Steris, an international contract sterilization company focused on the medical industry, is nearly finished with a $15 million facility in Orange County.
The company on Sept. 14 officially opened a 60,000-square-foot facility in Chester, in the same industrial park where it has operated a separate contract sterilization facility since 1992. The expansion is expected to add 25 jobs and retain 96 already on the site, according to the Orange County Industrial Development Agency”™s 2016 yearly report.
Based in Ohio, Steris provides infection prevention and other procedural products and services to health care clients. The company has about 12,000 employees in more than 100 countries and is worth about $6 billion, according to its 2017 annual report.
The facility in Chester handles contract sterilization for a wide range of medical devices. It is one of more than 50 facilities the company runs in the country for its contract sterilization operation.
The expansion will add electron beam processing to the company”™s Chester sterilization services, Steris said in its announcement, along with the gamma irradiation services it currently provides.
“We use a couple different technologies to sterilize generally anything that touches the bloodstream or is planted in the body that is manufactured by other medical device companies,” said Stephen Norton, a company spokesman. “They send those medical devices to us and we provide a sterilization service to ensure that they are safe for use.”
The new facility, built on a 10-acre parcel, expands the company”™s presence at the Chester Industrial Park off Route 17 in the town, near its current 63,000-square-foot facility.
The new building will feature about 4,000 square feet of office space and 53,000 square feet of warehouse space.
Norton said the company looked at a number of sites on the East Coast for the expansion before deciding to grow its presence in Chester.
“You have many medical device companies on the East Cost, we like to be near their supply chains, their manufacturing,” Norton said. “We’ve had a wonderful relationship with Orange County and the village of Chester, and given the fact we have land available adjacent to our facility … this one really was a no-brainer for us.”
The company had the support of the Orange County Industrial Development Agency. The agency provided Steris with a sales and use tax exemption for the construction of the facility and a 10-year payment in lieu of taxes agreement.
“Steris is an excellent local company and anytime a company is looking to expand and they need the incentives to do so, the IDA is approached,” said Laurie Villasuso, CEO and executive vice president of the Orange County IDA. “And with these jobs in particular they have an excellent reputation for paying well and being good employers.”
Maureen Halahan, president and CEO of private development group Orange County Partnership, said Steris develops “technologies and products that help improve our lives and health. I am delighted that they chose to expand their operation here in Orange County.”
The company has listed the additional jobs for the facility at the careers page on its website, steris.com
