OrthoWorx to use $30M allocation to address workforce housing, research
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An initiative by Warsaw-based OrthoWorx designed to attract and retain talent and businesses in the orthopedic device industry is moving forward after $30 million in funding was awarded by the State Budget Committee this week.
The Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative was established to provide funding to support such efforts through projects related to workforce housing, community amenities, and the creation of an orthopedic innovation research center.
The funding was originally approved last year by the Indiana General Assembly as part of the state’s biennial budget.
OrthoWorx CEO Bob Vitoux told Inside INdiana Business a visioning committee has spent the better part of the last year developing a plan to deploy the funding.
“That strategic thinking has largely been focused around exactly what the line item is meant to achieve,” Vitoux said. “And that’s to continue to attract talent into the Orthopedic Capital of the World and our aspiration to become the med-tech capital of the world and also retain the industry that is so prominently represented here.”
OrthoWorx was established in 2009 as a means to advance Indiana’s orthopedics industry. Vitoux said an investment in workforce housing has the potential to create the most value out of the funding.
“Workforce housing, affordable housing is something that’s really, really critical,” he said. “We’re fortunate the orthopedic industry has above-average paying jobs, but nonetheless, you have trailing spouses, you have others that will come along with with this.”
The not-for-profit already has three workforce housing projects in the works, Vitoux said, that would add 220 units of residential space. Two are located in downtown Warsaw, while the third is an $18 million mixed-use redevelopment project at the former Gatke factory site in Warsaw, not far from Winona Lake.
He noted the projects have an added benefit of redeveloping blighted properties around downtown Warsaw.
“It’s a two-fer is the way we think about it; we get some additional housing that we need and then at the same time, we’re building some infrastructure that continues to make us more attractive from a housing perspective.”
Some of the funding will also be made available to add or enhance various community amenities and experiences for new and existing residents, as well as visitors to the region.
“That’s going to be more trails, more parks, more community centers, potentially,” Vitoux said. “We’re just thinking about what it is that we could develop that attracts this next workforce to not only make this their full time residence, but we also want to continue to attract more and more visitors into our community.”
OrthoWorx also has early plans to develop an orthopedic innovation research center to build on the work being done by major players in the orthopedic device industry in Kosciusko County.
Vitoux says Kosciusko County area represents about half of the $60 billion global orthopedics market with companies such as DePuy Synthes, which dates back to the 1890s, as well as Zimmer Biomet, OrthoPediatrics and many other large and small businesses.
“Warsaw, Indiana has been driving Medtech innovation and helping patients for nearly 130 years,” Zimmer Biomet President and CEO Ivan Tornos said in written remarks. “This commitment by the state of Indiana reaffirms the value it places on the future of orthopedics.”
Details of the center are not being released at this time, but Vitoux said that, in addition to industry partners, the organization aims to work with local K-12 school systems and higher education institutions such as Grace College to advance research and innovation in the industry.
OrthoWorx is evaluating potential existing sites for the innovation and research center, which could be another step toward addressing blight in the community.
He noted that additional funding from the state’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI 2.0, program could assist in that goal. Part of the funding being made available through the program comes from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc., which has been earmarked specifically for addressing blighted areas.
OrthoWorx said it will begin deploying the funding after the start of the next fiscal year on July 1. Funding recommendations are expected to be made on a rolling basis.
“We’ll measure our success by the retention, but we’ll also measure our success to the degree of attraction of this workforce, but also new businesses,” Vitoux said. “One of the things that we know is this industry is ripe for some innovation and ongoing change.”