ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A local manufacturer is expanding in Rockford.
PCI Parma Services broke ground on a new facility Thursday. They plan to grow their reach in the state with an over $100 million investment into the City of Rockford.
Company leaders said that what will be done at these facilities is monumental.
“We could really go anywhere in the world, and this, we decided Rockford, Illinois, was the right place for this,” said Mike Ellingson, general manager of PCI Pharma Services.
The company is growing with two new facilities on Linden Road, just east of Alpine, spanning some 200,000 square feet. PCI Pharma Services already has over 2,500 employees in Rockford, and they are looking to grow another 300-500 jobs at the new packaging building.
“So, the ability to come here and stay in the community, there’s some obvious synergies here that work for us,” Ellingson said. “We did do some extensive feasibility work to ensure that the area would support the additional business, and we’re really excited about the results.”
“Well, it’s a number of, you know, jobs that are being created not only through the construction of this project, but the permanent jobs that are going to be created,” added Todd Cagnoni, Rockford City Administrator. “It allows for a long-term tax base to be created, economic wealth within our community, and those are the priorities of our organization and the communities.”
The $150 million facility is hoping to innovate how medicine is being delivered. Company leaders said that workers will assemble and package “auto injectors,” advanced drug delivery devices that delivers therapy for autoimmune disease, diabetes, weight loss and more.
“And, it’s a new form factor. It’s a kind of a sea change in the pharmaceutical industry to go from oral solid dose pills into injectables, and these are drugs that you actually inject yourself at home,” said Brad Payne, COO of PCI. “So, if you have an autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis, you don’t need to go into the doctor for an injection. You can go to the pharmacy.”
PCI hopes to change the medicine game, and they said that Rockford is the place to do it.
“So, it’s an important time,” Payne said. “I compare it to maybe when companies came out with drugs that lowered our cholesterol or improved our blood pressure. I think it’s that big of a change in the pharmaceutical industry, and I’m really proud to be a part of it.”
The facility is looking to be complete in Summer 2024.
