FDAH postpones R & D facility
Kansas construction will be delayed; local operations will continue as isBy JESSE HELLING, Messenger staff writer
Construction of a new research and development facility for Fort Dodge Animal Health has been postponed indefinitely.
As such, dozens of research jobs that were slated to move to the new facility will remain in Fort Dodge.
Company officials cited the ongoing economic downturn as reason for postponement of the $40 million center, which would be located in Olathe, Kan. - close to the company's headquarters in Overland Park, Kan.
However, Fort Dodge Animal Health is committed to maintaining operations even without the new facility, said company spokeswoman Kelly Goss.
"Research and development will continue," Goss said.
No cuts to the company's product lines or work force are planned, she said.
"We will continue to work to be on the cutting edge of science and innovation, positioning ourselves as a global leader in the animal health market," Goss said.
The new research and development facility was announced in November 2007.
The announcement sparked rumors about the demise of the company's Fort Dodge facility - rumors that were flatly denied by then-President E. Thomas Corcoran.
Plans were for the Fort Dodge center to focus on production, with the Olathe facility housing a larger portion of the company's research efforts.
Dennis Plautz, director of the Fort Dodge Department of Business Affairs and Community Growth, said that the postponement of the research and development facility will keep a number of high-salary positions in Fort Dodge. Tentative plans had called for some of the scientists employed at the Fort Dodge plant to transfer to Olathe.
Plautz said the city remains committed to supporting Fort Dodge Animal Health to help "make sure they stay profitable and viable."
"We want to help address their needs," he said.
Plautz said that he maintains "constant contact" with FDAH's corporate headquarters, as well as with local managers.
"The company has been very forthright with us about their plans," he said. "They are excellent corporate people to work with."
Due to Monday's inclement weather, local FDAH offices were closed. Local company officials could not be reached for comment.
Contact Jesse Helling at (515) 573-2141 or jhelling@messengernews.net
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BornInFD
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01-13-09 10:14 AM
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Brain drain is truly frustrating, Huevos. Having been born in FD and receiving my graduate degree somewhere else, I can't fathom there ever being a time I could return there to live. This announcement sounds like a stay of execution, eventually the economy will rebound and that facility will be built. Lately, I am extremely cautious when a company publicly announces they are financially healthy only to announce soon after they are laying off, applying for bailout funds or simply filing for bankruptcy. Problem with this company is that if they do go belly up, none of use will benefit from their fire sale.
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HUEVOSRANCHEROS
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01-13-09 1:00 AM
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¡The fact that more white collar jobs are up and leaving for a better place is just another wake-up call to the city. People don't want to waste their education on being stuck in an exhausted town like Fort Dodge. I would like to think that city leaders and anyone else who might be of assistance would be frantically assembling a terrific incentive package to keep those jobs in the area but, I'm sure they're more concerned about whether to cut funding to a library or a museum. Oh the frustration.
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