Ottobock is moving its North America operations out of Minnesota, where it was first established in Minneapolis in 1958.
According to Karen Lundquist, Ottobock director of communications, North America, Ottobock’s regional headquarters will relocate to Austin, Texas. The fabrication and service divisions will relocate to Salt Lake City, while the warehouse and logistics divisions will move to Louisville, Ky.
“The functions that will relocate and merge with current operation in Salt Lake City, Utah, will take advantage of our existing infrastructure and build synergies within manufacturing to better support evolving policy and procedure compliance,” Andreas Schultz, president and chief financial officer, Otttobock North America, stated in a press release.
Utah approved a tax incentive of $392,019 to encourage the move to Salt Lake City. The incentive is 20% of the net taxes Ottobock will pay over the 7-year life of the agreement. Each year that Ottobock meets the criteria in its contract with the state, it will earn a portion of the tax credit incentive.
It is expected that Ottobock will pay out $16.2 million in new state wages over the course of the 7-year agreement, while the state will see $1.96 million in new state tax revenues and $1 million in capital expansion investment.
According to a report in Qmed, more than 80 jobs will be added to its operations in Salt Lake City, which currently employs roughly 180 employees.
“Our first priority is the well-being of our employees and plans are in place to help them through the disruption that inevitably occurs during any corporate move. We are also committed to continuing to provide our customers with the high level of service they have come to know and depend on,” Lundquist said in a statement.
“As Ottobock looked to the future we sought locations that will help us to best serve our customers in the decades to come,” Lundquist said. “Regional expertise and an environment where our employees and the organization could flourish were our top considerations, as is our continuing commitment to improving patient outcomes and supporting clinical excellence.”
