6 co.’s pledge to create 545 new jobs in Puerto Rico
From left: Pridco Executive Director Antonio Medina, Gov. García-Padilla, and Economic Development Secretary Alberto Bacó.
Five companies doing business on the island — and a newcomer that will open soon — have confirmed plans to expand their operations in Puerto Rico, creating 545 jobs through combined investments of more than $51.3 million, Gov. Alejandro García-Padilla said Monday.
The expanding companies are SNC Technical Services, Pace Analytical, G Code, Stryker and Vention Medical, while Meds Direct will establish a new equipment supply operation on the island.
The jobs, he said, were the result of agreements between the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company and each of the companies, which have committed to invest in payroll, infrastructure projects and acquisitions of machinery and equipment.
“In payroll alone, the investment exceeds $12 million,” he said during a news conference, flanked by Pridco Executive Director Antonio Medina and Economic Development Secretary Alberto Bacó.
SNC Technical Services, a company in the needle industry, pledged to create 200 jobs over the next 18 months. Meanwhile, Pace Analytical, supplier of services to the biopharmaceutical industry, has already created 60 new jobs as part of the expansion of its operations in San Germán. Similarly, G Code, a Puerto Rican company dedicated to developing products and projects related to geographic information systems, agreed to create 32 new jobs over the next 24 months.
Medical device Stryker has vowed to create 32 jobs, while Vention Medical will reportedly create 96 jobs for its medical device manufacturing operation in Vega Baja, while Meds Direct from will supply medical equipment and pharmaceutical products Puerto Rico with a commitment to create 125 jobs.
Pridco’s Medina said Monday the job creation trend is expected to continue in coming months, as the public corporation he heads has already secured agreements with more than 9,000 associated jobs to be announced.
Last week, the García-Padilla administration said 25,256 jobs have been created in Puerto Rico over the past nine months. However, that figure makes only a small dent in improving the local job market, which lost 22,000 slots between August 2012 and August 2013, according to Puerto Rico Labor Department statistics.
