Yesterday, the “Orthopedic Capital of the World” honored its newest member into the Warsaw community.
Mentor Media, an international company from Singapore, offers supply chain solutions and packaging services. Their sterile packaging process is designed to give products a shelf life of up to 10 years. Local and state officials welcomed them with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at their new facility in the Warsaw Technology Park.
Creating opportunities in the Warsaw Technology Park and the Airport Industrial Park has been a high priority of the Warsaw Redevelopment Commission (RDC) and city administration from day one.
After expanding the boundaries of the original Westhill Industrial Development in 2013, the city applied and was granted “Certified Technology Park” status for the new 160-acre Warsaw Technology Park. Partnering with Westhill Development, the city invested over $5 million of Northern TIF revenue for roads and infrastructure construction.
In 2016, Banner Medical moved into their new facility into the Tech Park as a supplier of high grade metal stock for medical device manufacturers. Their move from Illinois was to gain proximity to their large customer base here in Warsaw.
Across the street from Banner, Swiss-based Medartis was welcomed to the Tech Park to celebrate their acquisition of homegrown Nextremity Solutions in July 2022. This move enabled Medartis to expand their production capabilities in the United States. Since 2019, that has returned over $26 million in private sector investment and generated over $13 million in payroll.
The 400-plus-acre Airport Industrial Park (AIP) was annexed in 2018. The RDC invested around $8 million to construct sanitary sewers and new roads. The lack of sewer infrastructure had significantly hindered growth in the park.
The city’s investment opened new opportunities for attraction and expansion of smaller companies in the Airport Park. Last November, Arch Medical Solutions acquired Alpha Manufacturing and its facilities in the AIP. A very successful contract manufacturer, Alpha is now poised to continue its growth with the resources of a new owner.
IMD is another fast-growing contract manufacturer that expanded its facility recently. Two weeks ago, Texmo Precision Castings announced it had acquired German-based Feinguss Blank and will ramp up their production in the AIP.
These examples showcase the demand of innovative global companies that seek out the orthopedic industry cluster to grow their companies. The city’s priorities have always been to invest in adequate infrastructure, offer building options, and provide shovel ready sites to meet the demand.
Successful development agreements have fueled economic growth over the past decade. Our investments have yielded a significant return. Our assessed value (the tax base) has grown 58% from $179 million in 2013 to the current $1.25 billion. That investment in our community by our industrial partners has allowed us to grow our city and keep our tax rate relatively flat. Our 2023 city tax rate has only been lower one time since 2013.
In addition, our population grew almost 17% in the last census.
The return on investment benefits everyone. And I believe that things are just getting started.