Clinical research company Thermo Fisher Scientific held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of its new facility in Mebane on Thursday.
Production will begin within the next few weeks at the 375,000-square-foot facility, which will focus mainly on manufacturing precision pipette tips for use in labs around the world. Thermo Fisher expects to produce 40 million pipette tips every week at the new facility.
The ceremony featured speeches by Governor Josh Stein, Mebane mayor Ed Hooks, Thermo Fisher chief communications officer Sandy Pound, and the company’s president of laboratory chemicals and plastics essentials Erica Hirsch, as well as a video message from Sen. Thom Tillis.
“We are home to a burgeoning biotech cluster here in North Carolina,” Gov. Stein said. “There’s so much more happening in biotech in North Carolina. The vibrancy of this cluster now serves to attract, nurture, and expand life science businesses across the state in a virtuous cycle. That’s what brings us here today.”
Gov. Josh Stein speaks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Thermo Fisher’s new manufacturing site in Mebane.
Stein said Thermo Fisher’s commitment to expanding its North Carolina presence not only helps solidify the state’s reputation for biotech, but also makes the country more prepared and well-equipped to address future crises.
“The opening of this facility is a testament to the strengthening of our supply chain, especially in light of the vulnerabilities and disruptions that we all experienced during the COVID pandemic,” he said. “By ensuring a reliable domestic supply chain of pipette tips, which are essential for diagnostic testing and scientific research, this facility will help us overcome hurdles in the future.”
About a hundred representatives, employees, politicians, and others attended the closed ceremony at the new facility in Mebane.
Hooks extolled the history and character of Mebane in his speech, and spoke of the new facility as a harbinger of a bright future.
“Today we gather not only to celebrate an important milestone in Mebane’s ongoing journey, but also to honor the essence of a community that has always possessed a resilient spirit and a forward-looking vision,” he said. “It is with genuine excitement that we welcome Thermo Fisher Scientific as our newest community partner and corporate citizen. This partnership marks not just the arrival of a world-class company, but a significant chapter in Mebane’s history and Mebane’s story, a chapter that blends our past with a promising future.”
Mebane mayor Ed Hooks speaks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Thermo Fisher’s new manufacturing site.
Pipettes are an essential tool for ensuring precise accuracy, consistency, and reproducibility in lab experiments for a variety of scientific fields. Hirsch said pipette tips like the ones to be made in the Mebane facility will play a crucial role in scientific achievements around the world.
“It gives our customers confidence that when demand surges, whether from a public health emergency or a breakthrough research initiative, they will have the tools they need made right here in North Carolina,” she said. “A single rack of pipette tips produced here might touch the hands of researchers in Nairobi, Boston, or São Paulo, each one using them to advance science.”
Thermo Fisher had announced its plan to build this facility in 2021 as part of a $192.5 million co-investment contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The company already has nine other locations in North Carolina, employing about 7,800 people in Durham, Raleigh, Greensboro, High Point, Greenville, Wilmington, and Asheville. The Mebane site is within the Buckhorn Industrial Park, part of Orange County’s Buckhorn Economic Development District, which already houses facilities for other tech companies such as Medline Industries and ABB Inc.
The new facility is expected to add 150-200 jobs, for which Pound said Thermo Fisher will prioritize recruiting local talent and growing the company’s partnerships with universities and community colleges in North Carolina.
“This is important to us to both help support manufacturing careers in the area and to encourage greater diversity in North Carolina’s life sciences sector. We’re so very grateful for the strong partnership we have with the residents and the business community here in North Carolina, and we’re working together to build a very bright future,” she said. “We’re so proud to have a legacy of innovation, manufacturing excellence, and community partnership in the state.”
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