Incipio Devices Moves to ‘World-Class’ Facility
Incipio Devices currently employs more than 100 people in Huntington and plans to create up to 52 jobs by the end of 2023.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTroy Johnson rolled the dice six years ago, leveraging decades of experience in orthopedic engineering and starting his own company; that venture has now outgrown its first home and is investing $14 million to continue expanding in northeast Indiana. Johnson, founder and president of Incipio Devices, says the company’s 20% annual growth is the result of happy customers, a supportive hometown and “really talented employees”—many of whom rolled the dice alongside him in 2014.
“Coming to work for a startup was risky; a lot of my staff left very good jobs to come work with me,” says Johnson. “Now seeing the excitement on their faces that they bought in—it’s exciting to be able to grow [the company] with them. They busted their tails to get to where we are today.”
The orthopedic device company, which specializes in contract manufacturing, now employs more than 100 people in Huntington County and plans to create up to 52 jobs by the end of 2023. Incipio Devices’ list of clients includes the biggest players in the “Orthopedic Capital of the World,” as well as a handful of smaller companies. Manufacturing implants comprises about 60% of its operations and surgical instruments, which are used to put the devices into the body, make up about 40%.
Johnson’s Huntington County heritage—his family settled there in the 1840s—motivated him to create and grow his company there. He says Incipio Devices’ “very, very happy” customers created an urgent need to expand, but the company had run out of space in its original location.
“When customers are happy with you, they tend to throw a lot of things your way; they continue to give us very good looks on additional work,” says Johnson. “I look six to 12 months out and see very steady growth and substantial growth three to five years out. There are a lot of opportunities out there.”
Incipio Devices is investing $14 million to purchase the former United Technologies Electronic Controls plant in Huntington County, a 150,000 square-foot “world-class facility” that Johnson says is a “dream come true.”
“That plant was named an Industry Week Top 10 plant [in 2008], which is a significant accomplishment,” says Johnson. “Our company is walking into a building that is a world-class manufacturing facility built by United Technologies, which is a $75 billion company, so they don’t shortchange anything. It’s an incredibly well-built building, and the infrastructure is amazing.”
Johnson believes his employees are a critical factor in the company’s fast-paced growth, and he credits the deep pool of talent in northeast Indiana for supplying a talented workforce.
“I think business owners, in general, are a little spoiled with the technical expertise in northeast Indiana,” says Johnson. “I have a large network of work associates all over the country and world, and it’s amazing how many times I hear, ‘There’s just not enough technical expertise. I don’t have people who can run this equipment.’ I can go into almost any industry—defense, automotive, aerospace—and it’s a pretty incredible area from a talent standpoint.”
Like many Indiana businesses, Johnson says—although somewhat insulated—Incipio Devices is experiencing the ripple effects of the COVID-19 crisis. The vast majority of orthopedic implant surgeries are considered elective—and therefore were not allowed for a number of weeks during the crisis—but trauma surgeries, such as a broken arm that needs a plate, continued because they’re essential.
“Elective surgeries being put on hold creates a huge hole in demand. You’ve got hospital revenues and these orthopedic practices that are literally not making any money. Those all have to stay healthy financially to service patients,” says Johnson. “We’re busy now, because we’re doing launches for two major customers. I think everybody’s getting caught up with what they were behind on right now; once that’s complete, I think you’ll see a slow down.”
Johnson expects the health crisis will have a “very minimal” impact on Incipio Device’s overall sales. The company is focusing its energy on the new facility and has already started some production there. Johnson envisions adding a bio-skills lab, cadaver lab and other new elements that could open the door to new services.
“Our business will go in the direction that my customers tell us it needs to go. We have to stay very focused on what the trends are and what products and services our customers want to outsource,” says Johnson. “The customers we’ve taken through the building are really excited about it, because they see that we’re re-investing money in ourselves to better service them. That really gets me excited; I love to see my employees and my customers really, really happy.”
Johnson says any manufacturing company in the U.S. must navigate the challenge of competing with a “low-cost country” like China.
Johnson says the new facility will streamline the company’s ability to add new services, such as packaging.