Merz

Merz accelerates its growth in Wisconsin

Sturtevant, Franksville facilities expand

When Merz North America Inc., an aesthetics and neurotoxin manufacturer, decided to upgrade its facilities, Wisconsin’s quick, responsive action helped speed the process along.

Based in North Carolina, the family-owned company has Wisconsin production facilities in Sturtevant and Franksville. In addition to Germany, where its parent company is based, Merz also has manufacturing facilities in Switzerland, and distributes to more than 65 countries. The Wisconsin locations, in operation since 1998, specialize in aesthetic products, stress urinary incontinence products, and vocal fold insufficiency products. Demand is growing for Merz’s implants, which fueled the need for expanded Wisconsin production and distribution.

Quick action helps meet demand

Merz’s growth strategy called for expanding its facilities to ramp up production and meet rapidly growing demand for its bulking agents containing calcium hydroxyapatite. With growth, the company aims to triple its output of a million syringe assemblies per year. But that capacity boost required improvements to the Sturtevant facility and warehouse, where particle manufacturing, packaging, and distribution take place, as well as at the Franksville facility, which focuses on final product manufacturing.

“It’s a global situation where every market has had significantly increased sales, so we are responding to that increase in demand,” says Dean Erickson, vice president of facilities operations at Merz’s Sturtevant plant. “There really isn’t any aspect of our production line, production facility, or manufacturing buildings that we’re not making some changes to.”

WEDC put together $160,000 worth of performance-based tax credits that helped make the project a reality. “Merz has a global presence in its industry, and Wisconsin plays a critical role in its operations,” says WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes. “Its continued presence and job creation in Wisconsin is an effort WEDC can proudly support.”

Company officials were also taken with the speed and care shown during the process, helping to make the upgrades happen and expand employment at the Wisconsin locations.

Keeping production on the growth track

The tax credits helped advance the $8 million project and keep Merz on track to meet its production and sales goals

“The additional funding from WEDC has definitely given us the ability to do some additional project work; we were able to get some equipment ordered sooner, because we didn’t have the funding for that,” says Erickson.  “It ultimately got us making these improvements sooner in the program than was originally expected.”

The expansion, begun in 2022, is expected to create an additional 35 jobs at the Racine County facilities.