Bristol-Myers breaks ground at Devens

A ground-breaking ceremony was scheduled for this morning for a $750 million drug plant on the site of the former Devens military installation in Central Massachusetts.

At the ceremony, Governor Deval L. Patrick and other state and local officials are expected to join executives of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., which is building the plant, the company said.

Headquartered in New York, Bristol-Myers Squibb is a worldwide health and personal-care company that manufactures medicines and other products.

The plant is expected to be operational in 2009, and Bristol-Myers Squibb said it announced its decision to site the plant at the Devens location last June.

A Globe story from September that referenced Bristol-Myer Squibb's plans noted that the plant has the potential to expand to a $1 billion investment and to employ 550 people.

According to that story, Bristol-Myer Squibb's decision to build a plant at Devens marked a triumph of then Governor Mitt Romney's administration to court business.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)