Merit R&D center shunned by South Jordan, may go to Ireland

Fred P. Lampropoulos, chairman and chief executive officer of Merit Medical Systems Inc., said last week he was “heartbroken” that the South Jordan City Planning Commission last week voted to recommend that the city council deny a request to change the land use and rezone the property to accommodate the project.

Utah may lose out on a 200-job research and development center — a project that might instead be built in Ireland.

Fred P. Lampropoulos, chairman and chief executive officer of Merit Medical Systems Inc., said last week he was “heartbroken” that the South Jordan City Planning Commission last week voted to recommend that the city council deny a request to change the land use and rezone the property to accommodate the project.

“I was stunned. Shocked. How does that happen?” Lampropoulos said at a panel discussion about technology and innovation in Utah organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“We have been as good a corporate citizen as you can be. We have our own medical clinic onsite. We have our own company farm. I think we’ve done everything we possibly can, but a few screaming neighbors carried the day and intimidated the commission, so now Merit is going to have to go figure out where we’re going to build this new facility — whether we’re going to be in Utah or we’re going to go put it in Ireland. I’m heartbroken. It just is unbelievable.”

The council, which can overturn or uphold the planning commission’s recommendation, will vote on the request Oct. 18.

“I do need to find a new place to build a new R&D facility,” Lampropoulos said. “I hope it can be in Utah. I now have my doubts.”

Merit Medical is based in South Jordan and has had a presence there for more than 20 years, Lampropoulos said. Each of the 200 R&D engineering jobs at the proposed center would pay more than $100,000, he added. The facility would be 100,000 square feet on two levels, with a 20,000-square-foot basement.

The rezone was sought for 6.38 acres at 1538 W. Shields Lane (9800 S.). The property currently contains one house and miscellaneous buildings and has homes on three sides. A fiscal analysis by city staff indicates that a Merit Medical facility would result in a “substantial increase in value” when compared to the property’s existing use. Infrastructure analysis by the city’s engineering department indicates sufficient capacity for traffic and water connections to 9800 South, with a covered pedestrian bridge over Shields Lane connecting the new building with Merit’s existing ones.

Founded in 1987, the company develops, manufactures and distributes proprietary medical devices used in interventional, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, particularly in cardiology, radiology and endoscopy. It has about 4,000 employees, including some in Galway, Ireland. Its other facilities are in South Jordan; Pearland, Texas; Richmond, Virginia; Malvern, Pennsylvania; Rockland, Massachusetts; San Jose; Maastricht and Venlo, The Netherlands; Paris; Beijing, China; Tijuana, Mexico; Joinville, Brazil; Markham, Ontario, Canada; and Melbourne, Australia.