Catalent Pharma Solutions announced Thursday a $350 million expansion in Bloomington. The company plans to hire 1,000 new employees over the next five years. The average salary for the new jobs will be $32 per hour or more than $60,000 per year.
READ MORE: Catalent has the tax breaks. But will it choose Bloomington for a $350 million expansion?
Catalent acquired Cook Pharmica in 2017 for $950 million. At the time, Cook had 750 employees, but Catalent has increased that number to 3,200.
“It's a growth of the life sciences industry and expansion of that whole sector,” said Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton. “It's a really powerful signal that people want to be in Bloomington.”
City Council approved tax breaks in March to help convince the bio-manufacturing company to expand its local plant.
Catalent General Manager Andrew Espejo said the breaks did influence the decision to expand here as well as available space to build and a diverse workforce.
Currently, 52 percent of Catalent’s employees live in Monroe County. However, it is unknown how many current county residents will be hired during the expansion, compared to people who would move to the region for work.
Espejo said the company will recruit locally if possible but recognizes it might have to look outside the region for some hires.
He added the $350 million will be invested in technology for the facility and a complex packaging space. The jobs will be in production and operations.
READ MORE: Bloomington is giving Catalent tax breaks to expand, but is there enough housing?
( This story has been updated. A previous version stated city council approved tax breaks for Catalent in February.)
