A big crowd was on hand today, all praising this expansion. In the next five years, 1,000 new jobs are expected with another 4,000 so by 2028.
This morning, we got a tour of the space they'll be filling.
It's not a small. A quick tour turned into a lengthy lap around the perimeter of Building B, an area Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy employees will soon be occupying.
"If you walk all the way around the perimeter four times you've walked a mile," said Fred Brown, the president of Navigator Health Services Division for Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy
Diplomat President and CEO Phil Hagerman says in addition to everything pharmacy related, there will also be an in-house daycare and cafeteria.
"This is going to be a cafeteria area," Brown pointed out, "filled not just with lunch food, but also healthy take home meals for employees leaving work for the night."
There may be a fitness center. There is expected to be space made available for other life science-related businesses and an educational training center as well.
"We'll have a wall of glass all the way along. At least we're planning so people can see what a compounding lab looks like, what a distribution center looks like," he said.
All in all, it will be a world-class working environment, said Hagerman, modeled after companies like Google and SAS Software.
"This is the 21st century workplace in Flint, and we want to see a lot more of this. We want to see all these chairs filled and then find other companies who can do the same thing in other parts of the city," said Mayor Dayne Walling.
Diplomat has been operating in Mid- Michigan since 1973.
Right now, the company headquarters is located in Swartz Creek, and even with the Great Lakes Tech Center expansion, it will continue to maintain several other locations nationwide.
Over the years, Diplomat designed specialty systems to treat chronic conditions such as dialysis, HIV-AIDS, Hepatitis C, Fertility, Oncology and Arthritis.
As Phil Hagerman was being introduced, the crowd applauded and applauded. His father and co-founder, Dale, was in the front row, wiping away tears. "I get pretty emotional, particularly with family," he said.
Dale said when this all started years ago, he had no idea he'd be sitting where he is today. "We didn't have any idea that things would develop into this kind of a operation."
Herman called the plan a defining moment in the history of Flint and Genesee County. "One of the most exciting, exciting projects ever to be launched in our community."
"We now have proof of something very important in the city of Flint," said Walling.
The transition of moving workers to this space will occur in phases beginning in about three months.
"I told people pack your bags, it's coming quick," Phil Hagerman said.
He thanked all involved for helping make it possible for his business to stay in Genesee County. He also thanked his staff, his family and, of course, his father. "He taught me one main thing: If you take good care of people, good things will happen."
