160 High Tech Jobs Retained in North County
KMOX
May 18, 2011
By Kevin Killeen
A bagpiper in kilts welcomed Missouri Governor Nixon to the grand opening of a bio-pharmaceutical manufacturer in north St. Louis County whose CEO hails from Scotland.
Nixon was greeted by Gallus CEO and President Mark Bamforth to celebrate Gallus buying a 15 acre facility from Centocor and keeping 160 jobs in the area.
"We're in a place that could've been empty," Nixon said, "It could've been a place we drove by on 70 in a few years that was empty. But instead, not only are the 160 employees going to be here, but they're in a growth mode."
Gallus is a contract manufacturer of clinical and commercial-grade bulk biologics products made from plant cell cultures. Bamforth described the operation as "a new contract manufacturing model" in which clients can own their own space in the building.
"Gallus is the engine we've been waiting for to launch the bio belt onto the map," Bamforth said.
The firm is regulated and approved "worldwide" for the making of bio-pharmaceuticals, Bamforth said. He touted the facility's proximity to the airport for the shipping of goods to market.
Governor Nixon was lavish in his praise of the firm as an example of the "high tech jobs of the future." The average salary of the 160 jobs retained is $88,500, Nixon said. Nixon says Gallus plans to add another 160 jobs "over the next five years."
The firm will get $14.6 million in state economic aid over the next ten years - if it meets requirements of each incentive program.
