GMMDC Magazine by Bartlett Insights

GMMDC Journal & Membership Directory

2019

Greater Memphis Medical Device Council

History

Education

H e a lt h

Industry

8 Overview –

20 Machine Apprentice Program

34 MicroPort

58 Campbell Clinic –

12 Industry Growth –

22 Herff College of Engineering

40 Wright Medical

60 Memphis Ortho –

21 Student Recruitment

Medical Devices

Shelby County

Mayor Keith McDonald

16 Interview –

City of Bartlett

18 GMMDC –

Organization History

4 Industry News

University of Memphis

24 Moore Tech – Interview

28 TN State Rep Mark White

30 TCAT Memphis – Interview 32 Senator Mark Norris 70 Haas Foundation

5 GMMDC Board of Directors

38 Smith & Nephew 42 ONYX - a Elos

Medtech Company

Dr. Frederick Azar

Dr. Jean Simard

46 Medtronic

50 Methods Machine Tools

54 CirQuest

65 GMMDC Industry Directory: Medical Device - Manufacturers

G M M D C J our n al & M embership D irectory PUBLISHER

Diana Threadgill ART DIRECTOR

Murry Keith

A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R S

George Larrimore Deborah Camp Suzanne Gibson John Dodd

WRITERS

SeniorGeorge Larrimore Deborah Camp Diana Threadgill Suzanne Cunningham John Threadgill

PHOTOGRAPHY

The Memphis Daily News – Houston Cofield Herff College of Engineering – The University of Memphis The Haas Foundation Braganza Design Group Joe Murphy (NBAE) Diana Threadgill Suzanne Gibson

Published by the Greater Memphis Medical Device Council (GMMDC) 2969 Elmore Park Road, Bartlett, TN 38134-8309 Phone: (901) 380-2710 Fax: (901) 372-9488 www.gmmdc.org Reproduction in whole or part without the publisher’s consent is strictly prohibited. Opinions and perspectives expressed in the Greater Memphis Medical Device Council (GMMDC) Journal & Industry Directory are those of the writers who contributed to the publication’s content and do not necessarily represent that of the GMMDC or its members. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the GMMDC Journal & Industry Directory and the Greater Memphis Medical Device Council assume no liability for errors and omissions.

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medical device m a n u fa c t u r e r s

G M M D C

KEY FACTS ABOUT THE Memphis Medical Device INDUSTRY IN THE MEMPHIS AREA • Tennessee’s largest exporter and contributes $2.7 billion annually to our economy. • Shelby County contains the second largest concentration of orthopedic and spine medical device manufacturing companies in the United States. • More than 55 life science companies are located in the Greater Memphis Area. • Since 1999, employment within the Memphis medical device manufacturing industry has grown nearly 50%– more than four times the national rate of growth.

G MMDC M i s s i o n and Vision To increase career opportunities and job growth through the development of a world class educated workforce that serves the Memphis area biomedical industries.

• Generates more than $46 million in annual taxes for local and State governments and produces 17,000 area jobs.

W OR K FORCE Pa r t n e r s

Roy Smith Executive Director Greater Memphis Medical Device Council (GMMDC)

‘‘ O

ur mission at the GMMDC is to create a pipeline of skilled employees through specialized vocational classes for medical device manufacturers and their associated vendors. We’re also helping parents, students and teachers understand the great benefits of this career training. While still in high school, students can use the Tennessee Promise grant and dual enrollment classes to complete a diploma, and then go directly into a job or an apprenticeship — with no college debt.”

G M MDC Jou rna l & Dir ec t or y

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gene Baker – Chairman GMMDC

Vice President – Global Warehousing Distribution and Trade Compliance Smith and Nephew www.smith-nephew.com

Jodie Gilmore – Co-Chair GMMDC CEO/Managing Director – Global Business Director for Orthopedics ONYX - an Elos Medtech Company www.onyxmedical.net

Jack Hanzlik Supply Chain Director Odyssey Medical Technologies, LLC www.odysseymedicaltech.com

Richard (Dick) Lundsford Sr. Director, Manufacturing MicroPort Orthopedics www.ortho.microport.com

Roy Smith – President GMMDC Executive Director Greater Memphis Medical Device Council www.gmmdc.org

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

John Threadgill – Secretary/Treasurer GMMDC President and CEO Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce www.bartlettchamber.org

Phil Ward

Sr. Director, Manufacturing Wright Medical www.wright.com

Bob Wilson

President H. Saga – Port Alliance www.sagaintl.com

Willis Yates President Y & W Technologies www.ywtech.com

GMMDC Jo urn al & Dir ec t or y

H IS T O RY

how medical devices impact our

everyday

lives From the beginning needâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;Ś.to present day.

By Deborah Camp s the medical device industry in Bartlett and the greater Memphis area continues to grow, many are wondering what exactly this industry does and how it impacts our communities. Drawn to the area because of its attractive logistics distribution channels, this rapidly developing industry pumps close to $3 billion dollars annually into our local economy, and employs over 12,000 people either directly or peripherally. Shelby County also contains the second largest concentration of orthopedic and spine medical device companies in the United States. However, the global reach of the medical device industry is highly diverse, representing a much broader spectrum of products and high-tech equipment. Ranging from the humble Band-Aid to sophisticated implantable appliances, medical devices include heart pacemakers, artificial hips, breast implants, gmmdc.o r g

Almost everyone in our community has either been affected themselves by this industry or k nows someone who has.

intraocular lens, and insulin pumps among many others. The World Health Organization describes medical devices as “any instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, appliance, implant, reagent for in vitro use, or software intended by the manufacturer to be used, alone or in combination, for human beings, for one or more specific medical purposes.” These purposes include but are not limited to diagnosis, prevention, and disease treatment, to replacement and modification of the anatomy. Almost everyone in our community has either been affected themselves by this industry or knows someone who has. Daily we see people using wheelchairs or other mobility products, or we know someone who has undergone cataract surgery and now views the world more clearly through tiny, intraocular lenses. Cosmetic breast reconstruction is common among women who have had breast cancer. In addition to the consumers who are beneficiaries of the industry, there are others who also depend upon medical devices. Medical examiners, for example, sometimes require alternative ways to identify a body when visual identification isn’t possible. Recently the Medical Examiner’s Office in Memphis was involved in a case of

GMMDC Jou rnal & Dir ec t or y

a woman who died in her home, and was not discovered until almost two weeks after her death. As a former breast cancer patient, her implanted medical device yielded its unique serial number, which in turn revealed positive identification of the individual. According to a July 2017 article in the Journal of Forensic Science, “If an implanted medical device is known to be present, and medical records are available, identification by medical device serial number should be a first-line method.” While we marvel at how rapidly the industry is advancing, the use of medical devices dates back into antiquity. Five thousand years ago Egyptian surgeons practiced with instruments such as saws, knives, pincers, and forceps. This was long before the days of hygienic practices and anesthesia. Photographs of excavated tools confirm the use of primitive scalpels and instruments that look like long, thick needles. The Greeks, and then the Romans, introduced new medical devices including bone drills, catheters and the vaginal speculum. Even with these advances, the devices were still primitive and there remained little relief from the pain of surgery. Roman medical writer Aulus Cornelius Celsus, born in

25 BC, chronicled the medical profession of that era, and described the ideal surgeon as one who should have a “strong and steady hand that never trembles, and ready to use the left hand as well as the right; with vision sharp and clear, and spirit undaunted; filled with pity, so that he wishes to cure his patient, yet is not moved by his cries to go too fast or cut less than is necessary, but he does everything just as if the cries of pain cause him no emotion.” Over time new medical devices were improved upon and invented. Arrow removers, which looked something like scissors in reverse, were invented in the 1500s to remove protruding arrows from the body of unlucky victims. Syringes, which were much larger than the tiny, thin hypodermics used today, were revised in the 1500s, and were used to inject mercury as a treatment for syphilis. Amputation saws date back to the early Egyptians, but its use during the Civil War led to more lives being saved due to bromine, which was administered to prevent gangrene. By then, chloroform, when available, served as anesthesia. Medical devices, and surgery, have come a long way over the centuries. In the greater Memphis area thousands of doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners depend

daily upon their use. The industry is regulated by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), which publishes a database on medical devices, some of which are updated annually, monthly, weekly, even daily or whenever certain facts become available. The site also offers extensive information on the industry, including regulatory guidelines, how devices are classified under FDA rules, product research, and free webinars for consumers and stakeholders. Surgeons play an important, if not collaborative role in providing feedback to medical device manufacturers and distributors. This in turn results in the improvement of existing devices and in the innovation of new solutions. Few would disagree that the growth of life-saving technologies in the medical device industry are leading to happier and healthier patients. Patients, however, are those who benefit most and who have the final word on their effectiveness. Carol Perel, who recuperated at her daughter’s Bartlett home following her knee surgery last year, sums it up: “I got my life back last year after my knee replacement surgery. I can now walk and hike and do all the things I enjoy doing without pain and discomfort.” gmmdc.o r g

H I S T O R Y

Willis Campbell (center)

GMMDC Jo urn al & Dir ec t or y

HISTORY OF THE

MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRY IN THE MEMPHIS REGION

In the Beginning— the chapters revealed

ince 1999, employment within the Memphis medical device manufacturing industry has grown nearly 50% - more than four times the national rate of growth. This phenomenon, and subsequent rise in economic growth for the region, was set in motion by remote circumstances in a native landscape ripe in grand opportunities. Industry experts agree that the development of this major concentration of medical device companies in the Memphis region was not orchestrated, nor was it conceived or planned……it simply ‘happened’. Originating in the early 1900s, the industry began with only “two individuals; a man who literally wrote the book on orthopedic operating procedures and a former drug store clerk who invented the sugar-coated pill.” The physician was Dr. Willis C. Campbell and he is still regarded by many as one of the primary founders of modern orthopedic devices. Campbell, born in 1880 in Jackson, MS, received his medical degree at the University of Virginia and then set up practice in Memphis. However, his ongoing interest in orthopaedics led him to London and Vienna to study the latest techniques and in 1909, this southern born medical pioneer returned to Memphis and set up an historic orthopedic practice. When the University of Tennessee - Memphis Medical Campus was established in 1910, Dr. Campbell was asked to organize its Department of Orthopedic Surgery. He established the first orthopedic residency program at the University, and co-founded The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), serving as its first president. With his extensive knowledge and orthopedic expertise, Dr. Campbell also wrote the first textbook on the subject, Campbell’s Operative Orthopedics. Considered to be the definitive work for that medical specialty, the textbook continues to retain its former status with the 13th edition published in 2016. The next chapter or rather, the second major contributor, was “the inventor” in the medical device historical accounts that began in Warsaw, Indiana. It was there that entrepreneur Revra DePuy, a native of Michigan, created gmmdc.o r g

the world’s first commercial orthopedic manufacturing facility. Working as a drug store clerk spurred his early interest in pharmaceuticals and eventually led him to earn a degree in chemistry from the University of Toronto. After college, he invented a technique for sugar coated pills and later worked as a successful traveling salesman until finally settling down in Warsaw. It was here that DePuy developed a fiber splint to replace the wooden barrel splints which J. Don Richards had been used primarily by the Army to set bone fractures. In 1895 DePuy Manufacturing was born and the U.S. Army soon became his largest customer. When DePuy died in 1921, the company’s first sales representative, Justin O. Zimmer, offered to buy the company from DePuy’s widow. When she refused to sell, Zimmer went across town and set up a competing business in 1927 and named it after himself. These two companies established Warsaw as the medical device capital of America and both remain giants in the industry.

