The medical supply company Medline first announced its plans for a major distribution center in Orange County in 2019, marking one of the latest businesses to take advantage of space along the I-40/I-85 corridor. On Tuesday, that facility was finally dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and Orange County officials got a chance to see operations unfold at the complex off West Ten Road in Mebane.
The 1.2 million square-foot site makes Medline the largest commercial space in Orange County, with the healthcare supplier investing $103 million into the space. It’s the latest of 43 distribution centers in the U.S. and the second in North Carolina.
Paul Niederkorn, who is the vice president of regional operations for Medline, told 97.9 The Hill that his company is spread far and wide to achieve the goal of quick distribution. Not only does Medline manufacture thousands of products for medical work, but its goal is to deliver much-needed supplies the next day after they’re ordered from healthcare customers.
That made the Triangle desirable in the first place, with its strong healthcare roots. But Niederkorn said the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance for the company to be self-sufficient in responding to industry needs of things like masks, gloves, and other supplies used to respond to cases.
“Because we had that distribution network,” he described, “we could get that product to our customers very quickly. And we control the supply chain, because now we’re manufacturing it, we’re distributing it, and we have a private fleet. We have our own trucks we can put product on and make sure they get to the customer [so they are] not relying on someone who may be having difficulties with labor shortages or any other type of issue.”
Now, operations at the Medline facility are at full capacity – with the company already hitting its employment benchmarks to earn the tax incentives passed by Orange County in 2019. The distribution center supports more than 245 jobs on an expected payroll of $12 million, with hundreds more positions expected to be added in the next decade.
A look at the façade of the Medline medical distribution center in Orange County, which is part of the Buckhorn Economic Development District.
Niederkorn said this kind of workforce is attractive to several people in the region, either bringing them to Orange County or offering a new opportunity for residents.
“Those jobs are very secure and very career-developing,” said the regional vice president. “We’re not a seasonal type of employer, we don’t go shifts in volumes. We have a steady growth because we have a very resilient salesforce, and we have a great group of customers that know we are there for them – and that helps us provide the stability and security for the operation [staff] as well.”
Those at the dedication ceremony got to see that staff in action on Tuesday, as tours were offered after the ribbon cutting. People walked through the complex and watched the employees work in tandem with robotics to select, package, and load hundreds of different medical supplies.
Paul Niederkorn, the vice president of regional operations for Medline, welcomes the crowd gathered for Monday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Vice Chair of the Orange County Commissioners Earl McKee said he was impressed by the technology and intricacy of the distribution setups. But he pointed to Medline’s honoring of its staff during the earlier ceremony. Since the facility has been up and running, the site’s leadership awarded six employees with certificates of excellent service to the team.
“That blew me away,” said McKee. “To have that company take an event that could been nothing but ‘we’re opening up, it’s going to be a wonderful thing.’ But then to take a brief moment and recognize employees they obviously felt are a cut above, it really impressed me that they’d do that.”
While Medline was one of the first companies to land in the Buckhorn Economic Development District – which sits in Mebane city limits and in Orange County – McKee pointed to it being the latest of several successes in the corridor. He said he hopes Medline will join employers like Morinaga and ABB in helping diversify the county’s tax base and taking pressure off residents’ tax bills.
But Orange County’s strategy is not simply “big game hunting,” as the county commissioner put it. McKee said he believes it is critical to balance the existence of national companies with local businesses.
“The best thing that I see our board can do,” he said, “is continue to try and attract top-level industrial entities like Medline, while we also provide as much assistance and support as we possibly can for our home-grown businesses, start-ups, established older line small companies, and mom-and-pop stores.”
Medline is expected to soon be joined by another supply company in the Buckhorn Economic Development District: ThermoFisher. The scientific instruments company is set to built a new manufacturing facility for laboratory pipette tips in the Buckhorn Industrial Park, which is just down the road from Medline, and create between 150 and 200 new jobs to Orange County.
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