On Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Smith & Nephew Inc. has selected its Fort Worth facility to locate a $29 million project, a deal which was closed with the help of a $730,000 grand offer from the Texas Enterprise Fund.
Smith & Nephew, a London-based manufacturer and supplier of advanced medical equipment and technologies, will create 100 new jobs by the end of the project. The jobs will be added at the company’s Vickery Boulevard facility. The company currently employs about 200 people in Fort Worth, where it has its U.S. headquarters for its Advanced Wound Care division.
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“This new Smith & Nephew Inc. project in Fort Worth is just the latest example of the growing diversity of Texas’ strong economy,” said Abbott in a news release. “The manufacturing and medical technology industries continue to boom in Texas and especially in the Fort Worth area, and this project is further proof of that success. I thank Smith & Nephew Inc. for their continued investment in our economy and for creating hundreds of jobs for hard working Texans.”
Fort Worth was competing for the project with Oklahoma, Tennessee and Hull, England.
Matt Stober, president, Global Operations for Smith & Nephew, said the project will involve manufacturing process in the wound care area and “create many high quality jobs for local scientists, engineers and technicians.”
Robert Sturns, director for the Fort Worth Economic Development Department said the city was excited to expand Smith & Nephew’s presence in the area. “Our community has a strong interest in advancing opportunities in bio-tech and medical innovation and see this partnership with Smith & Nephew as a key component in those efforts. Fort Worth’s commitment to supporting medical and life services companies is perfectly suited for international manufacturers like Smith & Nephew and the support of the state was instrumental in bringing this project to fruition.”