BD plant project has $50M price tag

COLUMBUS - About $50 million in new construction could take place as part of an expansion at one of the local Becton Dickinson plants. But the project depends entirely on approval by city and county officials for some proposed street changes.

If the OK comes, the BD Medical Surgical Systems plant at the corner of 12th Avenue and 23rd Street would be expanded to the west. There could be 75 new jobs created by the expansion. The kind of medical product that will be manufactured at the site could not be disclosed at this time.

BD Medical Plant Manager Steven Bohnet said the construction is contingent on the approval of closing a small portion of the north end of 12th Avenue. Vacating the street would entail some changes in traffic flow at that location, including a paved street through what is now a parking lot for BD.

"If we don't get that done, the process is in jeopardy," Bohnet said.

The new space needs to be connected to BD's existing facility for two reasons, Bohnet said.

n To achieve the efficiency and cost effectiveness that make expansion in Columbus superior to a new plant elsewhere.

n To maintain the controlled environment the manufacturing process for sterile medical instruments requires.

"This is a great opportunity for Columbus and for BD," Bohnet said. "The company has continued to invest in both sites over the last eight years to a degree that we are very competitive, and we're put in an environment where we can be competitive."

If all goes according to plan, work on the street changes could begin this year.

"We hope to get some of the road improvements completed this fall. We're probably not going to start on the building side ... until this spring," said BD Medical Accounting Leader Steve Stevens.

David Bell, co-chairman of the Columbus Economic Council, said the agency has been working with BD for more than a year on the proposed addition. He said BD's commitment to growing its business in Columbus is a compliment to this community.

"It strengthens the future of BD in Columbus," Bell said. "It's nice that so far the city and county are working with BD so well to help this project come together. (The proposed project) obviously says a lot about Columbus and its work force because BD could make these improvements in other parts of the country or world."

A public hearing will be Aug. 17 on a proposal to close the portion of 12th Avenue that accesses 23rd Street. The proposal also includes the creation of a paved street at 22nd Street from 12th Avenue to 14th Avenue. BD already owns most of the 6 1/2 acres of land at that location. Some property will have to be purchased to accommodate the new paved street, then deeded to the county.

All of the land involved is in the county industrial site, so the Platte County Board of Supervisors will be involved in the process, but approval from the city is also needed, because it is within the 2-mile zoning jurisdiction of the city. On Monday night, the Columbus City Council approved the preliminary plat for the expansion.

If the north end of 12th Avenue is closed, a new set of traffic signals will be placed at 14th Avenue and 23rd Street and the current lights at 12th Avenue and 23rd Street would be eliminated.

Bohnet said that over the 50-year history of BD's growth in Columbus, the operations have grown from 15 employees to more than 1,000. The operation has swelled from 24,000 square feet to more than 600,000 square feet, which includes the medical surgical systems plant as well as the pharmaceutical plant on the east edge of the city.

"We want to continue that growth in partnership with the people of Columbus, which vacating this section of 12th Avenue will make possible," Bohnet said. "We look forward to continuing this partnership well into the next generation for our associates. We are working with the city and county officials to secure that future."

He said several factors make Columbus a "natural" for the proposed expansion:

n Experience in developing pre-fill plastic syringe technology and its manufacturing process.

n Valued labor pool and technical work force in the Columbus area.

n Established pro-business incentive programs from the state of Nebraska.

n Competitive energy costs.

n Centralized distribution location for markets throughout the U.S.

n Positive community environment for BD employees and their families.

n Responsive city and county governments for past investments in the local economy.

Stevens said the state's pro-business incentive programs - including LB775, a tax credit program for businesses - as well as its department of economic development are tools the local BD uses to gain a competitive edge.

BD is a worldwide company that employs about 25,000 people in 212 locations in 50 countries. Revenues rose to $4.528 billion for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

In Columbus, BD manufactures various medical products including several kinds of syringes and needles.