BD in the News
Becton, Dickinson grows RTP hub
Used with permission of The Herald-Sun.
BY ANNE KRISHNAN, The Herald-Sun
October 25, 2005
DURHAM -- Becton, Dickinson and Co. is investing in growth in Research Triangle Park.
The New Jersey company said Tuesday it has completed a two-year, $12.7 million renovation and expansion of its 33-year-old corporate technology and innovation center in RTP.
BD manufactures and sells medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products to health care institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry and the general public.
Officials said the project would accommodate continuing growth at its BD Technologies operation, the company's RTP hub for research and development that currently employs about 220 workers. Other functions, including human resources, finance and IT, also have a presence in the 120,000-square-foot facility.
The expansion creates a new enterprise network operations center, a "world-class" facility that provides around-the-clock financial, human resources and other functions for BD's global operations, the company said. The project also incorporated renovations to 32,000 square feet of research space.
Overall, the facility gained the new operations center as well as 14 new labs and a number of offices, conference rooms and training facilities as part of the renovation and expansion.
"For more than 30 years, BD Technologies has provided the scientific skills, talent and synergies essential to maintaining BD's edge in innovation," Edward J. Ludwig, the company's chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. "These most recent investments make it clear that our growing team in RTP will continue to drive the development of new life science and medical technologies at BD for years to come."
The company isn't elaborating on its expected growth in the Triangle, a spokeswoman said.
BD, which was founded in New York in 1897 by two North Carolinians, in 1972 became one of the first large companies to build a research facility in RTP. In 1991, it opened its second facility in North Carolina -- a manufacturing facility in Treyburn Corporate Park that has 300 employees. And six years ago, the company established a life sciences incubator in RTP that gives start-up biotech companies access to laboratories, equipment and business services. BD BioVenture Center's 14 tenants have raised more than $500 million in funding and created 330 biotechnology jobs.
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