Arthrex quietly completes multimillion-dollar expansion amid pandemic

One of Southwest Florida's largest private employers has quietly carried on with its explosive growth amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Medical device manufacturer Arthrex has completed a multimillion-dollar expansion of its North Naples headquarters and continued its hiring spree, despite the crisis.

"As an essential health care service provider, Arthrex has maintained all business operations throughout the pandemic," said Lisa Gardiner, a company spokeswoman, in an email.

With its most recent expansion, the company committed to creating another 560 jobs in Southwest Florida.

Arthrex could collect nearly $6 million in incentives from the state and Collier County for the development project as long as it continues to meet its job-creation commitments. Government incentives were a requirement for the company to pursue making such a big investment in Collier County.

According to Florida's economic development portal, the company has created some 768 jobs — more than it promised — since signing the incentive agreements in 2016.

As a result, Arthrex has received $905,000 in state incentives. Florida has agreed to invest a maximum of $5.3 million in the project through 2024.

Amid the global pandemic, Arthrex turned the lights on at three new state-of-the-art buildings a few months ago, with no fanfare. 

"Due to company policies around the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be hosting community events or tours at this time," Gardiner said.

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A new day

Arthrex quickly adjusted to the new normal created by the spread of the coronavirus with the implementation of new safety and sanitization procedures — and rose up to the need for personal protection equipment in the local community.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Arthrex has manufactured and donated more than 18,000 face shields and nearly 600 protection hoods to health systems, ambulatory surgery centers, physician and dentist offices, assisted living and long-term care centers, schools and first responders, Gardiner said.

"The manufacturing of PPE has been in addition to our normal production capabilities," she said. "It was not a factor in the continuation of employment for Arthrex employees."

While the production of coronavirus-related protective equipment has slowed, the company has built up an inventory of supplies and will "continue to manufacture the equipment as long as needed," Gardiner said.

The most recent beneficiaries? Arthrex announced Wednesday it plans to manufacture and donate 6,000 face shields for use by public school systems in Lee and Collier counties.

"Education is an integral part of Arthrex's core value of 'Making People Better,' which is why we're passionate about helping schools provide a safe environment for students, teachers and staff to focus on learning," Gardiner said.

In a statement, Kamela Patton, superintendent of Collier County Public Schools, said: "Arthrex continues to be a trusted partner in supporting education."

"These face shields will be used by clinical staff and within classrooms containing students with significant disabilities to provide an added layer of protection to limit the spread of COVID-19," she said. "We thank Arthrex for its ingenuity and support."

All of Arthrex's donated safety equipment can be sterilized and reused, which helps preserve needed supplies for frontline workers in Southwest Florida.

A few months ago, the company loaned two medical sterilization systems to local hospitals and first responders, making it easier for them to clean, disinfect and reuse the protective gear it gave to them. They're still in use today.

Stepping up to COVID-19

Arthrex, a global leader in arthroscopic surgery, has taken some aggressive steps to protect its employees — and visitors — from COVID-19.

For example, the company has invested more than $700,000 in Synexis Microbial Reduction Systems.

Originally incorporated into the air conditioning system for the Arthrex Medical Center and new 24-hour Wellness Center at its sprawling corporate campus off Immokalee Road, the cleaning technology — proven to kill viruses and bacteria on surfaces and in the air— is now used to disinfect all of Arthrex's other workplaces around the globe through portable units.

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The systems continuously produce and distribute a low level of dry gaseous hydrogen peroxide to disinfect even hard-to-reach places, according to Arthrex.

Arthrex's leadership learned about the Synexis systems through its relationship with the Landmark Hospital across the street from its headquarters. Landmark, known for its medical technology and innovation, uses the system in multiple hospitals.

Initially, Arthrex installed the Synexis systems in common areas at its new hotel, then decided to extend the technology to its guest rooms, further protecting its overnight visitors and employees.

