Eye care manufacturer Alcon broke ground recently on an expansion of its medical device manufacturing facility at Greenbottom, near Lesage, in Cabell County.
“We are adding about 70,000 square feet and the facility will be approximately 200,000 square feet,” said Jason Mangum, general manager of Alcon Huntington West Virginia. “We’re also going through a renovation on the interior of approximately 50 to 60,000 square feet as well.”
Mangum said the company will invest $70 million in its Huntington-area operation as it looks to consolidate with its other location eight miles away.
“We are currently in two different operations, but obviously there’s there’s many synergies and efficiencies by having it under one roof,” he said. “So we’re excited to have a new state-of-the-art facility and be able to bring our teams under one roof in a world-class facility.”
Both operations currently employ around 500 associates, Mangum said, and that level will be maintained following the consolidation, reports The Herald-Dispatch.
The new portion of the facility will manufacture intraocular lenses, which are artificial lenses used in cataract surgery procedures.
“So when a patient has a cataract, they remove their natural lens and they replace it with an artificial lens, and that’s what we manufacture here in Huntington,” Mangum said.
He said Alcon has a $65 million impact to the local community.
“We are proud of the impact that we have on our community, but we’re also very excited about our future,” he said.