2,000 people worldwide with about 1,400 in Utah. In addition to its headquarters in South Jordan, the company has facilities in Texas, Virginia, Netherlands, France, Ireland and Denmark.

The new building will increase the amount of Merit's office and production space by approximately 30 percent to more than 700,000 square feet, Wright said.

Merit is one of the shining lights of Utah's biotechnology community and continues to prosper even as the U.S. and Utah economies struggle to throw off the effects of the economic downturn.

In a July 29 research report released shortly after the company posted its second-quarter financial results, Raymond James analyst Jayson Bedford noted that in a challenging health care environment plagued by revenue-growth concerns and pricing pressure, Merit is executing well and accelerating its top-line growth.

For the second quarter of its 2010 fiscal year, Merit saw its revenue increase 16 percent to $75 million from $65 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Its second quarter net income was $5.7 million, or 22 cents per share. —

Groundbreaking ceremony

Merit Medical Systems will ceremonially break ground for its new building at 3 p.m. Tuesday at 1600 W. Merit Parkway (9800 South) in South Jordan.