PITTSBURGH-Locally based Medrad Inc., a US affiliate of Germany-based Schering AG, has unveiled plans to construct at 120,000-sf manufacturing facility in the Victory Road Business Park. The construction cost is estimated at $44.7 million.

This follows by seven months the company's announcement to build a $28-million, 125,000-sf corporate center at the 233-acre, mixed-use Tech 21 Business Park, also in Butler County, which is currently under way. Both projects are expansions of the company's two existing locations in nearby Allegheny County.

The new plant, located on 20 acres, will supplement Medrad's current sterile disposables operation in Indianola. Design of the facility begins this month; construction will begin in August, and completion is scheduled for late 2007. The property allows room for expansion. The 350-acre Victory Road park is the former site of a US Steel plant, which has been remediated by the county's development corporation. It is a designated Keystone Opportunity Zone that provides tax breaks.

The Governor's Action Team, Community Development Corp. of Butler County and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance is providing a $4.4-million incentive package for the new facility. The funding includes a nearly $2.3-million loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Corp., a $650,000 opportunity grant, $500,000 in job training funds and job creation tax credits of just over $1 million. Medrad is also eligible to apply for a $6.6-million low-interest-rate loan through the Citizens Bank job bank program.

The company considered other locations in the US, China, Mexico and Europe, according to a statement by John P. Friel, Medrad's president and CEO. "However, when we considered the advantages of the Victory Road location, especially the low start-up risk, the ease of access to a highly trained work force, the tax benefits associated with a Keystone Opportunity zone, the ability to tap into the expertise of our current employees, along with our track record in Southwestern Pennsylvania, it emerged as the best place for us to continue growing Medrad."