Richards Medical, The Campbell Clinic and Dr. John J. Shea

he development of the medical device industry in Warsaw, coupled with the professional reputation of Dr. Campbell and his overall influence in the field of orthopaedics, helped set the stage for another entrepreneur to emerge: J. Don Richards, a Mississippi native. Richards was one of Zimmer’s top orthopedic salesmen and had developed extensive knowledge of the industry. These experiences enabled him when deciding to compete with his employer and its arch-rival DePuy. But instead of immediately setting up shop in Warsaw, Richards began to consider Memphis as a prime location as it would allow him to set up operations near the Campbell Clinic and provide access to some of the leading practitioners in the country. However, as fate would have it, the strongest advocate for Memphis was his wife, Mrs. Euna Richards, a New Orleans native who refused to move anywhere north of Memphis. Consequently, Richards ended up choosing a happy marriage here, and in 1934 established Richards Manufacturing in a basement garage on Madison Avenue. This single event was the beginning of the medical device industry in Shelby County. Eventually, Richards Manufacturing was rebranded and expanded into Richards Medical with a focus on manufacturing simple orthopedic splints and rib belts. Through the collaborative association with Campbell Clinic and their local orthopaedic surgeons, the company

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continued to develop and expand its medical device product lines. Another significant collaboration took place in the early 1950’s between a famous Memphis physician and an engineer at Richards Medical that resulted in a revolutionary medical device. Dr. John J. Shea met with Harry Treace, a talented artist and designer, on a Friday afternoon in his office at Richards. Their discussions led to the creation of a Teflon replica of a stapes, a small bone that rests against the eardrum and picks up vibrations, translating them to sound. The first stapes modeled by Treace was made from a bar of Ivory Soap. This innovative product marked the beginning of Richards Medical move into the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) medical device market. Harry Treace also created the first compression hip screw, which became the standard for the treatment of broken hips. Treace eventually became the president and sole owner of Richards upon the death of J. Don Richards. The Shea/Richards collaboration began an unprecedented period of innovation which resulted in revolutionary advances in otology, including and most notably, the stapedectomy operation for otosclerosis, a leading cause of conductive deafness. The operation is performed worldwide with very few changes to Dr. Shea’s procedure and firmly established Memphis as a hotbed of medical innovation. Dr. Shea performed over 25,000 stapedectomies during his career and the Shea Ear Clinic remains one of the preeminent centers in the world in performing this very difficult Dr. John J. Shea procedure. Dr. John Shea was also responsible for many other advances in otology, including middle ear prostheses, microscopes, drills and other surgical instruments, and intratympanic perfusion, a major advance in the treatment of inner ear disorders including Meniere’s disease.

Growth and Acquisition – Smith & Nephew, Gyrus and Olympus

n 1984 Richards purchased twenty acres in the Bartlett Industrial Park, the park’s first tenant, and constructed a 116,000 sq. ft. facility totally dedicated to the manufacture of ear, nose and throat products (ENT). In 1986, Richards was acquired by Smith & Nephew, a British healthcare company and became Smith & Nephew ENT. By 1992, sales reach $25 million and doubled by the year 2000. In 2001, Smith & Nephew ENT was purchased

by Gyrus Group forming Gyrus ENT. In 2012, Gyrus was acquired by Olympus Surgical Technologies America which recently broke ground in Bartlett for a new $12 million facility. The two-story 110,000 sq. ft. service and distribution center is completed and plans are to employ up to 280 new employees. The orthopedic branch of Richards was also purchased by Smith & Nephew, becoming Smith & Nephew Orthopaedics with five manufacturing, research and distribution facilities located in the Memphis area.

Wright for Memphis

rank O. Wright was another instrumental and key character in the historic development of the orthopaedic industry in Memphis. A salesman for Richards Medical, Frank came up with an idea to lessen back pain for people walking in leg casts. In 1950 Wright created and marketed his “all rubber walking heels” for leg casts. His company, Wright Manufacturing, quickly grew and moved to Arlington in 1970. In the following decade, a new line of implants featuring an exciting new technology, silicone, was introduced for the small joints of the fingers and toes. In 1977, two years after Frank Wright’s death, Dow Corning purchased Wright Manufacturing and renamed it Dow Corning Wright. In 1986 Dow formed a plastic surgery division and added breast implants as a new product line. In 1990 Wright introduced the Whiteside Modular Knee, named after Dr. Leo Whiteside of St. Louis, which became an industry breakthrough. Willis Campbell’s 60th birthday Unfortunately, a classcelebration action law suit against Dow Corning and its silicone-gel breast implants prompted Dow to sell off the Arlingtonbased company. In 1993 it was acquired by a group of investors who decided to change the name to Wright Medical Technologies. In 2003, Wright Medical Technologies was the fastest-growing orthopaedic company in the country. Among its product lines are various devices designed in collaboration with local orthopaedic surgeons, one of which is an expandable femoral replacement prosthesis allowing noninvasive femoral lengthening in pediatric limb salvage procedures such as those done at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. As with most other orthopaedic companies, Wright continues

to provide a spectrum of biologic tissue implants that supplement its robust product line. Wright continued to grow and acquire other companies, and in 2014 made the decision to focus on its niche market of extremities (fingers and toes) and sold its traditional hip and knee division to MicroPort, a Shanghai based medical device manufacturer. Wright then relocated its corporate offices to east Memphis but continues to expand their manufacturing operations in Arlington within close proximity to MicroPort.

Memphis Grows a Spine Industry

nce again, the story chapter returns to Indiana with a company named Warsaw Orthopedics which manufactured basic products like pins and wires used in surgery. A partner and the President of Warsaw Orthopedics, LD Beard, lived in Memphis and commuted weekly to Indiana. Growing increasingly tired of the commute, Beard and Warsaw Orthopedics decided to merge with a small Memphis company named DANEK. The owner was Alan Olson, and he used the combination of his children’s names, Danielle and Erick, to brand the company. Soon after the merger, DANEK was requested to produce a medical device product for spinal surgeries by a hospital in Texas and this new device created an historic new focus for the Memphis-based company. In 1993 DANEK was purchased by a French firm called Sofamor and was renamed Sofamor-DANEK. Under the leadership of LD Beard and Ron Pickard, a previous president of Smith & Nephew, the company prospered. In 1998, Medtronic, the world’s largest medical technology company, purchased Sofamor-DANEK. The company is now called Medtronic Spine, and it continues to dominate the spinal market. For whatever reason, Memphis has always provided a fertile ground for innovative pioneers and visionary entrepreneurs…. from Kemmons Wilson, Fred Smith, Clarence Saunders to Elvis Presley……the list is long and its boundaries wide. The GMMDC hopes to expose and spotlight the medical device industry in Memphis because it too is full of great minds that have reshaped the medical field and our quality of life – quite literally. gmmdc.o r g

I N T E R V I E W

B A RT L E T T M AY O R

K E I T H M CD O N A L D

“The jobs are here. If we want them to stay here, we have to be able to fill those jobs. It’s going to take a lot of effort and resources from a multitude of civic and industry leaders.”

lans for building a new Bartlett landmark; a 48,000 square foot satellite campus for the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, may be a bit ahead of schedule, according to Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald. Mayor McDonald: They might begin to move dirt by fourth quarter this year and they hope to have it finished within two years. Getting the TCAT project off the drawing board involved a lot of discussion between interested stakeholders, often with competing ideas. All that resulted in a lack of action, and frustration for the Mayor. Mayor McDonald: I asked, what can we do to get this project moving forward? You know, we’ve talked it to death. One of the things I was told was, ‘Well, if you can put some skin in the game” and I said okay, I understand that need - I ask people to do that all the time. I said we’ll put up a million dollars and got confirmation that we could do that. And so we ended up buying the property (for the campus). The Gene Haas Foundation came in with a grant for another million dollars. Gene Haas Automation is the largest maker of machine tools in the U.S., including those used in making medical devices. Then, with additional planning and a push from State Senator Mark Norris and State Rep. Mark White, the state of Tennessee added 15.5 million.

GMMDC Jou rna l & Dir ec t or y

Mayor McDonald: Our willingness to step forward as a community got the attention of the folks in Nashville, and the attention of medical device people. So we were up and running.

The purpose of adding a TCAT campus in Bartlett is to help with a long-running problem; attracting and keeping companies, like those in the medical device industry, by offering a highly trained work force. A shortage of skilled workers has left a lot of jobs in Shelby County unfilled. Mayor McDonald is concerned that other officials across the county want the jobs but aren’t willing to do what it takes to educate the work force. Mayor McDonald: (The medical device industry) has an economic impact across the board. So I do think that some of the other municipal governments, county government, would step up and see the importance. I certainly have, and I think others are beginning to come around as we tell the story. I think maybe they might see some of the value, but maybe they haven’t seen the full value of an investment in the training to get the workforce where it needs to be to keep and grow this industry. They seem to be waiting for somebody else to do it. The jobs are here. If we want them to stay here, we have to be able to fill those jobs. It’s not something that Bartlett High school (which now offers students dual enrollment with technical schools) can do by itself. It’s not something that TCAT can do by itself. It’s going to take a lot of effort and resources from a multitude of civic and industry leaders. TCAT Bartlett will attract 350 to 400 students, plus faculty and staff, to the campus located at Appling Road and Brother Boulevard. It will offer an emphasis on preparing students to work in the medical device industry, which already has a large presence in Bartlett.

Mayor McDonald: Having a TCAT campus that close brings opportunities not only for the dual enrollment programs but for underemployed people that live in Bartlett. Where there are two members of the household working and they’re making maybe $40,000, $45,000 each, if just one of them would go through this program, they could come out on the other end and be making seventy thousand to one hundred thousand a year. That would make a big impact on the quality of life of that family. Having that ability to improve the overall well being of our families is important. The new TCAT will also offer training in information technology, heating and air conditioning, automotive technology, information technology and more. It’s the kind of training that is starting to be stressed after decades of emphasis on college education for high school graduates. Mayor McDonald: That’s what caused us to have this desert, when it comes to technical skills. You can’t get a plumber or an air conditioning guy because we quit encouraging people to learn those trades. We’re seeing the effect of that. So I think we are turning the corner in the high schools and in the community. It’s a matter of getting the counselors and advisors to help the students see that this is a great option for a young man or young woman. Keith McDonald is now serving his fourth term as Mayor of Bartlett.

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H I STORY

Greater Memphis Medical Device Council

history & overview

I 18

By Diana Threadgill

n the fall of 2011, the Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce (BACC) commissioned a study to determine what factors were responsible for the growth of the medical device industry in the Memphis area. The study also identified current challenges and potential risks facing the industry, and how its growth could be seriously impeded. Most significant, the final analysis brought home the number one threat facing the industry; the lack of a sustainable pipeline of skilled workers to operate CNC machines and other skillsets required by the industry. It also was clearly stated that the industry had not worked together collectively to address the skills shortage. Instead, each company had functioned individually to develop its own internal solutions. This system was not sustainable and did not aid in the industry’s growth. Fortunately, the study predictions and economic forecast also provided a much needed awakening for the industry, and positive action plans began to emerge. A Task Force comprised of representatives from three OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and four major suppliers met at the BACC to discuss how the industry’s talent needs could be evaluated and resolved. For one year the Task Force met nearly every Friday afternoon to determine workforce/ program solutions, and to provide consensus on a standard curriculum the medical device industry would agree too. After most of the curriculum details were decided, a decision was made to invite the industry leaders to come together as a united group to work in conjunction with academia and policymakers, thus ensuring a professional training program that was accepted by all. It was also agreed that common standards, as decided by the medical device industry representatives, would need to be adopted by the institutions. On July 17, 2014 seventeen medical device manufacturers and suppliers met at the Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center to formalize the creation of a new non-profit organization to address present and future workforce needs for a more enduring and profitable industry. Attorney Tom Dyer served as Legal Counsel and presided over the meeting. Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell and Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald also attended to show their support and commitment to the new organization. At a subsequent meeting, the new GMMDC organization voted to accept the GMMDC Jo urn al & Dir ec t or y

National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) standards and certification process for students because it was an established and respected national program for vocational training. The NIMS format could also be easily adapted to supply the labor skill expertise required by the medical device manufacturers. The establishment of the Greater Memphis Medical Device Council (GMMDC) in 2014 serves as a benchmark model of how an industry can combine their talent, energy and influence to achieve a solution for sustained economic growth. The current Council now provides a united voice for the industry. Its mission is to increase career opportunities and job growth through the development of a world class educated workforce that serves the Memphis area biomedical industries. The greater Memphis area contains the second largest industry cluster of Orthopaedic and Spinal medical device companies in the United States. Because the largest concentration of these companies are located in the Bartlett area, Board members from the GMMDC set up meetings with the Office of the Mayor and the city’s newly formed school district to discuss workforce educational opportunities. In 2016, they decided to begin their focus on a pilot program at Bartlett High School and created a curriculum to instruct the students about Computer

Numerical Control (CNC) machines. During this same time period, a relationship was established between the GMMDC and TCAT - Memphis (Tennessee College for Applied Technology). Their new CNC program began in October 2016 and remains a significant component of their overall vocational training. The format is an excellent example of how High School Vocational Training in the Greater Memphis Area can enable students to earn dual enrollment credits toward a two-year diploma at TCAT while still in High School. The GMMDC continues to expand this successful program framework to include other community and technical colleges in the region. Their primary goal is to nurture strong academic and professional partnerships to advance the vocational curriculum and certification programs available to students for enhanced workforce development. This philosophy of inclusive collaboration is essential if we are to produce the next generation of skilled machinists, quality inspectors, packagers and metal finishers. Today the GMMDC has grown into an important alliance of more than thirty companies throughout the Greater Memphis area, and their membership represents both OEM’s and related vendor/suppliers. These companies all share a mutual vision of making our region the largest producer of orthopeadic and spinal medical devices in the world.

