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December 20, 2007 - The Messenger
New R and D facility in Olathe drives local rumors
By JESSE HELLING, Messenger staff writer
Good news for Kansas isn’t bad news for Fort Dodge.
That was the message conveyed by Fort Dodge Animal Health President E. Thomas Corcoran in a conference call with local leaders in Fort Dodge Wednesday.
On the heels of FDAH’s announcement of a $40 million research and development facility in Olathe, Kansas. - close to company headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas - rumors swirled about the impact on the company’s Fort Dodge facilities.
‘‘The majority of our employees and the majority of our investment are in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and that won’t change,’’ Corcoran said. ‘‘If you look at it as a body, you would say the heart of our business, quite frankly, is in Fort Dodge, Iowa. That’s where the majority of our products are manufactured and that’s where they will be manufactured in the future.’’
According to Corcoran, the company plans to invest $25 million in the Fort Dodge and Charles City facilities in 2008.
‘‘I don’t think Fort Dodge will see any difference in net payroll, quite frankly,‘‘Corcoran said. ‘‘The majority of our employees and investment are in Iowa.’’
The precise details of the company’s adjustment have yet to be determined, as the Olathe facility is not slated to open until 2009, Corcoran said.
‘‘We haven’t quantified what exactly will be in the new R and D facility and from which locations it will be staffed. Some people will come from Fort Dodge. There will be some people who will come from our international locations, and we will hire some people (from the Kansas City area),’’ he said.
Some research will continue to be conducted in the Fort Dodge facility, Corcoran said.
‘‘We transfer people back and forth between Fort Dodge and Overland Park constantly,’’ said Corcoran.
Some scientists will likely transfer to Olathe, but there will still be scientists employed in Fort Dodge, said Richard DeLuca, who will succeed Corcoran as company president next year. Any loss in local jobs will be offset by an increase in manufacturing and quality personnel, he said, and described those positions as offering ‘‘fairly higher level’’ pay.
In Iowa, Fort Dodge Animal Health employs approximately 1,300 people, with an annual payroll of $58 million - $15 million more than required by the tenets of the Iowa Values Fund, from which Fort Dodge Animal Health has received financial incentives.
However, the expansion in Olathe is necessary to keep the company competitive in the global marketplace and will result in ultimate benefits to Fort Dodge, Corcoran said.
‘‘Our business is very, very technologically oriented,’’ he said. ‘‘We only grow if we develop and market our new products. What we are going to do is expand our research capabilities in order to give us more new products - of which the eventual beneficiary will be Fort Dodge, Iowa, as we expand our manufacturing capacity and capabilities.’’
Olathe, a suburb of Kansas City, is positioned near the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor — a collection of businesses, hospitals, universities and research centers — and gives FDAH better access to what Corcoran referred to as ‘‘world-class scientists.’’
‘‘We need the best kind of molecular biologists, we need the best kind of immunologists that we can get our hands on,’’ he said.
Such professionals are ‘‘very difficult’’ to attract to Fort Dodge, Corcoran said.
However, rumors that Fort Dodge Animal Health has presented ultimatums to the city demanding that so-called quality-of-life issues be addressed are ‘‘blatantly untrue,’’ he said.
‘‘The fact that we have a difficult time getting executives to come to Fort Dodge is true, but that’s an issue that’s been in place for 23 years, ’’ Corcoran said, referring to the length of his tenure with the company.
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