LISI Medical Remmele Inc., maker of minimally invasive medical devices and components in Big Lake and Coon Rapids, will receive a grant from a state job-creation fund to support a building expansion that will create 19 jobs within three years.
LISI Medical, part of the French manufacturing conglomerate LISI Group, is spending $9.4 million to nearly double the size of its plant on Hwy. 10 in Big Lake. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) said Wednesday that the state will support that expansion with a $345,000 grant from its Job Creation Fund.
The grant money will flow after LISI Medical meets its commitments to expand the building and hire the new workers. A news release about the program said companies must create at least 10 full-time jobs and invest at least $500,000 to be eligible for financial assistance.
A LISI spokesman said via e-mail that the Big Lake plant primarily makes components and assemblies for minimally invasive surgery, spinal surgery and cardiovascular procedures.
"These are expanding segments, so the expansion allows us to both grow volumes of existing devices as well as add new programs," spokesman Clinton Schneider wrote Wednesday.
The Big Lake facility will expand to 115,000 square feet, from 65,000 today.
A statement from DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy said the med-tech sector is a vital part of the Minnesota economy and supporting LISI Medical with a job-creation grant will help strengthen the state's status as a med-tech industry leader.
The news release said the Job Creation Fund has awarded more than $32 million for 74 business expansions since it was launched in January 2014. Companies in the program have committed to creating 4,440 full-time jobs and investing more than $1 billion to expand.
Joe Carlson • 612-673-477
