The nation’s largest privately-held medical products manufacturer and distributor is expanding its presence in Katy. Medline Industries just completed construction on its new 1.2 million square foot, state-of-the-art distribution center and will be spending the next several months installing some of the industry’s latest technology before migrating operations to the new building.
“Katy has been home to Medline for many years and we are excited to deepen our roots here,” said Bill Abington, Medline’s Executive Vice President for Global Operations. “Our expansion is a result of organic growth in southern Texas, while ensuring we have room to serve the future needs of healthcare.”
All of Medline’s approximately 270 employees in Katy will move to the new facility when it becomes fully operational. The expansion also means Medline will hire another 100 team members.
The economic impacts will go beyond added jobs, however. Medline estimates it will spend about $1.2 million annually with local vendors to help with upkeep and service its employees.
“We make it a point to buy local in all the locations we operate,” Abington added. “Being a good neighbor for Medline means we support local businesses, who are the heart and soul of our communities.”
Medline serves some of the region’s largest hospitals and nursing homes with medical supplies. Overall the company handles 550,000 unique medical products. The importance of the medical supply chain has been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We make sure hospitals and front-line healthcare workers have the supplies they need to treat patients,” Abington said. “In order for that to happen, there is a large and complex operation handling medical products from the time they are manufactured to when they are delivered to a hospital. That’s the role we play. We could not be more proud of the men and women who work at Medline persevering through this historical challenge.”
Employees at Medline’s current Katy distribution center are deemed essential employees and have been working around the clock since the pandemic began. The company is taking special care to ensure its facility is safe to come to work every day.
As Medline moves to install its advanced robotics and communication systems inside the newly-built Katy distribution center, the company estimates it will be another six months until it becomes fully operational. When completed, the Katy location will be among the very biggest in Medline’s portfolio of nearly 50 distribution centers in the U.S.
In addition to Katy, Medline’s Texas footprint includes a distribution center outside of Dallas and a manufacturing facility in Laredo. Last year the company supported a $59 million payroll and paid $18.7 million in state and local taxes across its Texas facilities.