BD has broken ground on a $60 million upgrade of its Columbus-East facility on Wednesday.
BD said the 69,000 sq. ft. expansion will transform the Columbus-East facility into the flagship plastic injection molding manufacturing facility for BD, and it will become one of the largest and most sophisticated plastic molding plants in the world. The company expects to complete the project by 2021.
Governor Ricketts, who attended today’s ceremony, said: “BD’s $60 million expansion at their Columbus-East facility is another example of how the industry’s faith in our state can help create new opportunities in our communities. With facilities in Columbus, Holdrege, and Broken Bow, BD has been a great partner in growing the Good Life and we appreciate their ongoing investment in Nebraska.”
In addition to Gov. Ricketts, Columbus Mayor Jim Bulkley and Councilman John Lohr also offered words of support for the expansion. Duane Ostdiek, plant manager for the BD Columbus-West facility highlighted the 50th anniversary of cannula (metal part of a needle used in a variety of health care applications) manufacturing at that facility. Bill Campbell, plant manager of the BD Columbus-East facility also was present to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the BD Columbus-East plant.
James Borzi, executive vice president and chief supply chain officer of BD, said: “BD is one of the largest users of plastic injection molded products in the world, with hundreds of billions of units produced internally each year. The new facility will centralize a majority of BD’s North American plastic molding production and will support multiple business units in the U.S. and around the world.”
Laurie Reagan, the plant manager for the new plastic molding facility, also spoke at the event and highlighted BD’s plans to invest $7 million to retain and retrain its associates for the different skill sets needed for plastic molding manufacturing or to facilitate their transfer to its other manufacturing facility in Columbus or other sites across the BD network. BD is partnering with Central Community College to create customized curriculum for its retraining needs.
In addition to Columbus, BD also has operations in Holdrege and Broken Bow, Neb. and employs approximately 2,500 people across the state. In September 2016, BD announced a $100 million investment in its Holdrege facility to expand its insulin syringe manufacturing operations.
Image: BD.
BD broke ground today on the $60 million expansion of its Columbus-East facility. Pictured from left to right are: Columbus City Councilman John Lohr, BD Columbus-West Plant Manager Duane Ostdiek, BD Chief Supply Chain Officer Jim Borzi, Governor Pete Ricketts, Columbus Mayor Jim Bulkley, BD Columbus-East Plant Manager Bill Campbell and BD Plastic Injection Molding Manufacturing Plant Manager Laurie Reagan. (PRNewsfoto/BD (Becton, Dickinson and Compa)