Biotech firm to stay, plans expansion
A section of Dan Road once destined to have three empty industrial buildings instead will house a bustling campus that is expected to include more than 600 employees working with cutting-edge biotechnology.
Organogenesis, a biotechnology firm based in Canton that makes artificial skin, had anticipated moving out of state. But last week it announced that it will expand its current headquarters, thanks in part to Governor Deval Patrick's $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, and the $12.9 million incentive it offers for Organogenesis.
With the company's expansion comes the prospect of new jobs for Canton-area residents.
The company's CEO, Geoff MacKay, said the decision is a "permanent solution" to its need to expand its facilities. The fields of stem cells and regenerative medicine have significant growth potential, he said.
The company has a "tight timeline" of three to four years to increase production space and gain US Federal Drug Administration approvals for new and expanded products, he said at a press conference with Patrick. Taking advantage of the existing buildings in an area that is already zoned industrial will make it easier to meet that schedule, he said.
The company has about 325 workers and anticipates hiring 50 more in the near future and eventually expanding to 600, company officials said.
Staying near Canton was a priority for employees, MacKay said, since about 80 percent of them live within 10 miles of Canton.
Most workers, who include community college and technical school graduates and those with multiple advanced degrees, wanted to avoid a commute into Boston or Cambridge, he said.
The upgrading of the Dan Road buildings will begin "almost immediately," he said.
The company will keep its property at 150 Dan Road and, by adding the buildings at 85 Dan Road and 275 Dan Road, create a campus across the three properties. The buildings are within 100 yards of each other and the move will increase the company's square footage from 79,000 to 250,000, with room for additional expansion. Dan Road is an industrial area that intersects with Route 138 near the Stoughton line.
Organogenesis was started in the mid-1980s to develop marketable products from discoveries made by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The company's mainstay product is called Apligraf - an artificial skin product that contains living cells. It is used primarily to treat leg and foot diabetic ulcers and other chronic wounds, such as bedsores. The company also plans to expand its use of robotics, and to continue developing other products, including BioStar, which treats a common heart defect that often leads to strokes.
State Senator Brian A. Joyce said the company is desirable because it is a "clean" company and is growing. It will contribute to a "better-educated workforce," he said, adding that the average pay for an Organogenesis employee is $77,000 a year.
Robert E. Burr Jr., chairman of Canton selectmen, said the three Dan Road properties netted the town about $370,000 in property tax revenue last year. The company's decision, however, won't solve all the town's financial woes or obviate the need for a pending three-year, $4.5 million Proposition 2 1/2 override, he said.
The $12.9 million incentive package offered the company is worth the costs that may get passed on to taxpayers, said Selectman John J. Connolly. "You have to spend a little money to make more money," he said.
Elaine Cushman Carroll can be reached at elaine_carroll@msn.com.
