Inter-Med Inc., doing business as Vista Dental Products, plans to move to a new location and nearly double its workforce in Racine.
The company is currently located in a 35,000-square-foot space at 2200 Northwestern Ave. in Racine, and will move into a space of about the same size at 2200 South St. in Racine. The new location sits on a five-acre site, which the company said could accommodate its future expansion plans.
“They’re about equivalent. The difference is this current location is mostly warehouse,” said Gary Pond, chief executive officer. “It doubles the size of our available office facilities.”
Pond said the new location is also more conducive to attracting talent and displaying its emerging technologies and capabilities to prominent researchers.
Over the next three years, Inter-Med will expand from 46 to 89 employees. The growth is driven by growing demand for its products, the company said.
“We’re going to expand both organically and inorganically (through acquisition),” Pond said. “Right now, we’re in the process of a. raising additional investment capital and b. focused on the regulatory and commercial aspects of our new technologies.”
Inter-Med, founded in 1995, designs dental products including small equipment, engineered therapeutic solutions and pre-filled syringes. It has 19 patents and 15 more in application, and has become a leading industry product innovator. Inter-Med has been working to create products to assist in the early detection of oral cancer, including its ESPyOC product, which uses molecular probe technology to identify precancerous and cancerous lesions in the mouth.
“Vista Dental has been innovating in Racine, and I believe has an exciting future ahead of them,” said Racine Mayor John Dickert. “Here is another company which has partnered and committed to Racine. We look forward to building a future with them as they take their innovations to the next level.”
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has approved $400,000 in state tax credits for Inter Med over the next three years to support the expansion, which the organization says are contingent upon the number of jobs it creates and retains during that time.
“This expansion is good news not just for the City of Racine, but for the entire county,” said Reed Hall, secretary and chief executive officer of WEDC. “Since 2012, WEDC has provided Racine County companies and communities with more than $10 million in incentives to help move the economy forward, and we’re pleased to be able to support this growing company.”
