HOLDREGE —BD, formerly known as Becton-Dickinson, in Holdrege will be relocated 100 jobs from their Holdrege plant, a transition which will be completed by Oct. 20.
“BD continually evaluates its operations across our global manufacturing network to leverage available resources, capacity and expertise to make our products as effectively and efficiently as possible while maintaining our high quality and safety standards,” per a BD press release.
“Based on this ongoing assessment, BD has made the decision to move its needle and syringe manufacturing lines from its plant in Holdrege, to other existing BD facilities, primarily to its site in Canaan, Conn.,” per the release.
“The BD manufacturing lines will complete their transition by October 20, 2023, which will affect about 100 positions. BD will continue to retain about 50 employees to operate its medical device sterilization operations and microbiology lab services in the Holdrege facility,” per the release.
“BD’s operations in Holdrege historically supported the company’s diabetes care business, which was spun off to form embecta in 2022. The diabetes care operations under embecta — which employs about 500 people and shares the same physical location as BD operations — will remain in Holdrege,” the release stated.
BD was the largest employer in Phelps County in 2016, according to the Associated Press.
In 2020, BD announced a partnership with the federal Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to manufacture injection devices necessary to support current and future pandemic vaccination efforts, according to a news release.
The syringe and needle lines were installed at the Holdrege facility in the latter half of 2020.
“This difficult strategic decision is not a reflection on the performance of the site. We greatly appreciate the commitment of our Holdrege employees over the years, including the significant role they played in providing critical vaccination devices during the pandemic,” per the release.
“Our teams have met our operational expectations, but other business factors drove these actions. We take any decisions that affect our employees very seriously,” the release stated.
“We are working closely to provide support for our employees in Holdrege as they transition to find new employment, including priority consideration for open positions at nearby facilities and other open roles in BD,” the release concluded.
