Flagstaff’s largest private employer, W.L. Gore and Associates, has announced an expansion of its medical device division in both Flagstaff and the greater Phoenix area.
The Delaware-based company has plans to add a 40,000 square foot facility to its Kiltie Lane campus in west Flagstaff. This is in addition to its new 133,000 square foot Kendrick Peak manufacturing facility expected to begin operations in April.
Gore will also add 100 new hires to its roughly 1,600 Flagstaff employees.
The company also plans to increase its presence in Phoenix. In addition to expanding its current leased offices in Tempe, Gore will lease a facility at 19th Avenue and Happy Valley Road while it searches for land in north Phoenix on which to build a new campus.
The Phoenix expansion will add 150 jobs this year, with a long term plan to create up to 800 positions at the new campus.
“This is like getting Motorola here for semiconductors,” Richard Mallery, chairman of the International Genomics Consortium (IGC), told Arizona Republic of Gore’s decision to develop in Phoenix. “This validates the decision for the public and private sectors of this state to put a top priority for the biosciences and biomedical care.”
While Flagstaff will remain the company’s base in Arizona, the Phoenix campus will allow the company to recruit more engineers, scientists, and other workers.
“The big issue for us is to try to stay close to our Flagstaff operations,” said John Sininger, Gore’s medical products division leader overseeing its medical-device manufacturing.
“We think this really expands our operations and helps us recruit more people.”
For more information:
“Gore keeps growing,” Arizona Daily Sun, 02/22/2007
“Gore to expand to Phoenix,” Arizona Republic, 02/23/2007