Area Development
Alcon Inc., a manufacturer of surgical, pharmaceutical, and consumer eye care products, will construct a new manufacturing plant near Greenbottom, West Virginia. Company officials expect the project to create approximately 350  new jobs over the next 12 years. Alcon will invest $25 million initially to construct a 74,000-square-foot facility that will produce intraocular lenses (IOLs), which are surgically implanted to replace the natural lens removed during cataract surgery; the company already has an IOL plant in nearby Huntington. "We're very fortunate to be in an area with such a talented work force that can take on this type of project," says Maggie Clark, an Alcon spokesperson. "It's been a great area to be in." Alcon plans to have the facility fully operational by 2011. According to the Herald-Dispatch newspaper of Huntington, financial incentives offered to the Switzerland-based company include tax increment financing of $1.4 million to improve infrastructure in the area.