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E D U C A T I O N

A Pathway to …..

• High-tech employment and above average wages

MACHINist APPRENTICE PROGRAM Start in High School:

igh school students can now attend an area Medical Device Training provider through dual enrollment. Dual enrollment provides high school students access to several of the required NIMS credentials needed to enter the Machining Apprentice program earlier, and receive college credit too! Students can also begin their technical training after High School if a machining program is currently unavailable.

Pre-requisites: • Must be at least 18 years old • Must be enrolled in and have completed the first year of a machining program at a technical school • Must have completed the first four (4) NIMS credentials: Measurement, Materials and Safety Level I; Job Planning, Benchwork and Layout Level I; CNC: able to operate a CNC Milling Machine and a CNC Lathe • Have earned a GED or High-school diploma • Physically able to perform all functions as a machinist • Pass screening test for illegal drugs

Highlights:

• Respected industry certifications

• Potential to earn an Associate Degree • Valuable on-the-job experience while training • No student loans

• Flexible approach to training – able to accommodate classes for your schedule • Earn a DOL Certification upon completion of the Apprenticeship Program • Industry-recognized credentials – a professional certification you’ll have for job interviews • TN Promise, Grants and Scholarships are available to fund your coursework = no student loans • You will need to complete a minimum of 144 hours of continuing education per year while in the Apprenticeship Program

• Developed by long-standing industry professionals in the Medical Device and Metalworking Industries • Accredited by the US Department of Labor (DOL), the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, Inc. (NIMS), and the American National Standards Institute • Core (required) competencies are industry designed and validated

Medical Device Job Opportunities

MEDIAN SALARY RANGES START TOP RANGE

Training Providers

Machinist

ASU Mid-South, TCAT–TN College of Applied Technology, Moore Tech & Southwest TN Community College

$38,000

$58,000

Quality Inspector

ASU Mid-South, Southwest TN Community College

$34,560

$44,000

Metal Finisher

Southwest TN Community College

$30,340

$48,000

Logistics Technician

TCAT – TN College of Applied Technology

$34,500

$59,000

Medical Device Packager

TCAT – TN College of Applied Technology

$19,200

$38,000

Engineer

Herff College - University of Memphis

$43,000

$80,000

G M MDC Jo urn al & Dir ec t or y

Boots on the Ground

pon entering the cavernous venue of a career fair, dozens of noisy students and curious adults of every description are looking for some loot. Students circle around the various exhibits and make small talk until they meet a workforce development counselor and learn about their premium giveaways. That’s like winning the lotto, and their eyes widen as they discover programs that offer education with no debt and can result in landing a lucrative job. Experienced field soldiers work the tables and suggest program options for students who are unsure of what they need or want. For recruiters, the challenge begins with convincing students to stop and listen to information about academic programs rather than just collecting the latest swag. Two Workforce Coordinators, Susan Wilson, (GMMDC) and Kimberly McManis, (WIN) share insights about their successful efforts in recruiting students. They both agree it’s a ‘boots on the ground’ experience and an ideal chance to meet kids faceto-face. When students learn about the opportunity to obtain a rewarding job after a couple of years of education, it becomes an easy sell, particularly in the medical device industry. Of course, Wilson and McManis both conclude, good loot helps too! Susan Wilson, the workforce coordinator for the Greater Memphis Medical Device Council (GMMDC), is a veteran academic after working for 22 years at Southwest TN Community College. Serving as a regular workforce recruiter at local career and college fairs, she is also a member of an important coalition formed through a Federal workforce MOVE HIRE grant. Partnerships created by the grant between academic and workforce development agencies help to build a more cohesive and productive alliance of dedicated individuals working in educational training and career development. “The GMMDC was already supporting our regional medical device manufacturers and their industry suppliers,” Wilson says. “The MOVE HIRE grant provided us with the funding resources to connect the industry’s critical manufacturing skill set needs with more academic partners, workforce agencies and students. It’s all about making those important connections and building long- term relationships that will have the most lasting impact on our industry,” Wilson says.

Soldiers in Workforce Development: Susan Wilson, GMMDC and Kimberly McManis, WIN By Diana Threadgill

Susan Wilson

Kimberly McManis, is the public relations coordinator for the Workforce Investment Network (WIN) and the American Job Center – TN. McManis believes that much of her student recruitment success comes from having a background in psychology and Spanish. “I’ve discovered that my ability to connect with individuals on their level is crucial to unlocking their potential,” McManis says. “Then, we provide them with the tools to begin training in a successful career within the medical device industry.” What WIN does best is provide a link between job seekers and employers who are looking for skilled workers. “In particular, the MOVE HIRE grant is great because it allows me to recruit individuals into the training courses needed to enter this lucrative manufacturing industry, tuitionfree,” McManis says. “As the students are completing their academic programs, WIN also provides a multitude of supportive resources like transportation, child care, resume writing and interviewing skills. It’s definitely a ‘WIN WIN’ for everyone,” McManis says.

Kimberly McManis

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E D U C A T I O N

HERFF COLLEGE of engineering

Additive Manufacturing Lab Opening By George Larrimore

From L to R: Dean Rick Sweigard, Provost Karen Weddle-West, Dr. Ebrahim Asadi, President M. David Rudd, and Dr. Jasbir Dhaliwal, Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation

isitors looked through a fish tank sized piece of glass like captivated Christmas shoppers. To imagine what they saw, picture a sandstorm blanketing structures in a desert. The heart of the machine (there are two in the lab) is a flat piece of metal known as the ‘build plate,’ with delicate designs, like etchings, on the surface. A device (called a ‘re-coater blade’) passes from right to left over the plate, leaving behind a new smooth surface made of powdered metal. In the next step a laser, resembling a Fourth of July sparkler, burns new etchings in the same spots on the plate. Now the etchings are raised, slightly more defined. Then the process repeats. Dr. Ebrahim Asadi is Director of the just-opened Metal Additive Manufacturing lab at the Herff College

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of Engineering, at the University of Memphis. Here’s his description of what we were seeing; “Metal Additive Manufacturing is a layer by layer fabrication technology that uses laser or electron beams to melt a layer of powder, using a prescribed pattern directly from a computer program. By repeating the process, by adding layers on top of each other, it manufacturers a 3D device.” Dr. Asadi told us 3D printing, can make something “as small as jewelry and as large as an engine part.” Or it can be used to make a medical device for the human body. The new Metal Additive Manufacturing lab opened with a ceremony held under a blue and white tent on a drizzly morning on campus. University President M. David Rudd promised the lab would be “only the first of a series of investments” and something that would put the school “on track to achieve Carnegie One status.” The Dean of the Herff College of Engineering, Dr. Richard Sweigard, called the two

million dollar addition “a milestone in innovation,” which will be a “catalyst for a new phase of research” that will put the University in position to be national leader in this technology. And he named the industries it would benefit; aeronautics, biomedical, automotive, and national defense Educators were in the audience, as were local business executives. Medtronic and FedEx have partnered with the school in developing the lab, which took five years from conception to opening day. A lot of pictures were taken and Dr. Asadi walked through the lab answering questions while trailed by television cameras (“You can have all kinds of complex shapes manufactured at once in one machine.”) A young slender man, dressed like a millennial at a start-up company, Dr. Asadi talked with us not only about what 3D printing can already do but about what it might do. “It really breaks the borders between multiple disciplines; biology, human biology, biomedical engineering, and mechanical

engineering. All of them work on different aspects of this. Before Metal Additive, because the process of manufacturing was so long and complicated, systems were separated. Now we have a technology that integrates all of this at once.” FedEx, with its fleet of 650 planes, and our medical device industry both demand innovation and efficiency, and both are already well invested in 3D printing. The lab is clearly a good fit for the city and for the University, which will be producing engineers trained in the latest technology. “There aren’t many universities with metal additive manufacturing labs in the United States,” Dr. Asadi told us. “So just having this separates us. And what will make us a leading university in the nation is the research and the education that we will do here.” University President David Rudd, in his opening remarks looked at an even bigger picture. “The future of manufacturing,” he said. “is not about selling cheap labor to the world, but through technologies like this.”

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E D U C A T I O N

Moore

Tech Ninety percent of their machining students will go on to full-time jobs with medical device companies after graduation. By George Larrimore

“I

really feel right now that we are reaching our potential.” That’s Skip Redmond, president of Moore Tech, ironically talking about the potential of a school that’s been part of the Memphis educational landscape for almost eighty years. When Redmond took charge of the school’s direction in 2012, William R. Moore College of Technology (as it is still officially known) was struggling financially and needed more students. In 2012, in one of its key programs, Machining, there were twenty-one students registered. Today there are eighty. The problem was an outdated curriculum and even older equipment. “I made it a point of getting our school up to speed. We were totally outdated,” Redmond says. “Basically we had to change the curriculum. The students were not receiving any type of instruction in current industry standards and we had to meet their needs.” Skip Redmond is a tall man with an easy smile and the movement of an athlete. Before becoming an educator (he holds his EdS degree in Educational Administration from the University of Arkansas), Redmond coached basketball at Georgetown College in Kentucky, where he had also played. He tries to

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Skip Redmond

behind the ultra-precise manufacturing systems required for medical devices, one of the largest and perhaps the fastest growing segment of the manufacturing economy in Memphis. There are no more classes taught in auto body and computer repair at Moore Tech. Those were eliminated as part of what Redmond refers to as “the change.” Today Moore students are offered hands-on courses

Photo by Diana Threadgill

instill in Moore Tech students the most important lesson he learned in basketball: “Work hard!” Redmond walked us around the main campus on Poplar Avenue in Midtown. Many of the classrooms are like laboratories, with high ceilings and lots of windows and activity centered around lathes, welding equipment and air conditioning units. What’s new here are spotless rooms for Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) devices, the brains

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in Applied Technology, Auto Technology, Industrial Electricity, Air Conditioning/Refrigeration/Heating, Plant Maintenance, Plumbing, and Welding. Machining, tied to Memphis’ medical device industry, has taken on a new importance. Students still learn Machining manually along with training on the CNC devices, “Almost all of our students are currently working part-time in one of the companies that produce medical devices in the Memphis area,” says Redmond. And the school says ninety percent of their machining students will go on to full-time jobs with medical device companies after graduation. In turning out highly trained workers, Moore Tech is also helping improve Memphis’ image as a place to create or expand a business. “We’re doing our best to provide the needed labor pool and change the mindset of the country about Memphis being unable to supply skilled labor.” William R. Moore College of Technology was the brainchild and

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legacy of a uniquely American man who only went to school for a few years, yet left most of his fortune to establish a college bearing his name The college is different from most vocational schools in that it’s private, non-profit and independent of any other college or university. But by the twenty-first century it seemed, literally, old school. Many newer schools with similar curriculum programs had additional state funding, making it easier for them to attract students. After Redmond came in, Moore Tech’s Board of Directors launched an ambitious advertising campaign to promote their re-focused curriculum. Today the College is thriving, and a new welding center away from the main campus opened in 2015. An Auto Tech program and facility, created in cooperation with the Memphis Auto Dealers Association, will be in full production by January, 2019, offering students an Associate Degree and paid internships. “Moore Tech has teachers that are extremely motivational. They’ve

After Redmond came in, Moore Tech’s Board of Directors launched an ambitious advertising campaign to promote their re-focused curriculum. Today the College is thriving, and a new welding center away from the main campus opened in 2015. taught me a whole lot. A whole lot.” John Hisky is, in many ways, a typical Moore Tech graduate. John was twenty-eight when he finished, two years ago, a little older than most. Before Moore Tech he had tried a lot of different things; community college student, carpenter, electrician, roofer. His dad was frustrated. “My dad had been on me for a while,” John says. “You need to do this. You need to do something.” After his first year at Moore Tech, John received a grant to help with tuition and a job offer in the medical device industry. “The machines they have there (at Moore Tech) give you the opportunity to learn things that people will tell you about. And you can see them on Youtube. But it is very, very rare that somebody takes time and invests money to actually show you something like skilled machining, then put your hands on it. It’s a good atmosphere to learn in.” He’s still working in the same place he started; a small company making instruments physicians use to insert back, foot and spine implants. “The place I work now was a big part of why I’m a machinist. I like the people. I like what they do. I took pride in

my work. They appreciated it. That’s when I realized that it’s not what you do but who you do it for and where you do it that makes you happy.” John liked what he found with his Moore Tech training; a job that demands perfection. “In our industry a five thousandth (of-an-inch) is a mile.” The increase in students at Moore Tech reflects a trend seen across the country; one study shows the number of students in Career and Technical Education jumped seventyone percent between 2002 and 2012. What Moore Tech is offering (in large part because of the intense job demand in the Memphis medical device industry) is a career opportunity for students who decide college is not their right path, and who are willing to work. As President Skip Redmond emphasizes, “It’s not like a college English course where you go four or five times and pass. You can’t pass if you’re not here working with your hands. You gotta be here. We are graduating about sixty-eight to seventy percent who apply. Of those, ninety-seven percent are employed. If you get through our program, you’re are going to get a job.”

