St. Jude Medical Expands In South Carolina, Adds 300 Jobs
The 60,000-square-foot operation will make circuits used in the Little Canada-based medical-device company's pacemakers and defibrillators. The work is now done at St. Jude's facility in Scottsdale, Ariz., where they have run out of space, said Kathleen Janasz, a spokeswoman for St. Jude. Other work will fill in at the space emptied in Scottsdale, so no one will lose a job there, she said.
St. Jude did not provide details of how much it would spend on the Liberty project.
Two years ago, St. Jude said it would hire 100 workers by 2009 as it spent more than $15 million for a 100,000-square-foot building in Liberty. The company said that project was completed in May.
The new jobs will "help offset some of the losses we've had from shutdowns of some of the textile plants," said B.R. Skelton, a South Carolina state representative.
St. Jude, "diversifies our economy in a very positive way," said state Sen. Larry Martin.
State Commerce Secretary Joe Taylor said in a statement that his agency has targeted advanced manufacturing and biotechnology projects.
The agency is "pleased that St. Jude Medical's team recognized our capable work force and pro-business climate as they commit to expanding their South Carolina presence," Taylor said.
Separately, on Wednesday, St. Jude reaffirmed its previously announced estimate that third-quarter sales of implantable electronic defibrillators will be in the range of $265 million to $295 million.
Sales of defibrillators, which automatically use electrical shocks to restart stopped hearts, rose 14 percent to $278 million in the second quarter, after almost doubling in the same period last year.
The company made the comments at a meeting with analysts and investors, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Staff writer Jim McCartney contributed to this report.