Business & Tech

STERIS To Build Manufacturing Site In Mentor

The $8 million investment will create at least 75 jobs in the city

had news so big that Ohio Gov. John Kasich visited and helped to announce it Tuesday.

The manufacturer of hospital sterilization equipment and other infection-killing products will be investing $8 million into its Mentor facility at 6100 Heisley Road.

The facility, which is now used solely as a distribution center, will also manufacture components for its products that will be shipped to other assembly locations, STERIS President Walt Rosebrough said.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

The new fabrication site will create at least 75 jobs in the next year.

Rosebrough said the company had three locations where they could have put the manufacturing site -- Ohio, Alabama or Mexico. However, STERIS ultimately decided to expand in Mentor.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

"Gov. Kasich took the time to follow up and receive updates on our progress," Rosebrough said. "More than once, he gave us a call to make sure we came to the right conclusion.

"It was clear to us that Ohio continues to be a manufacturing leader and a great place to make products."

Kasich talked about how STERIS -- as well as local resources like the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University -- positioned Ohio to be a power player in the medical industry.

"This is the future and, Ohio, we got it," he said at the press conference Tuesday. "We've got the structure here to be winners in Ohio in medicine. And it's pretty exciting because we can provide solutions for the world."

STERIS was lured to invest in Ohio partly because of an offer from the , which involved different tax credits as well as low-interest loan, said JobsOhio official Mark Patton.

"This is a really satisfying project to be involved in. (JobsOhio is) about competing for jobs. We don't create jobs. Companies create jobs," Patton said.

Mentor City Manager Kenneth Filipiak said he appreciated that STERIS chose, once again, to invest in Mentor.

"This could have gone anywhere, to any of their facilities, but Walt was committed to bringing it here because he knows the capabiities of this facility and that Mentor is the heart and soul of Steris," Filipiak said.

STERIS's announcement comes on the heels 18 months ago, which added a planning and design center to its campus where the company works with its hospital customers on their expansion projects.

"It seems like once a year now we're announcing a new STERIS investment and it always seems like you're doing it around Christmas time," Filipiak said. "I appreciate that. It's the best Christmas gift you could give me."

STERIS spokesman Stephen Norton said work on the manufacturing site will begin immediately, as will the hiring of at least 75 machinists and engineers who will staff it.

Those who wish to apply for those jobs can do so on STERIS's web site.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Mentor