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I N T E R V I E W Rep. White (who chairs an education subcommittee in the General Assembly) has

TN State R e p r e s e nt a t i v e

MARK WHITE

he Tennessee unemployment rate, as of July and according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, stands at a “historically” low level of 3.5 percent. Nashville’s (Davidson County) jobless number is 3.0 percent but Memphis (Shelby County), unfortunately, is at the other end; our unemployment rate of 4.8 percent is one of the State’s highest. Yet there are jobs out there in Shelby County, manufacturing jobs that pay good money. “In Memphis, we have 15,000 jobs that are going unfilled. We could hire them tomorrow if we had the skilled workforce,” says State Representative Mark White, a Republican whose district includes Germantown and East Memphis.” “We have sat in many a meeting with industry and they say ‘we just can’t find people to hire for what we need.’ Everybody wants to attract and keep companies with manufacturing jobs. Those jobs are a major engine to build a stronger middle class. But building that skilled work force takes training. So this economic problem is also an education problem, and it has deep roots across the country. Rewind to 2011, at a dinner in Silicon Valley. Then President Obama asked Apple CEO Steve Jobs when some of the manufacturing jobs lost to China would return to the U.S. Never, Jobs told the President. “These jobs aren’t coming back.” Later, another Silicon Valley executive put it more bluntly to the New York Times; “The U.S. has stopped producing people with the skills we need.” Here’s the bottom line; according to the Manufacturing Institute, more than two million manufacturing jobs in America could go unfilled over the next decade. Why? Skills needed for manufacturing jobs were once taught in American

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been deeply involved in getting state money and support for a Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) campus in the city of Bartlett.

high schools, which offered ‘vocational” classes such as metal shop and woodworking, along with cooking or agriculture. In addition, technical or “trade” schools were popular. But that kind of training went into decline starting as far back as the 1950s when parents, counselors and school systems (which began to rely on ‘tracking’ systems) began pushing students toward a college education and away from technical training. Over the decades that followed, many school systems cut funding for technical training. And training did not evolve to keep up with changes in industry. It took time for a change in educational philosophy to become a crisis: A big gap between what American industries needed and what prospective employees knew how to do. And the perception began to sink in that students who were on track for college were somehow better or smarter than students who weren’t. “How do you overcome that stigma? Well, we did it to ourselves,” says Representative White. “Every human being is different, and half of the population likes working with their hands. And if we don’t offer anything to these young people, we did it to ourselves. I think we convinced ourselves that all the industrial manufacturing jobs would be done in China and India, so we just needed to get four year degrees to be able to manage all that. Well, that didn’t work out for us. We’ve got to have people who know how to fix things, and how to manage all the technology that’s in our world today. And so I think we’re coming back around full circle to that.” Trying to deal with this locally, Rep. White (who chairs an education subcommittee in the General Assembly)

has been deeply involved in getting state money and support for a Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) campus in the city of Bartlett. He gives Governor Bill Haslam and State Senator Mark Norris credit for their efforts, along with Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald. The new TCAT campus will train students in a lot of technical and manufacturing skills, particularly those that are used in the medical device industry. And Bartlett High School is now stressing classes in applied technology and allowing students to take advanced courses at TCAT before graduating. “It would be great to eventually have some type of a trade school in every high school in Shelby County,” says Mark White. “So when a person comes out, they not only have a high school diploma but they also have a skill they can continue on with. I think it’s the wave of the future because industry is demanding it.”

I N T E R V I E W

ROLAND RAYNER

President, Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Memphis

chools that are part of Tennessee’s College of Applied Technology system (currently there are twenty-five campuses) are a big part of the plan to raise education and skill levels in the state by the year 2025. We talked with Roland Rayner, President of TCAT Memphis, about the medical device industry, about the changing faces of the student population and the changing image of technical education. Roland Rayner: We need to begin the transition to a different thought process of technical education being a primary way to earn a living, rather than secondary. We’ve got to get the message out to parents. We’ve got to get the

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Photograph by Diana Threadgill

By George Larrimore

message out to the teachers in the high schools. We’ve got to get the message out to students. How do you and the other TCATs get the word out? Roland Rayner: We go around to all of the high schools and talk about Tennessee Promise (which provides scholarships and mentoring for prospective students) and about what we do here at the college. We talk with students and talk with teachers. And every opportunity we have to participate at a parent event that the high schools are holding, we do that as well. The primary recruitment is done when the counselors bring students to the campus and we give them a tour of everything we do. That really piques their interest.

“We need to begin the transition to a different thought process of technical education being a primary way to earn a living, rather than secondary. We’ve got to get the message out to parents. We’ve got to get the message out to the teachers in the high schools. We’ve got to get the message out to students.” A lot of TCAT students find careers in the medical device industry in the Memphis area. That industry is expected to grow, as long we have a well-trained work force.

Tennessee Reconnect (which encourages adults to attend technical or community college), with Pell Grants and other forms of state and federal financial aid that we offer on campus, our students leave debt free.

Roland Rayner: We have to do more to develop our work force, and we’ve got to begin doing that at an earlier age. We can’t wait until they get to be seniors to start this work. We need to start talking about and identifying career areas that the kids can go into during middle school.

We’ve heard student demographics are changing along with the growing interest in technical education.

What kind of success rate do you have at TCAT? Roland Rayner: Currently seventy-six percent of our students complete the training program. Eighty-six percent of them get a job within their area of study. And ninety-eight percent of our graduates have some form of a credential. For many families, the cost of a technical education is a lot more manageable than the cost of a college degree. Roland Rayner: When you come out of school, you may have a job making fifty, sixty thousand a year, but a large portion of that is going to pay back the loan that you got. We don’t want to do that. With Tennessee Promise,

Roland Rayner: Our population has gotten much younger. Typically (in the past) we would get students when they were twenty-seven, twenty-eight years old. It has bumped down. Now you’re talking about twenty-two, twenty-three years old. Do you find yourself taking a different approach to teaching with those younger students? Roland Rayner: The way we teach has changed in order to meet the needs of the young people. Who cares how they learn it, as long as they learn it. If that mode of learning is a tablet and a cell phone, then we have to be smart enough to incorporate that. We have to stop wanting to do it the way we did it when we were in high school. The focus should be on learning. We need to put it on their plate in a way that they’re going to eat it.

Braganza Design Group – Haas CNC Technology Center – Bartlett

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I N T E R V I E W

S TAT E S E N ATO R

mark norris

“The idea is to capture the imagination of the young students at an early age by exposing them to job opportunities, not only there at the high school but also to try and get them out in the community, to some of these companies who are actually doing the work. ”

former State Senator (now a Federal Judge) Mark Norris, a Republican, has served in the Senate since 2000 and has been Senate Majority Leader since 2007. His Senate district includes most of Shelby County and Tipton County. We talked with Senator Norris about technology programs in local high schools and the new Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) campus that will soon be built in Bartlett. Senator Norirs: We have been involved statewide in what Governor Haslam calls the Drive to 55. The bottom line on that initiative is to make sure that we have 55 percent of Tennesseans equipped with a certificate or a degree by the year 2025. Drive to 55 encompasses Tennessee Promise, which allows students to attend community colleges and state technical schools tuition free, as well as Tennessee Reconnect, which encourages Tennessee adults to return to school. One of Senator Norris’s first initiatives was a program called LEAP, in 2012. Senator Norris: The Labor, Education Alignment Program is designed to provide relevant or meaningful education in today’s economy for tomorrow’s marketplace. In other words, to close the skills gap by making sure our schools are properly incentivized, equipped and funded to graduate citizens with the proper aptitudes and skills that they need to work, earn and learn in the twenty-first century and beyond.

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The Tennessee College of Applied Technology is about to break ground on a new campus in Bartlett. Senator Norris (along with State Representative

Capturing the imagination of high schools students and exposing them to job opportunities is the mission at Bartlett High School.

Mark White) steered the legislation that resulted in 15.5 million dollars for the school from the State of Tennessee. “Chicken and egg” conversations about TCAT Bartlett resulted in an idea for an Advanced Manufacturing Center at Bartlett High School.

computerized automotive facilities, and they’re working with Roland Rayner (President of TCAT - Memphis) as well. That was a big deal. You talked about overcoming stigma; if you can do it in Bartlett and Collierville, you’ve come a long way.

Senator Norris: If you could wave a magic wand and build a satellite campus in Bartlett - overnight, would you have a pipeline of students primed to enter it? No. So that’s how we came up with the idea of the facility at Bartlett high school. In other words, first things first. The idea is to capture the imagination of the young students at an early age by exposing them to job opportunities, not only there at the high school but also to try and get them out in the community, to some of these companies who are actually doing the work. They would then have a vision of why they were learning, what they were learning in high school and how that translates into a meaningful vocation and better way of life.”

Oddly enough, a name change (that you may not have noticed) may be responsible for a change in attitude among students, parents and school counselors.

There appears to be growing enthusiasm for technical education in Tennessee, as evidenced by the recently opened Collierville High School, which includes eighteen technical education classrooms.

Senator Norris: Let me give you a nuance; we passed a law to rename what used to be the VoTech and changed the name to the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT). Part of that was to eliminate a sort of false distinction between vocational education and quote unquote higher education. It’s all for a higher purpose. It’s all education. The new Collierville High School offers ten career programs in the curriculum.

Senator Norris: We did the ribbon cutting for the new Collierville High School and there are ten career programs included in the curriculum. Everything from certified registered nurse/anesthetist to culinary to automotive. They’ve got three or four bays for g m m dc .o r g

Dick Lunsford, Senior Director of Manufacturing

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I N D U S TR Y

Microport Ships out two thousand four hundred medical device components each day, to doctors all over the world. By George Larrimore

o, Darron Dickerson did not receive an employee discount with his hip replacement. But he did hear a lot of jokes when he went back to work at MicroPort Orthopedics in Arlington, TN, where his new hip was manufactured. “I know everybody that went through the process in creating the hip that I have,” he says. “I can tell you who worked on it, when it was shipped, and how it got there.” Darron, fifty-six, is a metal finisher at MicroPort, been there fourteen years. He’s active outside of work, especially on his farm. “I roam around the woods and I do a lot of farming, oftentimes climbing up and off a tractor. I hunt rabbit, which requires me to walk behind my dogs a lot and I couldn’t do that at all. That really disappointed me because it’s something that I love to do.” Last year, persistent pain was causing him a lot of trouble. “It’s just a back problem,” Darron thought, at first. His wife, Bridgnetta, was sympathetic, but pushed him to not ignore the problem. Finally, the pain became unbearable and he went to an orthopedist. “It wasn’t my back at all. It was my hip,” Dickerson says. “The pain was so bad because my joint was bone on bone. I had to have hip replacement surgery.” Darron’s hip was replaced through a minimally invasive procedure known as SuperPath® (also developed by MicroPort Orthopedics). It’s performed with a small incision that eliminates the cutting of muscle tissue and reduces patient recovery time. Darron calls his recovery from the two hour surgery “amazing.” After an overnight stay at the hospital, “I walked up and down some physical gmmdc.o r g

therapy stairs and was told I could go home. I did some more physical therapy and in a few weeks, I was back to normal.” Dick Lunsford, Senior Director of Manufacturing at MicroPort says patients today have high expectations of medical devices. “They do their research online. They look it up and see what people are saying,” Lunsford says. While Darron’s new hip was built at MicroPort, the company also makes knee replacement implants, including the Evolution® MP (medial-pivot) implant. Football analyst and former NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw continues to praise his new Evolution® knee. “I don’t even know I have an artificial knee,” Bradshaw says. “It’s like my God-given knee.” “It’s a very natural feeling knee and works very much like a normal knee,” says Dick Lunsford. “You don’t want to feel it all the time. You just want it to work.” The MicroPort facility in Arlington, where Darron Dickerson works as a metal finisher, is a five building, 300,000 square foot facility that employs 540 people, working three shifts. They ship out 2,400 medical device components each day to doctors all over the world. Lunsford points out that the Arlington facility is not an assembly line. Hip and knee implants are parts of a series of

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components made independently of each other. The surgeon does the final assembly. MicroPort Orthopedics is a division of MicroPort Scientific, a company headquartered in Shanghai, China. Orthopedic products are just some of the corporation’s many medical specialties. MicroPort Scientific products are used in interventional cardiology, interventional radiology and diabetes management, among other areas of medicine. MicroPort is just one of Memphis’ major manufacturing industries. The Memphis region is home to the second largest cluster of orthopedic and spinal medical device companies in the United States. Technology in the medical device industry is changing rapidly. MicroPort Orthopedics is adding a new building and installing equipment for additive manufacturing, which incorporates 3D printing in the making of even more effective medical devices. To Darron Dickerson, a new hip gives him great pride in what his company manufactures and it gives him a chance to enjoy the things he likes to do away from work. “I was rabbit hunting all this past winter, after just having the surgery,” he says. “I can’t tell that it’s different from any other bone that’s in my body. The quality of life benefits that I’ve gotten with this new hip has really been amazing. What we build over here is good. Absolutely.”

