Manufacturer adds 300 jobs in Johnson County to produce materials for COVID-19 tests
A Massachusetts-based medical device firm will bring 300 new jobs to Lenexa as the company looks to ramp up production of materials for COVID-19 tests for a federal contract.
At its Lenexa factory, Thermo Fisher Scientific has already been producing viral transport media used for storing and moving samples after a patient receives a COVID-19 test. But it announced Monday a major expansion of its Kansas operation as it looks to expand capacity.
Thermo Fisher will build a new $40 million facility and add 300 new jobs with the goal of producing more than 8 million viral transport tubes per week. Its operation in Lenexa currently yields more than 1 million tubes a week.
“We have a proven blueprint for high-quality VTM production in Lenexa and look forward to bringing significant new capacity on line as quickly as possible to continue the necessary testing ramp-up in the U.S.,” said Marc Casper, the company’s chairman, president and CEO.
A spokesman for the firm did not immediately provide specific details about the federal contract that spurred the expansion. Casper was one of several industry executives to join President Donald Trump at the White House last month for a discussion on increasing testing capacity.
Health experts have been saying for months that U.S. will need to broaden its testing before it can fully contain the virus, a fact noted by Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas.
“Widespread testing is a necessary component to safely opening the American economy and returning our lives to normal,” Moran said. “I applaud Thermo Fisher for committing to produce additional test tubes and am proud that Kansas manufacturing can play an important role in addressing our nation’s testing shortage.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 8:44 AM.
