Sterigenics, Sediver investments a boon to city’s development

Sterigenics, Sediver investments a boon to city’s development

Growth leads to new jobs, better opportunities for West Memphians

WM Director of Economic Developmen Two international companies are making significant investments in West Memphis with industrial development projects under way that will create about 90 new jobs.

Sterigenics International LLC is in the midst of a $15 million expansion of its West Memphis facility on College Blvd. that will triple its capacity and result in about 20 new jobs once its complete in 2017.

Sterigenics is the leading global provider of contract sterilization, gamma technologies and medical isotopes. Opened in 1999, the West Memphis Sterigenics facility currently offers 2.5 million cubic feet of gamma sterilization capacity. The installation of a new gamma cell will triple capacity to 7.5 million cubic feet.

The company assists those customers in developing and maintaining sterilization solutions for medical devices, tissue and implantable products and pharmaceuticals. Its affiliate Nordion positions Sterigenics as the world's largest provider of Cobalt-60 used in the gamma sterilization process as well as medical isotopes used in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases and cancers.

French electrical industry manufacturer Sediver announced last year that it had chosen West Memphis as the site for its new North American assembly facility. Sediver, which makes insulation products for power lines, is currently building a manufacturing facility and testing laboratory in the city-owned Mid-America Industrial Park. The company is investing $10 million in the project, which is projected to bring about 70 jobs to the area.

Sediver is the global leader in toughened glass insulators for electrical transmission and distribution lines, serving utilities around the world. The Paris-based firm was tapped by Houston-based Clean Line Utility Partners LLC of Houston to provide insulators for work on a 700-mile transmission line that will run from the Oklahoma Panhandle across Arkansas and beyond.

The facility will include a laboratory capable of simulating a lightning strike to test the ability of their products to withstand that type of instantaneous surge. The lab will also double as teaching facility and will host transmission engineers from across the country for

training sessions.

From Ward Wimbish