IN D U S T R Y

gene baker smith & nephew Smith & Nephew is a multi-national company with both American and British flags displayed in the lobby. The skyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the limit.

T By George Larrimore

he offices of Smith and Nephew are glassy and angular and are arranged in a park-like setting just off I-40 in Cordova. It was a Wednesday when we visited, and Gene Baker greeted us in casual attire. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a reward for employees who make charitable contributions and many of their names, and the names of the charities, are posted around cubicles. Smith & Nephew is a multi-national company (15,000 employees) with both American and British flags displayed in the lobby.

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Gene is a soft-spoken man who seems both intense and competitive. A graduate of the University of Iowa, Baker holds what is known as a Six Sigma Master Black Belt, a measure of proficiency in certain aspects of business problem-solving and management. He is Vice-President of Global Warehousing Distribution and Trade Compliance at Smith & Nephew and has been the Chair of the Greater Memphis Medical Device Council (GMMDC) since its inception in 2014. He talked with us about the factors behind the growing demand for medical devices. “The aging demographics is a factor driving growth in our industry. Also, patients are better informed and more demanding. Having an implant that has the potential to last a long time is no longer the only differentiator. Rather, patients want to rediscover their quality of life. Companies like Smith & Nephew are focused on helping patients enjoy a smoother recovery, improved function, and higher patient satisfaction. One financial data service recently forecasted five percent annual growth for the medical device industry, while another predicts sales could pass $400 billion by 2023. Most revenue today still comes from devices sold in the United States, but the world market is changing. “In the emerging markets, health care systems are coming up to speed, meaning more people have access to advanced medical technologies. That’s another factor that will fuel growth. So I think all of those things will come together to paint a pretty promising picture.” Besides the Cordova headquarters, Smith & Nephew has two distribution points near the Memphis airport. With devices going out across the country and to more than a hundred countries daily, having a neighbor with a big fleet of airplanes is sweet. “Let’s just say somebody in Tulsa, Oklahoma has a surgery. They use a size five right knee. So they put it into the person and then they want to replenish that because they could have a surgery next week for a size

five right knee. They want to hurry up and get their size of five right back in their stock so they can support another surgery. “Our cutoff time with FedEx is very late, after ten. So having access to great shipping, transportation and late cut-off times, it does make a difference.” In leading the Medical Device Council, Gene Baker has pushed many of the workforce initiatives aimed at addressing the biggest issue the industry faces in the Memphis area: highly trained people. “This is a huge industry for our state.

I don’t think it is widely known how many people are employed by our industry. I also think a lot of people are surprised about the types of jobs that we offer. They’re higher than average industry wages across all sorts of different job classifications from entry level to executive positions. They’re well-paying jobs.” “The sky’s the limit. Why wouldn’t people want to be more interested in it, because of all the possible benefits to the customers, to themselves, to families and the community?”

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I N D U S T R Y

PHIL WARD WRIGHT MEDICAL

Phil emphasizes that it’s vital to build and keep a connection with those who do the work. “One of the best things about working here is that your voice is heard.” By George Larrimore

Photos by Diana Threadgill

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mong medical device companies in the Memphis area, you could say Wright Medical came over on the Mayflower. Phil Ward, the senior director of manufacturing, told us stories he’s heard over thirty-three years; Frank Wright, who started the company in 1950, made his first fortune by inventing the rubber heel for a leg cast. His first shop was downtown. The company survived a fire (“That was almost the end”) only because a small group of employees, using their own tools, worked for free in borrowed shops and a converted gas station. “Then they went at it again,” Phil says. In 1974, the company moved to Arlington, TN, partnered with some surgeons, focusing on lower extremities. Dow-Corning purchased Wright in 1977 and discovered its niche, in surgical instrumentation. Our conversation with Phil Ward was entertaining and wide-ranging, covering everything from 3D printing, metal bar stock, de-mineralized bone matrix, doing business with surgeons and a motorcycle crash that could have ended badly. Much of the conversation was illustrated with stuff from a seemingly bottomless cabinet full of medical device parts and 3D-generated models of plastic ankles and toes. He methodically spread out many of the components on a large desk, and then Phil took time to assemble and explain each one. Phil Ward is a funny guy. He’s also very smart about all aspects of his business. Like how implant patients have become more savvy consumers: “It’s not unusual for a patient to ask a surgeon ‘What kind of implant are you using? Who manufactured it? They have any recalls?’” How it pays to get the right people; “We hire somebody for life.” How 3D printing is like a tool box; “If I know what you’re going to need, I can 3D print your implant basically

on demand. That’s the way I see the industry going.” About what else surgeons do; “They’re thinking ‘What happens to my patient if they have a failure of this implant in the years to come.’ They’re thinking about the continuum of care.” And about friendly rivals; “The medical device business, in general, is very incestuous.” But more than anything, Phil Ward talked about the challenges and rewards of working with the people he sees every day. “We, as a management team, take time to get to know our employees. I go through the Operations Center, I say hi to everybody. They say hi to me.” “We spend a lot of time making a good hire. It’s not about just hands and faces, it’s about the right set of hands and the right face.” “When you’ve been here for five years, we’ve got tens of thousands of dollars already invested in you, through training.” “We move an employee around to different areas. Over the course of about 12 weeks, they do every job in the area. During the next year they

begin to master all the skills required in that area. That keeps everybody fresh and trained. And if somebody has to take leave due to medical situation, you’ve always got a backup.” Phil Ward is a TCAT graduate. He says today’s students come in better prepared. But he acknowledges that maintaining a steady stream of skilled people is the biggest challenge to the entire industry. “We recognized years ago that, okay, we’re going to have to create entry level jobs so that people can come in and then work their way up. And so we intentionally engineered that into our facility.” Phil emphasized that it’s vital to build and keep a connection with those who do the work. “You have to get out and meet with the people and talk to the people and find out their ideas. One of the best things about working here is that your voice is heard.” When employee’s voices are heard loud and clear within the heart of each management team member, that’s a rare find. So are the loyal and dedicated Wright employees. We were impressed and inspired. gmmdc.o r g

odie Gilmore, the high-energy managing director of ONYX, an Elos Medtech company, laughs that she is “hair on fire” busy, but she slowed down enough to give us a tour of the company’s sprawling suburban facility. Right now Onyx covers 53,000 square feet, but will soon expand to 80,000 feet. One hundred forty three people work in a company that is, by Gilmore’s definition, in the ‘nuts and bolts of bone repair’ business. And Jodie Gilmore seems to know most of the employees by name. She and her husband Patrick (who is the company’s Chief Technical Officer) met at the University of Texas. After college, in the 90s, Jodie got her “dream job,” working for Apple in Cupertino, California. Patrick’s parents, meanwhile, operated Onyx, and asked Patrick and Jodie to consider running the family business. During a short sabbatical from Apple, Jodie spent a week in Memphis. “I literally explored the entire company. I met with all of the employees. I looked through all the books and whatever plans they had and I did a lot of due diligence. I did research on the market because that was kind of what I did. Where’s the market trending? How can we play a role? After that I said I think that we have exactly what the business needs, that we could really help to take it to the next level. It was going to be a pretty significant pay cut. It was going to be a very significant career change. We were going to be working with each other, working with in-laws. My parents lived in Tennessee at the time and they were not in good health so I wanted to be closer to them if I could. We also knew that eventually we’d want to have kids and thought of the cost of living in California.” They moved to Memphis in 1997. At the time, Jodie noticed that while the medical device industry wasn’t growing as fast as technology, it was still growing at a double-digit rate. And it was solid. “What drew us to becoming involved in this business was that you would really have the opportunity to shape the business, and actually feel like you were creating something. And be able to know that you had a direct hand in the successes or the challenges or the failures. In a bigger organization that’s very hard to do. And

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for us to be able to go into something that we felt had significant meaning, that we knew every day was going to be about helping to put people’s lives back together again and allow them to live. I mean, that’s super meaningful.” Onyx was purchased by a Swedish company, Elos Medtech, in 2015 and Jodie was given the additional title of Global Business Director for Orthopaedics. Gilmore also serves as co-chair of the Greater Memphis Medical Device Council (GMMDC), with a goal of getting Memphis companies, which often compete, working toward common goals. Public awareness and education are big ones. “We need to make sure that more people are choosing careers in the medical device industry. And while I know the Council has been extremely successful in getting grants and money to help support infrastructure, the big concern I have is are we teaching the right curriculum that absolutely dovetails with what the industry needs. Maybe we won’t achieve all of the goals that we originally set out, but I don’t think it’s going to be a one and done. Hopefully we can get more people thinking about why this is so important. What I’m trying to say is I’m not expecting there to be rapid results. It’s going to take a long time and that’s okay.” As a leader, Jodie Gilmore wants to see our medical device industry “cast a wider net” to try and attract more women toward lucrative work in manufacturing. While women make up half the American workforce, less than a third of manufacturing jobs are held by women. “In our company overall, the demographic is about thirty-eight percent women, which is not huge, but in a manufacturing environment I think it’s pretty significant. There are a lot of great opportunities, especially for women, because there are so few women in the industry. And the fact that you’re doing really important work every day is appealing.” Persuading more people of the value of a career in our medical device industry could be the single most important achievement of a unified industry. That would lead to what everyone says the industry needs; the “pipeline,” the reliable source of skilled workers to keep our industry growing.

