Medical equipment maker primed to expand in Greenwood

Advantis Medical Inc., a maker of cases and trays for surgical instruments, plans to add more than 100 jobs in Greenwood over the next five years, according to city officials.

The company now employs about 150 workers, according to IBJ research.

Calls to the company were not returned Wednesday morning. But Bill Peeples, senior planner at the city of Greenwood, said the company intends to expand into a 50,000-square-foot building, with the potential of expanding it to 100,000 square feet in the future.

The Daily Journal of Franklin reported that the company would pay salaries averaging more than $47,000 for each of 108 new jobs.

Greenwood has approved $177,000 in grants and $241,000 in tax abatements to help Advantis make its expansion, according to the Daily Journal.

Advantis was founded in 1996 and was acquired in 2007 by Avalign Technologies, a private equity firm based in suburban Chicago. It sells its trays and cases primarily to orthopedic surgeons. A call to Avalign CEO Forrest Whitaker was not returned.

“We foresee big growth in our business," Whitaker told the Daily Journal, adding, "We need the extra capacity to take advantage of a growing market.”