Salem manufacturers plan expansions

Three advanced manufacturing operations with roots in Salem recently revealed plans to expand facilities in the city.

Integer Holdings, which has operated in Salem for 30 years, announced expansion plans in April. The Texas-based medical contract developer and manufacturer of medical devices and components has leased a 13,000-square-foot facility on Electric Road to manufacture catheters.

The company did not disclose the cost, but it plans to create 83 jobs, including engineers, production managers and maintenance technicians.

“This is a multiphased investment over a period of five years designed to increase production of medical device components for Integer’s growing cardio and vascular business segment,” says spokesperson Lauren Ban.

Currently, the company employs about 600 workers at its 110,000-square-foot site on Yorkshire Street.

Also in April, Novonesis (formerly Novozymes), a biotech company with five Salem facilities, announced plans to invest $5 million to expand spore production at three of those sites. The project will create five jobs.

Headquartered in Denmark, Novonesis has ties to Salem dating back to the 1940s with the founding of microbial manufacturer G.A. Jeffreys & Co., which was acquired by Novozymes in the early 2000s.

Its Salem facilities produce biosolutions that support plant growth, animal health and aquaculture systems, as well as products for water treatment and industrial cleaning.

Salem’s third major business announcement came in May when Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced QualiChem, a Salem-based producer of metalworking fluids and water treatment chemicals, will move its administrative offices and laboratory operations into a 48,580-square-foot space on Idaho Street that has been vacant since 2016. Renovations are expected to be completed by the end of the year.

“As our workforce grows year after year, so does our need for additional office and lab space … a positive challenge driven by our success,” says Susie Corey, QualiChem’s brand strategist.

Founded in Salem in 1990, QualiChem has completed two building expansions and added three facilities in the city over the past two decades, according to Corey. The latest expansion — part of a $9 million investment over 10 years — is slated to create 12 jobs and free up space at QualiChem’s Industrial Drive location to increase production.

Tommy Miller, Salem’s director of economic development, notes the new jobs created extend beyond basic manufacturing.

“There is a lot of high-tech automation, not just assembly line production,” Miller said.