RICHMOND - Governor Mark R. Warner today announced that Bausch & Lomb, the global eye care company, will expand its distribution facility in the City of Lynchburg. The expansion will create up to 35 new jobs and add a 39,000-square-foot addition to its existing Lynchburg facility. Virginia competed with Missouri, New York and South Carolina for the project.
“I am pleased that this respected global company is re-investing in the City of Lynchburg,” said Governor Warner. “Bausch & Lomb will continue to benefit from this region’s dedicated workforce and the state’s strategic East Coast location.”
Bausch & Lomb is a global technology-based healthcare company for the eye. Its core businesses include soft and rigid gas permeable contact lenses, lens-care products, ophthalmic surgical and pharmaceutical products. The company’s products include SofLens66™, PureVision™, Boston®, ReNu®, and Storz®. Founded in 1853 in Rochester, N.Y., where it continues to have its headquarters, the company has pro-forma annual revenues of approximately $1.7 billion and employs approximately 12,000 people in 35 countries. Bausch & Lomb products are available in more than 100 countries around the world. More information about the company can be found at www.bausch.com.
The Lynchburg Distribution Center now warehouses and ships Bausch & Lomb contact lenses to U.S. and international customers. After the construction of the addition is completed in February 2003, the facility also will warehouse and ship products used in eye surgery, including intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery. Bausch & Lomb expects to begin hiring for up to 35 new warehouse jobs in the spring of 2003.
“Bausch & Lomb selected Lynchburg as its distribution center for contact lens and surgical products because of this region’s highly supportive business environment, available base of skilled labor, favorable location and our history of working together for nearly a decade,” said Allen Barr, Director of Operations for Bausch & Lomb’s Lynchburg Distribution Center.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Virginia’s Region 2000, the City of Lynchburg Office of Economic Development and the Lynchburg Industrial Development Authority assisted Bausch & Lomb with its decision. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide workforce training services.
Lynchburg Mayor Carl B. Hutcherson, Jr. commented, “Since 1993, when Bausch and Lomb opened the Lynchburg facility, the company has been a wonderful corporate citizen. The company's significant reinvestment in this community and the hiring of additional workers demonstrate that Lynchburg is a great place to do business. We look forward to continuing our mutually beneficial relationship.”