I N D U S T R Y

JODIE GILMORE Elos Medtech

to be about helping to put people’s lives back together again.” By George Larrimore

Photo by Diana Threadgill

ONYX

“We knew every day was going

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I N D U S T R Y

STAN M C KEE MEDTRONIC “This industry is geared to promoting you for growth. You don’t see that in many organizations.” By George Larrimore

tan McKee has seen the medical device industry from the ground up. Let’s start at the beginning: In 1973 Stan was in pre-med at Memphis State, just married, needing work. He got a job “grinding and polishing” medical devices at Wright Manufacturing which, at the time, was located across from the old St. Francis Hospital. “I had to sweep the floors at night,” he says. He was working for his uncle, who gave Stan the dirty jobs “because he didn’t feel like he should ask other people to do something that he wouldn’t ask me to do.” McKee liked the work, quit Memphis State (now the University of Memphis), enrolled at William R. Moore Technical School, and stayed on at Wright. “I was amazed and intrigued by the products that they made because they went in the human body. I just really fell in love with what was going on.” Still working the night shift, Stan went back to school, this time in Industrial Engineering

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“It’s like heaven for me. I love making things. I love seeing products come to fruition, from the planning stage all the way to the point that we’re ready to ship them out the door. I went from metal finisher to engineering manager and now senior engineering manager for advanced technologies. This industry is geared to promoting you for growth. You don’t see that in many organizations.” We talked with Stan in the cafeteria at Medtronic. With eighty thousand employees, it’s the world’s largest medical device maker. His conversation is peppered with talk of leaps in technology (“Biologics is becoming just a huge part of this industry”) and new materials. He gets animated about possibilities in 3D printing that most of us can’t imagine; repurposing human bone material to help implants attach better, using human tissue to replicate blood vessels. And

actually employing 3D printing to make human organs. “We’re right on the edge, but in the next five to ten years I see human organ replacement, custom made for the patient. The possibility of creating a human heart that they can implant and function is becoming very real.” Medtronic in Memphis focuses on biologics and devices used in spinal surgery. McKee walked us through a space that resembles a sculpture gallery, except that the pieces on display are the art of engineers and machinists, designed and built for correcting scoliosis, fusing vertebrae, stopping pain. Stan McKee says a company looking at opportunity also considers responsibility. “Medtronic is a very ethical company and so they see problems in the medical community, like the opioid problem, and they ask ‘Are we contributing to it, how are we contributing to it?’ One of the things that we’re really focused on now is trying to come up with solutions to alleviate the need for drugs. We’re looking for ways to solve the opioid problem through pain solutions. We need to be part of the solution.” This soft-spoken man is still excited by his work and by a full life. He, and his wife Betsy, are fans of University of Memphis sports. Additionally, every year they go to Honduras to build houses and water filtration systems. It made us wonder what this engineer does around the house. “My wife fusses at me because most of my projects…” Stan McKee stops talking briefly, his eyes crinkling with a laugh. “She says I dream too big.”

“We’re right on the edge, but in the next five to ten years I see human organ replacement, custom made for the patient. The possibility of creating a human heart that they can implant and function is becoming very real.”

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I N D U S T R Y

JON DOBOSENSKI METHODS

MACHINE TOOLS

he medical device industry runs on talent, technology and tools and Jon Dobosenski has just opened a Memphis Technical Center so the industry here can see the latest technology in machines. “A good sixty percent of our work is medical in this area,” he says. “That’s another reason why it makes so much sense to be positioned here and supporting this important industry.” Jon is the General Manager of the Memphis office of Methods Machine Tools Inc., a Massachusetts-based company which imports and distributes precision machine tools, 3D printing and automation solutions. “Automation is probably the fastest growing part of our business. We help identify all those machining processes right now that our customers are doing by hand or have difficulty with—like sorting incoming parts by size or shape, arranging the parts to have them properly positioned for manufacturing, figuring out how to present the parts into the machine—and work on automating these processes. Many of these simple processes are taking away valuable time for the skilled operators. A quality automation solution, done collaboratively between us and our customers, helps allow the operators to focus on the jobs where their skill sets are more utilized,” Dobosenski says. “You don’t want to have your skilled talent spending time on redundant tasks. Let’s keep them making a better end product or allow the time to

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“Every day I have the opportunity to get to see something new. Innovation is always evolving.” By George Larrimore

develop new products” Dobosenski just wrapped up the International Machine Tool Show in Chicago. This trade show has manufacturing representatives from all around the world and it not only allows Methods to demonstrate Methods’ capabilities and products, but also opens doors to seeing new tools and technology which we can utilize for our future projects. “We see so many technologies and applications come through Methods that it gives us a lot of ideas to build on. What might be really effective in injection molding, for example, we may see a commonality for a process or application which can trigger a new approach for something that we’re doing in medical.” At the Memphis showroom, the goal is to have a more local presence to allow customers to be “hands on” and talk to the Methods applications group about specific needs and applications. From there, they can move forward with a stronger idea on what Methods has as a solution and what is the best solution for them. “If a customer is hesitant on which machine is best for

their application and is asking, ‘Okay, what’s the difference between this machine and that machine?’, we will have a full representation of our machine lines that they’ll be able to see. We can actually lead them into what will really fit for them and explain why. I believe this is extremely important for making a sound, educated decision.” Looking at the future, while 3D printing of medical device parts is already big, Jon thinks it still has a ways to grow and is “possibly only in its infancy.” Jon is looking for a house in Memphis for his family. While he admits he can’t hide his Minnesota accent, he says the people he’s met here are “polite” and “wonderful.” “I love this side of the business,” he says. “I have been doing this for well over 30 years and have been blessed to work with some really talented and knowledgeable coworkers. You can see their pride every time you talk to them and see it demonstrated in their work. And the customers I have worked with are extremely innovative. Every day I have the opportunity to get to see something new. Innovation is always evolving and never standing still.”

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I N T E R V I E W

After a three decade career

DR. LISA JENNINGS

at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center (as a Professor in both Molecular Biology and

o call this simply the ‘medical device Industry’ would be like calling FedEx a ‘delivery service.’ This is an industry where medicine, science and technology merge through an amazing array of products and services, delivered by a host of companies. Of the more than fifty such companies located here, some make devices but others make parts or tools used in surgical implanting. Some companies make adhesives or packaging. Others specialize in testing or robotics, or in products use in bone substitution or neurostimulation. This industry changes Memphis through what it does and through the people who do the work. One of them is Dr. Lisa Jennings. Three years ago, after a three decade career at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center (as a Professor in both Molecular Biology and Surgery), Dr. Jennings, PhD, decided to try on a new title: Business Executive. Now Dr. Jennings runs two of the companies that work hand in glove with the medical device industry. Ariste Medical (Dr. Jennings is Chief Scientific Officer), which Dr. Jennings calls “a very exciting platform,” is now developing its first product, to be used in surgical hernia repair but one which may eventually be used in several kinds of implants. “Patients have complications either due to surgical infection or they are having issues with clotting or scar tissue formation,” she says. “At Ariste, what we are trying to do is transform surgical implants by embedding (bio-

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Surgery), Dr. Jennings, PhD, decided to try on a new title: Business Executive. compatible polymer) coatings that can deliver drugs to avoid complications. In open hernia repair, if a patient is at high risk for surgical site infection, our product may decrease failure of that device and reduce re-intervention or re-hospitalization due to complications of infection.” CirQuest Labs (Dr. Jennings is Founder and CEO) helps companies navigate through rigorous FDA approval processes. The company also conducts product testing. “At CirQuest, we’re very science driven. We try to combine the biology with the clinical,” says Dr. Jennings. “We provide a unique set of services to help pharmaceutical companies understand how drugs work and how those companies can address any questions or concerns by FDA. We eventually hope that by getting newer and better drugs on the market, patients will have more options for medication.” Still active at UTHSC, as a Clinical Professor in Internal Medicine, Dr. Jennings feels there is a direct link between both CirQuest and Ariste Medical and the care of people, through science. “Our backgrounds really are from both sides, both from the pharma side as well as the medical device side,” she says. “We think we’re well suited to develop some really innovative products that marry the pharmaceutical industry with the device industry. We are trying to improve patient outcomes and trying to improve the care of patients by reducing complications with surgical implants. I feel like we are making a difference.”

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H E A L T H

I N T E R V I E W

DR. FREDERICK AZAR

Photo by Diana Threadgill

Campbell Clinic

GMMDC Jo urn al & Dir ec t or y

By George Larrimore “There will be nearmiraculous advances down the road. “By the end of this century I would assume that we will not be doing joint replacement have figured out a way to do something biologic that allows us to regrow articular cartilage.”

ennessee-made medical devices, most of them originating in Shelby County, are the state’s largest export. More in dollars than whiskey or soybeans. And that business is about to get bigger, according to Dr. Frederick Azar, Chief of Staff at the Campbell Clinic, a world leader in orthopaedic medicine. “People are living longer. So we project in the next 20 to 30 years, there’ll be a 700 percent increase in the need for knee replacement and about half that for hip replacements,” Dr. Azar says. Already almost five million Americans are walking around on knees they weren’t born with. Another two and a half million have undergone hip replacement surgery. And surgery today is more efficient, the recovery from it faster. “We’ve been able to advance pain control to the point where some patients go home the same day,” Dr. Azar says. “They wake up in the recovery room of a surgery center, not a hospital.” Campbell Clinic has been closely tied to the medical device industry in Memphis for more than a century, almost since it started. And the doctors at Campbell Clinic are pushing a future that includes change as well as growth. “We have doctors involved in consulting and design teams for developing new implants,” says Dr. Azar.

Dr. Azar with Grizzlies player Darrell Arthur

And there will be near-miraculous advances down the road. “By the end of this century I would assume that we will not be doing joint replacement surgery because we would have figured out a way to do something biologic that allows us to regrow articular cartilage.” Dr. Azar refers to Stem Cell therapy, also known as regenerative therapy, in which cells can be guided and cultivated into the kind of cells that would replace bone tissue, heart muscle or nerve tissue. This kind of therapy could also be used in the treatment of diseases like Diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Growing replacement tissue, in conjunction with new and better materials for implants. It’s all medical miracle stuff. Right now, the medical device industry itself is a driver for lucrative employment opportunities and serves as an incubator for technical education in the Memphis area. But Dr. Azar makes it clear what’s really important; replacing a joint with a medical device is, and always has been, about the patient. “We don’t operate on your x-rays. We operate on your pain,” he says. “Our three primary goals are pain control, getting your motion back and restoring your strength. It’s a real quality of life thing. And it’s very gratifying for a surgeon.” gmmdc.o r g

Joe Murphy (NBAE/Getty Images)

surgery because we would

I N T E R V I E W

DR. JEAN SIMARD

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By George Larrimore “With that model, you know exactly the size of the bone, the shape of the bone. If there are bone spurs or bone cysts, you know more when you start. And you know exactly where to put the prosthesis to fit the bone perfectly. The main difference

is the precision of the cut, you just guide it, the blade adjusts itself where it needs to go,” Dr. Simard says.

f it’s Monday, Dr. Jean Simard knows what he’ll be doing. “I’ve got the robot on Monday. Monday is my day for the robot.” The robot is a million dollar, “roboticarm assisted” surgery system that looks like a large white box on wheels with a mechanical arm. It’s the newest tool for orthopaedic surgeons, like Dr. Simard. The first of its kind in Memphis (at St. Francis Hospital), the brand name is the Mako system (manufactured by Stryker.) Dr. Simard started using the robot in late April for total knee replacement, but had been using it previously for partial knee and total hip replacements. “I’ve done about seventy-five, one hundred of the partial knee and probably twenty of the total (knee replacement.) And I’ve got probably twenty coming.” Most knee replacement surgeries are still performed using what’s called a “jig” system, in which a rod is inserted inside the bone to stabilize the cutting guide while the surgeon makes the cuts necessary to install the prosthetic knee. “We don’t use any intramedullary rod systems anymore, we don’t drill the bone canal,” Dr. Simard says. To direct the robot, first there’s a CT scan of the knee, then a virtual 3D model of the knee is made. “With that model, you know exactly the size of the bone, the shape of the bone. If there are bone spurs or bone cysts, you know more when you start. And you know exactly where to put the prosthesis to fit the bone perfectly. The

main difference is the precision of the cut, you just guide it, the blade adjusts itself where it needs to go,” Dr. Simard says. “You can do fine tuning, before making the cuts, that you cannot really do with the jig system. The goal is to balance the soft tissue and align the knee better and hopefully get better results. Because we know now that with total knee replacements, still about fifteen to twenty percent of the patients are not very happy with their knee. We’d like to get it a bit better and get ninety-five percent of people happy with their knee.” Dr. Simard’s first patient with the robot was a seventy-year-old woman with severe osteoarthritis. “It was bone on bone in the knee, stiffness and pain when she walked. Pain with weight bearing, pain at rest. She tried everything and she was just hurting too bad,” Dr. Simard says. “Now she’s doing very, very good. She’s walking with no cane and no pain. I just saw her last week. She has no problem. I was impressed with the quick recovery.” Dr. Simard says use of robots in surgery is “booming” and he believes that within ten years or so, all knee replacements will be done this way. “A study just published last month from England compared the robot and the jig system; same surgeon, same implant, and the robot did better, less pain post-op, faster recovery,” he says. “But I don’t think there’ll be a day (soon) when the patient gets in the room and everything is done by robot. Maybe in 30 years.”

