Area Development
Ethicon, Inc., a medical firm focusing on surgical care, general surgery, wound management, women's health and urology and aesthetic medicine, is planning a $185 million, 100,000 square foot, expansion at its operations center in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia.

The expansion will add a 100,000-square-foot facility to the firm's Athens, Georgia, facility to complement its Cornelia facility in the production of suture raw materials. As part of the project, Ethicon would also make capital improvements to the Cornelia, Georgia, site which produces surgical sutures. The company is expected to create 75 positions from its expansion.

The new facility will be constructed on the current site of Ethicon's sister company, Noramco, Inc. Noramco, which manufactures pharmaceutical ingredients used in medications and medical devices. Both companies are subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson.

"Ethicon has been an important business partner and a growing member of Georgia's health care products manufacturing community for more than 30 years, so this expansion speaks well of our state's supportive business environment," Gov. Nathan Deal said. "We look forward to the positive impact this expansion will have for the Athens-Clarke County community, and for Georgia's thriving health care industry."

"We are pleased to be making this investment to enhance our suture manufacturing capabilities," said Gary Pruden, Worldwide Chairman, Global Surgery Group, Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices and Diagnostics. "It will enable us to support better solutions for surgeons and positive outcomes for patients around the world, and it also will help us to support local communities in Georgia where our people live and work."

"We were fortunate to meet with and assist Ethicon with their expansion in Athens, and we know them to be a great corporate citizen," said Peggy Chapman, president and CEO of the Athens-Clarke County Economic Development Foundation, Inc. "Their plans for tremendous capital investment and creation of new jobs is expected to have a major impact on our community as well as the entire region."

While incentives for the expansion project were not immediately available, The Georgia Department of Economic Development said it partnered with the Athens-Clarke County Development Foundation to facilitate this expansion project for Ethicon.