West Pharmaceutical Expands AZ Operations

Syringe maker unveils larger Scottsdale facility

by Peter Corbett – Apr. 27, 2012 05:53 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

A Scottsdale Airpark company that makes millions of syringes using robotic manufacturing has expanded its facility and plans to add 100 more jobs in engineering and operations over the next five years.

West Pharmaceutical Services Inc., based in Lionville, Pa., has invested more than $20 million in its Scottsdale Center for Excellence, said Tom McLean, senior director of engineering.

West, which has operated in Scottsdale since 1967, has 580 employees at three facilities in Tempe and one in Scottsdale at 14677 N. 74th St.

West’s 65,000-square-foot Scottsdale Center for Excellence employs 97 workers.

Companies such as West Pharmaceutical Services that make medical devices and equipment represent the second-largest category of non-hospital bioscience jobs in the state.

In 2010, there were 260 medical-device and -equipment manufacturing companies that employed 4,901 in Arizona, according to the Ohio-based Battelle Technology Partnership Practice. The Battelle report showed there were 436 research-testing and medical laboratories that employed 8,386 Arizonans in 2010.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2012/04/26/20120426syringe-maker-unveils-larger-scottsdale-facility.html#ixzz1tN5jwxsV

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