Photograph:The Memphis Daily News/Houston Cofield

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Bartlett City High School www.bhs.bartlettschools.org 5650 Woodlawn Street Bartlett, TN 38134 Office: (901) 202.0855

G M M D C

career

paths and resources for every passion

Tennessee College of Applied Technology – TCAT www.tcatmemphis.edu 550 Alabama Avenue Memphis 38105 Office: (901) 543-6100 TCAT – HAAS CNC Technology Center (Center opening – 2019 – Bartlett) Moore Tech www.mooretech.org 1200 Poplar Avenue Memphis, 38104 Office: (901) 726-1977 Arkansas State University Mid-South www.asumidsouth.edu 2000 West Broadway West Memphis, AR 72301 Office: (870) 733-6722 Southwest Career and Technical Center 3746 New Horn Lake Rd. Memphis, TN, 38109 (901) 416.8186

he medical device industry enables students to become a part of breakthrough treatment options that improve the quality of life for millions of people. A career in this unique industry offers individuals an opportunity to experience new discoveries, meaningful work and innovative technologies. There are many diverse careers available in the development, design, manufacturing and delivery of medical devices. Begin the process by speaking to a school guidance counselor and checking out courses available in your high school. We also encourage you to explore the diverse vocational courses offered by our Medical Device Training partners on the right side.

Southwest Tennessee Community College www.southwest.tn.edu 5983 Macon Cove Memphis, TN 38134 Office: (901) 333-5000 The University of Memphis Herff College of Engineering www.memphis.edu (901) 678-2688

2969 Elmore Park Road • Bartlett TN 38134 (901) 380-2710 • www.gmmdc.org The GMMDC is a partner in GMACWorkforce’s MOVE-HIRE program. The GMACWorkforce MOVE-HIRE’s total project cost is $12,761,801 funded by a $5,992,314 (47%) grant from the United States Department of Labor and leveraged with $3,077,442 (24%) other Federal, $527,714 (4%) state, and $3,164,331 (25%) institutional and private funds.

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G M M D C D IRECTORY IN D USTRY L ISTIN G S GMMDC Member: In Blue Active Implants 6060 Primacy Pkwy. #460 Memphis, TN 38119 (901) 762-0352 www.activeimplants.com Active Implants LLC develops orthopedic implant solutions that complement the natural biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system, allowing patients to maintain or return to an active lifestyle. Arrowhead Medical Device Technologies 328 Poplar View Lane East - Suite 2 Collierville, TN 38017 (901) 853-4366 www.arrowheaddevices.com Arrowhead specializes in rapidly developing, manufacturing, and distributing medical devices utilized in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. Big River Engineering & Manufacturing GMMDC Member 85 N. 4th Street Memphis, TN 38103 (901) 382-0609 www.bigrivermemphis.com Big River Engineering and Manufacturing is a contract medical device manufacturer

Cross Roads Extremity Systems 6055 Primacy Pkwy #140 Memphis, TN 38119 (901) 221-8406 www.crextremity.com Cross Roads Extremity Systems engineer’s next-generation foot and ankle implant systems designed to perform better and last longer. DirectSpec Machining GMMDC member 7531 Bartlett Corporate Cv. - Suite 102 Memphis, TN 38133 (901) 877-4075 www.directspec.com DirectSpec Machining is a contract manufacturer of precision machined components and devices for OEMs in the medical device, aeronautic, and maritime industries. Elite Medical, LLC 8415 Wolf Lake Drive Bartlett, TN 38133 (901) 213-2320 www.elitemedical.com Elite-Medical is a private label contract manufacturer to orthopedic companies in the United States and worldwide. Elite delivers high quality orthopedic implants and instruments to OEM clients.

Engineered Medical Systems, LLC GMMDC Member Bioventus LLC 3325 Appling Road Bartlett, TN, 38133-2727 GMMDC Member (901) 380-5552 1900 Charles Bryan Road #275 www.engmedsys.com Memphis, TN 38016 EMS offers a full service platform (919) 474-6700 from initial prototype design, through www.bioventusglobal.com production manufacturing, followed by Bioventus develops and/or markets continual product servicing throughout clinically proven and cost-effective the life of the instrument. orthobiologic solutions for bone healing, bone graft and osteoarthritis. Finishing Innovations CirQuest Labs 578 Hwy 70 Mason, TN 38049 AD + GMMDC Member (901) 294-2848 140 Collins Street www.finishinginnovations.com Memphis, TN 38112 Established in 2004, Finishing (901) 866-1700 Innovations LLC was founded on www.cirquestlabs.com the principle of highly competitive CirQuest Labs is an industry leader in full service metal finishing capacity specialized laboratory services. tailored exclusively to the unique needs and demands of the orthopedic manufacturing environment.

GQSI GMMDC Member 5945 Knight Arnold Rd #200c Memphis, TN 38135 (901) 365-9570 www.gqsi.net GQSI is totally committed to OEM and Supplier Quality Excellence. Our staff of seasoned Quality, Manufacturing, Engineers, Operations, Laser Marking, Packaging, and Cleaning and Passivation personnel are here to provide OEM and Tier 1 Supplier Product Service Support. Grace Medical Advertiser + Member 8500 Wolf Lake Drive Suite 110 Bartlett, TN 38133 (901) 386-0990 www.gracemedical.com Grace Medical is a global market leader and offers an extensive range of products to treat disorders of the ear, nose and throat. Hemostatix Medical Technologies, LLC 8400 Wolf Lake Drive Suite 109 Bartlett, TN 38133 (901) 261-0012 www.hemostatix.com At Hemostatix, we believe that every surgeon and patient should have the best possible outcome. Our Thermal Scalpel Technology is designed from the circuits up for that sole purpose. MB Innovations 516 Tennessee Street Suite 215 Memphis, TN 38103 (901) 322-0323 www.mbimemphis.com MB Innovations, Inc. (“MBI”) will perform research, design and development services for established firms on a feefor-service basis. MBI will also create its own technologies and intellectual property that will be the basis for new venture formation and job creation

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Medical Machining Specialist, LLC 7221 Old Craft Cove Olive Branch, MS 38654 (662) 890-7006 www.mmsmemphis.com MMS is a single point manufacturing provider for medical implants and instruments, specializing in complex & critical items. We have decades of experience in every aspect of highprecision manufacturing with our primary focus on CNC precision milling/ turning and swiss.

Odyssey Medical Technologies LLC GMMDC Member 2975 Brother Blvd. Bartlett, TN 38133 (901) 383-7777 www.odysseymedicaltech.com Odyssey Medical Technologies provides world-class manufacturing of medical devices for orthopaedics, spine and trauma.

Olympus Surgical Technologies America GMMDC Member 2925 Appling Rd. Medtronic Bartlett, TN 38133-3968 1800 Pyramid Pl. (901) 373-0200 Memphis, TN 38132 www.olympusamerica.com (901) 396-3133 Olympus Surgical Technologies www.medtronic.com Medtronic strives to contribute to human America (OSTA) is a proven leader in the development of devices for many welfare by application of biomedical surgical specialties including Urology, engineering in the research, design, Gynecology, Ear Nose & Throat, and manufacture, and sale of instruments General Surgery. or appliances that alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. Onyx an Elos Medtech Company Ad + GMMDC Sustaining member MicroPort Orthopedics 1800 N. Shelby Oaks Drive AD + GMMDC Sustaining Member Memphis, TN 38134 5677 Airline Road (901) 323-6699 Arlington, TN 38002 www.onyxmedical.net (901) 867-4751 For 25 years Onyx has specialized in www.ortho.microport.com making a complete line of wires, guide MicroPort Orthopedics manufactures pins, half pins, drills and screws utilizing hip and knee replacements. the latest in process technology and partnering with the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading Millstone Medical Outsourcing orthopedic companies. 8836 Polk Ln - Suite 100 Olive Branch, MS 38654 ProMED Concepts LLC. (662) 892-3612 5931 Hwy 14 S. www.millstonemedical.com Brighton, TN 38011 Since our inception, Millstone has built (901) 476-8330 service offerings around the needs of www.promedconceptsllc.com medical device manufacturers (OEMs) and now provides 10+ service offerings RMS Surgical - Cretex Medical Co. to over 50 customers, including the top GMMDC Member 10 orthopedic companies in the world. 1910 Nonconnah Blvd. - Suite 132 Memphis, TN 38132 NuVasive (901) 348-1561 4670 E Shelby Drive #101 www.rmssurgical.com Memphis, TN 38118 RMS Surgical is a dedicated medical (800) 475-9131 device instrumentation and sterilization www.nuvasive.com case and tray manufacturing company. NuVasive develops novel surface and structural technologies to enhance the Smith & Nephew osseointegration and biomechanical AD + GMMDC Premium Member properties of surgical materials. 1450 Brooks Rd. Memphis, TN 38116 (901) 399-6526 www.smith-nephew.com Smith & Nephew specialize in advanced wound management, orthopedic reconstruction, sports medicine and trauma and extremities.

GMMDC Jou rna l & Dir ec t or y

Surface Dynamics LLC GMMDC Member 3110 Stage Post Dr. Ste. 101 Bartlett, TN 38133 (901) 590-4240 We are world leaders in Plasma Spray Coatings and Additive Manufacturing technology for orthopedic, dental, spine, and trauma applications. SweetBio GMMDC Member 20 Dudley Street, Suite 900 Memphis, TN 38103 (415) 361-1649 www.sweetbio.com SweetBio has developed a platform material composition which is used to create biodegradable medical devices that excel in the treatment of complex wounds. Tegra Medical 3414 Highway 51 S Hernando, MS 38632 1-662-429-5191 www.tegramedical.com Tegra Medical is focused exclusively on contract manufacturing services for the medical device industry, producing components and complete devices for leading edge surgical and interventional companies. Titan Medical Mfg., LLC GMMDC Member 7580 Bartlett Corporate Dr. Bartlett, TN 38133 (901) 672-6333 www.titanmedicalmfg.com Titan Medical Manufacturing specializes in the manufacture of high quality, close-tolerance instrumentation and implants for the medical industry. Veracity Medical Solutions Inc. 199 S Mt. Pleasant Dr. Collierville, TN 38017 (901) 850-2340 www.veracitymedical.com Veracity Medical Solutions is a contract manufacturing company specializing in the medical device industry.

Wright Medical Technology, Inc. Ad + GMMDC Member 1023 Cherry Rd. Memphis, TN 38117 (901) 867-4345 www.wright.com Wright Medical Group N.V. is a global medical device company focused on Extremities and Biologics. We deliver innovative, valueadded solutions improving quality of life for patients worldwide. Y & W Technologies GMMDC Member 2883 Directors Cove Memphis, TN 38131 (901) 396-3380 www.ywtech.com Y&W Technologies specializes in Chrome Plating, Titanium Anodizing, and Metal Finishing of medical instruments and implants. Zimmer Spine 5400 Meltech Blvd. #119 Memphis, TN 38118 (901) 541-1360 www.zimmerbiomet.com At Zimmer Biomet, we pursue exceptional outcomes. Our innovations help treat patients suffering from disorders of, or injuries to, bones, joints or supporting soft tissues. Zimmer Biomet – InnoVision 1975 Nonconnah Blvd. Suite 10 Memphis, TN 38132 (901) 370-5700 www.zimmerbiomet.com An augmented fixation system, integrating fenestrated screws and a Bone Substitute Material (BSM) into a single construct to provide improved metaphyseal void fill and increase structural support of the implant.

Associated Medical Device Companies and Agencies Accredo Health Group 1640 Century Center Pkwy # 110 Memphis, TN 38134 (901) 385-3600 www.accredo.com Accredo is a specialty pharmacy that serves patients with complex and chronic health conditions, including cancer, hepatitis C, HIV, bleeding disorders and multiple sclerosis. Ariste Medical, Inc. GMMDC Member 20 S. Dudley - Suite 900 Memphis, TN (901) 866-1400 www.aristemedical.com Ariste is a preclinical stage company that develops drug eluting surgical implants to prevent common causes of device failure. ArGentis Pharmaceuticals 1016 W. Poplar Ave Suite 106-238 Collierville, TN 38017 (901) 881-8665 www.argentisrx.com ArGentis™ Pharmaceuticals, LLS is a private TN based pharmaceutical company with a midstage Orphan Drug treatment (ARG201) for late stage diffuse systemic scleroderma (dcSSc). Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce Sustaining Member 2969 Elmore Park Road Bartlett, TN 38134 (901) 372-9457 www.bartlettchamber.org The BACC is committed to advancing the long-term prosperity of Bartlett and Northeast Shelby County by sustaining and growing its business community. The BACC is Northeast Shelby County’s largest business membership organization. BDO Seidman Associate Member 6075 Poplar Avenue - Suite 630 Memphis, TN 38119 (901) 684-2035 www.bdo.com BDO delivers assurance, tax, and financial advisory services to clients throughout the country and around the globe.