Inside Arthrex One, Arthrex's new administration tower, an ultraviolet technology has also been built into the air filtration system to kill bacteria, viruses and fungi, for added safety.

Early on the company took many precautionary steps to protect its employees from the spread of COVID-19, the sometimes fatal disease caused by the coronavirus. That included requiring masks and daily temperature checks at a time when many other employers weren't doing so.

Arthrex has offered free testing and medical guidance to its workers through the Arthrex Medical Center, its no-cost clinic for employees, also based at its main campus.

"We have had a few isolated instances, but overall Arthrex has maintained very low levels of positive cases among our employee population," Gardiner said.

The company has implemented physical distancing in its cafeterias and other common areas, as well as allowing employees who are able to work from home to do so on a rotating schedule, Gardiner said.

"Employees who dine outside the home may also utilize the Innovation Hotel restaurants (not open to the public) for family dining and take-out, where strict food preparation guidelines are followed and Synexis disinfectant technology is used," she said.

Arthrex built the 169-room hotel, part of the company's recent expansion, to house its visiting surgeons and other guests, as well as to provide another educational and training spot for them — and their employees.

"Impressive facility" 

Michael Dalby, president and CEO of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, said he had the opportunity to join a virtual tour of the three new buildings a while back — and got a rare insider's look at the Innovation Hotel a few days ago.

The hotel, he said, is not like a typical one, clearly set up more for education and learning than anything else. 

"It's an incredibly impressive facility. It's very state-of-the-art in many ways and very tailored to the concept of collaboration with their doctors and their clients — and innovation," Dalby said.

The expansion project as a whole is an "incredible investment in Collier County and in Naples," he said.

"Their investment and continuing to follow through with the entire development is kind of a great vote of confidence in Southwest Florida as their home and their headquarters and their location for innovation," Dalby said. "We're extremely fortunate to have an employer and a headquarters like Arthrex located in our community."

Not only does Arthrex provide thousands of jobs, but its employees donate their elbow grease to community service projects and the corporation financially supports countless nonprofits in its own backyard, he pointed out.

"Obviously, our community is the greatest beneficiary of their investment," Dalby said. "It impacts us in so many different ways, particularly when you have something like a pandemic. You really begin to realize the value of the jobs, the employment, the investment that they've made in our community. They are to be commended."

Arthrex has about 5,700 employees, with roughly 3,300 of them based in Southwest Florida.

Locally, the company has manufacturing complexes in Ave Maria, east of Naples. Manufacturing is no longer done at its corporate campus.

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Company founder Reinhold Schmieding's mantra is to develop innovative solutions that are less invasive to fix knees, shoulders and hips.

Arthrex develops and releases more than 2,000 new products and procedures every year, with the goal of advancing minimally invasive orthopedics worldwide. 

Now hiring

Since January, Arthrex has hired 442 employees locally — and nearly 300 of those hires have come since the pandemic hit in March, Gardiner said. 

Currently, she said the company has 272 job openings for more than 150 positions across the United States. In some cases, there are multiple openings for the same position, such as for engineers and machinists.

"The expansion was designed to accommodate our growth into the next decade," Gardiner said. "And we are growing and hiring as planned."

Collier County leaders have eagerly supported the company's continued expansion.

Nick Casalanguida, deputy county manager, said he's grateful the company didn't relocate or expand elsewhere. Arthrex's decision to continue growing here demonstrates Collier's viability as a home base for a major, innovative enterprise.

About a month ago, Casalanguida had the rare opportunity to tour the three new buildings in person. In a word, he described them as "first-class."

Like Dalby, he seemed particularly impressed by the hotel, which he described as "unbelievable."

"They've definitely built what I call a major corporate campus, very similar to what an Apple, Google or Yahoo would do," Casalanguida said.

Not only does the campus have a modern vibe, he said, but it oozes Arthrex's corporate culture of innovation and excellence.

"We're extremely fortunate to have an employer and a headquarters like Arthrex located in our community," Casalanguida said.

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