Express Scripts to build plant in North County
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
November 13, 2009
By Tim Bryant
Express Scripts Inc. made its expansion plans official Thursday, saying it will locate a $74 million drug distribution plant across Interstate 70 from company headquarters in north St. Louis County.
The company had been eyeing the 12-acre site at the NorthPark business park and a warehouse in suburban Philadelphia. Missouri and Pennsylvania had offered Express Scripts tax incentives to woo the plant, which will employ nearly 300 people.
Express Scripts' choice of NorthPark drew praise from county Executive Charlie A. Dooley and Gov. Jay Nixon.
"The addition of these 300 next-generation jobs will be a significant boost to the Missouri economy," Nixon said.
"Additionally, Express Scripts' presence at NorthPark will help to further attract additional investment to its 550-acre business park," Dooley said.
Express Scripts said the new plant will be used to package and ship up to 110,000 prescriptions daily and should be open in April.
"This expansion of our operations aligns with Express Scripts' strategy to optimize service and cost savings for our clients and patients," said George Paz, chairman and CEO.
Express Scripts is among the nation's largest pharmacy benefits managers.
A $3 million state incentive approved in October raised to $7 million the amount of state and county aid offered to Express Scripts to build the drug distribution plant in NorthPark. The Missouri Development Finance Board gave the incentive preliminary approval in August. At the time, the company said it
appreciated the action but added it was still considering the suburban Philadelphia site.
After NorthPark Partners, the business park's developers, began constructing a building this summer on the site Express Scripts was considering, a company spokesman said last month that Missouri had become "a leading contender" for the plant.