BioD LLC 1715 Aaron Brener Drive Memphis, TN (901) 417-7868 www.biodlogics.com BioD LLC engages in development and commercialization of novel biological products. The Company offers placental tissues used for biologic dressings and clinical applications, includes chronic, acute wounds, adipogenic, osteogenic, myogenic, endothelial, neurogenic, and hepatic cell lineages. Cagenix Inc. 1680 Century Center Pkwy. Memphis, TN 38134 (901) 763-3784 www.cagenix.com Using sophisticated CAD/CAM technology and a patented proprietary imaging process, Cagenix designs and fabricates prostheses that replicate your patient’s setup and master cast with 100% accuracy. CCA Financial Associate Member 7275 Glen Forest Drive - Suite 100 Richmond, VA 23226 (804) 285-5515 ccafinancial.com CCA Financial, LLC is one of America’s largest independent technology and equipment lessors. City of Bartlett Associate Member 5868 Stage Road Bartlett, TN 38184 (901) 385-5589 www.cityofbartlett.org Entac Medical Inc 1775 Moriah Woods Blvd. Memphis, TN 38117 www.entacmedical.com Entac Medical is developing noninvasive devices for predictive and diagnostic medicine based on a novel, patented platform technology. First South Financial AD 6471 Stage Road Bartlett, TN 38134-3807 (901) 380-7500 www.firstsouth.com

Genome Explorations (Compass Laboratory Services) 1910 Nonconnah Blvd. Memphis, TN 38132 (901) 348-5738 www.compasslabservices.com Through the provision of prescription drug management testing and molecular diagnostics, Compass equips providers and patients with essential information necessary to personalize treatment to each patient. gmmdc.o r g

GMACW - Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce Associate Member 40 S. Main Street Suite 1740 Memphis, TN 38103 (901) 614-1099 www.gmacworkforce.com GMACWorkforce is a strategic consortium of educational institutions, workforce and community agencies, economic development entities, and employers working together to help solve Greater Memphis’ skills gap. GTx Inc 175 Toyota Plz. Memphis, TN 38103 (901) 271-8622 www.gtxinc.com GTx is a company of experienced individuals who are dedicated to developing novel targeted hormonal therapies to provide better medicines for patients H.Saga - Port Alliance Pinnacle Member 12029 Mott Street Arlington, TN 38002 (888) 853-1357 www.hsaga-portalliance.com We bring our customers one stop Supply Chain Solutions they can rely on every day. Optimizing quality, pricing, product, delivery & enhancing speed to market. Herff College of Engineering The University of Memphis Associate Member Memphis, TN 38152 (901) 678-4229 www.memphis.edu/herff At Herff College, we impact our region, our country and our world in a myriad of ways including healthcare improvements, clean drinking water, medical devices, electricity generation/ smart grid technologies, earthquake-safe structures, transportation and logistics, additive manufacturing, and even tissue regeneration. IAC Supply Solutions Sustaining Member 3150 Carrier Memphis, TN 38116 (901) 261-2800 www.iaccompanies.com IAC Supply Solutions is recognized as one of the largest and well-stocked electrical, industrial, and automation distributors in the mid-south. IAC branches tailor our stocked inventory to meet the needs of our customers.

G M MDC Jou rna l & Dir ec t or y

Infusense 6415 River Tide Drive Memphis, TN 38120 (901) 494-3140 Infusense is a platform biosensor to measure propofol levels in patients undergoing anesthesia and sedation. Immuno Technologies 20 S Dudley Street Memphis, TN 38103 www.immuno-technologies-inc.myshopify.com Immuno Technologies, Inc. is a US-based company that focuses on applied research for infectious diseases. With our main focus in Lyme disease and Leptospirosis we develop diagnostic assays and prophylactic/preventive agents (vaccines) to help mitigate the impact of these diseases in human health. iScreen Vision Inc. 110 Timber Creek Drive - Suite 2 Cordova, TN 38018 (901) 201-6132 www.iscreenvision.com iScreen Vision’s digital pediatric photoscreening technology screens for potential vision abnormalities in infants and children that can lead to amblyopia and other serious vision problems if not detected early. Kenad Medical Inc. 3110 Stage Post Drive - Suite 123 Bartlett, TN 38133 www.kenad.com Kenad Medical is a manufacturer and distributor of a complete array of orthopedic soft goods, surgical supports, braces, orthotics and patient protective devices. Key Biologics 1256 Union Avenue Memphis, TN 38104 (901) 252-3431 www.keybiologics.com Key Biologics has provided researchand clinical-grade human cells and blood products and related services to pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and academic institutions around the world since 1999. MB Innovations 516 Tennessee Street - Suite 215 Memphis, TN 38103 (901) 322-0323 www.mbimemphis.com MB Innovations, Inc (“MBI”) will perform research, design and development services for established firms on a fee-for-service basis. MBI will also create its own technologies and intellectual property that will be the basis for new venture formation and job creation.

Medegen Medical Products 209 Medegen Drive Gallaway, TN 38036 1 (800) 511-6298 www.admin.medegenmed.com Medegen Medical Products, an Inteplast Group company, is a leading manufacturer and sales provider of patient-care and medical products for acute care and alternate care facilities. Memphis & Shelby County Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) Ad + Pinnacle Member 100 Peabody Place – Suite 1100 Memphis, TN 38103 (901) 341-2104 www.growth-engine.org EDGE is the official economic development agency for the City of Memphis and Shelby County Government. Its vision is for all people in Memphis and Shelby County to have opportunities for economic prosperity. Meridian Life Sciences 5171 Wilfong Road Memphis, TN 38134 (901) 382-8716 www.meridianlifescience.com Leading large scale manufacturer of antibodies, viral antigens, recombinant proteins, PCR enzymes and critical assay reagents for the in vitro diagnostics and biopharmaceutical market. Methods Machine Tools Ad + Associate Member 6700 Fletcher Creek Cove Memphis, TN 38133 (901) 255-6760 www.methodsmachine.com For over 60 years, Methods Machine Tools, Inc. has been North America’s foremost supplier of leading-edge precision machine tool and additive solutions. Molecular Design International 1138 N. Germantown Pkwy, – Ste 105-152 Cordova, TN 38106 (901) 747-3366 www.moleculardesign.com MDI discovers, develops, patents, and evaluates new drug candidates. Moore Tech Ad + Associate Member 1200 Poplar Avenue Memphis, TN 38104 (901) 726-1977 www.williamrmoore.org The mission of William R. Moore College of Technology (Moore Tech) is to provide students with the training and skills necessary to become successful in business and industry.

MSK Group Southwest TN Community College AD + Sustaining Member AD + GMMDC Member 5983 Macon Cove P. O. Box 780 P.O. Box 34605 Memphis, TN 38101-0780 Bartlett, TN 38184 (901) 333-4986 (901) 259-4675 www.southwest.tn.edu www.mskgroup.org The mission of Southwest Tennessee MSK Group, P.C., is an integrated orthopaedic practice of Tabor Orthopedics, Community College is to provide the citizens of Shelby and Fayette counties P.C., OrthoMemphis, P.C. and Memphis and the surrounding Mid-South region Orthopaedic Group, P.C. with a high quality and affordable postsecondary education. Orthopedic Design & Technology (Forum & Publication) AD Tennessee College of Applied 25 Philips Pkwy. Suite 200 Technology (TCAT) Montvale, NJ 07645 AD + Associate Member (201) 880-2243 550 Alabama Avenue www.odtmag.com Entering its ninth full year, Orthopedic Design Memphis, TN 38105 (901) 543-6100 & Technology continues to be recognized www.tcatmemphis.edu as an industry-leading publication, widely The Tennessee Colleges of Applied recognized for its in-depth, high-quality Technology serve as the premier suppliers coverage of the specialized field of orthopedic of workforce development throughout the product development and manufacturing. State of Tennessee. Restore Medical Solutions Tennessee Department of Economic 100 Peabody Place. - Suite 150 and Community Development (TECD) Memphis, TN 38103 AD (901) 303-8306 170 N. Main Street www.restore-med.com Memphis, TN 38103 At Restore®, we have developed the pat(901) 543-6277 ent-pending Restore® Modular Sterilization Tray System and method, designed to www.tn.gov/ecd With its sights set on long term growth of the lessen the touch points within the surgical State of Tennessee, TN ECD offers competisterilization continuum, thereby increastive grants for workforce training, public ing the efficiency of a process that occurs infrastructure and economic development. hundreds of times per day per facility. RxBio Inc 3 N. Dunlap Street Memphis, TN www.rxbio.com The company’s primary focus is the discovery and development of novel and proprietary compounds for use in the mitigation of acute radiation syndrome (ARS) – including gastrointestinal acute radiation syndrome (GI-ARS) as well as hematological radiation syndrome (HEM-ARS).

Tru-D SmartUVC LLC 743 S. Dudley Street Memphis, TN 38104 (800) 774-5799 www.tru-d.com Tru-D SmartUVC delivers an automated, measured dose of UVC to consistently disinfect a room from a single position, eliminating human error and documenting disinfection results for each cycle.

US Biologic 20 S Dudley Street #900 Memphis, TN 38103 (901) 755-6868 www.usbiologic.com US BIOLOGIC reduces zoonotic disease by combining One Health solutions with predictive analytics. US BIOLOGIC has revolutionized the pharmaceutical production process, allowing for cost-efficient, high-throughput manufacturing of a variety of vaccines and therapeutics. Vaxent 20 S Dudley Street Memphis, TN (901) 866-1400 www.utbaptistresearchpark.com Vaxent is a leading-edge Bioscience start-up that is an incubation company within the UT Baptist Research Park. Vaxent’s lead product in development is a vaccine against group A streptococcus, which is the primary cause of pharyngitis or “strep throat” in children. Workforce Investment Network (WIN) AD + Associate Member 480 Beale Street Memphis, TN 38103 (901) 636-7901 www.workforceinvestmentnetwork.com The Workforce Investment Network (WIN) is a community resource that prepares job seekers for jobs and helps connect them with employment opportunities in Memphis, Shelby County, and Fayette County.

On behalf of the GMMDC Board of Directors and Staff

We would like to acknowledge and express our gratitude to the following organizations for their outstanding support.

Pinnacle Partners

Premium Partners

Sustaining Partners

For Information about joining the GMMDC please go to: www.gmmdc.org or call (901) 380-2710

gmmdc.o r g

H A A S FOUNDATION The Haas Foundation’s support of schools is based on

he new Bartlett campus of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) will be named for a California businessman who has relentlessly pursued a passion for making things for forty-plus years and who invests in helping today’s students learn to do the same thing. The campus will be known as the Haas CNC Technology Center, in honor of Gene Haas, whose foundation gave one million dollars toward the center’s construction and operation. Over the years, the Haas Foundation has made numerous large donations to other Tennessee schools. In addition, his company, Haas Automation, provides equipment to schools, giving students the opportunity to train on the kind of technology they will eventually use on the job. Gene Haas started in business after graduating from college in 1975, only to find that none of the jobs he was offered excited him as much as the job he already had, working in a machine shop. He began designing and building his own tools. That job was a stepping stone to what became Haas Automation. Gene is the sole owner of the company, which is today the largest manufacturer of machine tools in the United States. Gene Haas also has a passion for speed. He and former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart co-own StewartHaas Racing and Gene also owns the Formula 1

GMMDC Jou rna l & Dir ec t or y

Gene Haas’ strong commitment to education and in his

belief that training students in advanced technology will keep America competitive in manufacturing. racing team Haas F1. The Bartlett campus is just one example of the generosity of the Haas Foundation, which has given needed support to schools in Kentucky, California, Virginia, North Carolina, New York and Maine, where students train in everything from precision machining to robotics. In doing this, Haas helps the communities where the schools are located by giving young people a chance at lucrative careers and more opportunity to stay close to home. The Haas Foundation’s support of schools is based on Gene Haas’ strong commitment to education and in his belief that training students in advanced technology will keep America competitive in manufacturing. “The investments of money,” he says, “don’t compare to the teachers

and people who invest their time with students.” The Greater Memphis Medical Device Council (GMMDC) appreciates Gene Haas’ investment in our community and our students. He is a role model for us all.