Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, a developer of innovations for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring aimed at patients, expanded its presence in Costa Rica with a $100 million investment and the addition of 500 new jobs by the end of 2020.
 
The brand new facility is located in La Lima Industrial Park in Cartago and has an extension of 274,000 square feet.
 
The announcement was made this Thursday in an official grand opening with the participation of the President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado Quesada; Dyalá Jiménez, Foreign Trade Minister; André Garnier, Private Sector Linkage Minister; Jorge Sequeira, Managing Director of CINDE; Mike Mussallem, Chairman and CEO of Edwards Lifesciences; and Josué Campos, Plant Manager of Edwards Lifesciences in Costa Rica.
 
This new building joins the existing one within the same industrial park to collectively expand the capability to produce finished products, in addition to the processes that has been on operation since 2017.
 
"We work to strengthen the country's competitiveness, our human capital, and the conditions for companies that decide to grow in Costa Rica. More and more Costa Ricans are seen as highly skilled people in the life sciences sector, one of the most important for the country today, and I am proud that Edwards sees that potential," said President Alvarado.
 
The company will continue to focus in Cardiac Implantable products, used for patient treatment at medical facilities around the world. The company established operations in Costa Rica in 2016, as an additional facility in its network that includes locations in the United States and Singapore.
 
"The completion of this state-of-the-art plant in Costa Rica is an important milestone for Edwards as we expand our global heart valve network to serve patients around the world. Working in partnership with colleagues worldwide, our talented team in Costa Rica is building the capabilities to support our long-term growth aspirations and to meet the high-quality standards for Edwards' sophisticated heart valve technologies. The success in scaling our current operations in the country gave us confidence to expand further. We are proud of our employees and the passion they have shown for our patient-centered work at Edwards, and we are also happy to be partnering with the local community through a number of special charitable projects. " said Mike Mussallem, Edwards' chairman and CEO.
 
Edwards Lifesciences in Costa Rica expects to grow to approximately 1100 employees at the end of 2020.
 
The Minister of Foreign Trade, Dyalá Jiménez, commented: "The announcement of the new plant of the company fills me with enthusiasm and shows that our stability, human talent, and legal security are key components for companies of high-quality standards to bet for us, generating opportunities for hundreds of families. In the life sciences sector, there is a lot of potential for our value proposition, and we must continue to grow".
 
Josué Campos, Plant General Manager of Edwards Lifesciences in Costa Rica, said they plan significant growth in the upcoming months. "We came to Costa Rica to grow hand in hand with the community. Not only have we already opened employment opportunities for more than 600 people, but we also expect to continue growing to achieve 1,100 jobs by the end of 2020. We are providing quality jobs to the people of Cartago and its surroundings, excellent development programs to our employees, the opportunity to support the health and treatment of patients worldwide, while continuing to contribute to the community through numerous social projects," he added.
 
There are job positions in operational, technical, and administrative roles. Available positions include business units such as facility management, engineering, human resources, finance, technical training, supply chain and logistics, quality, purchasing, microbiology, and chemistry. For operational positions, the requirements are having finished ninth grade, good motor and manual skills and ease of following and complying with instructions. Interested candidates should send an email to reclutamientocr@edwards.com with their resume or visit edwards.com/careers.
 
CINDE's Managing Director, Jorge Sequeira, added: "We are very proud to have Edwards Lifesciences in Costa Rica. Edwards is an example of how companies in the medical technology sector leverage Costa Rica's ecosystem, throughout the linkage of talent needs for the production chain, along with the local academy. They are working with the National Institute for Learning (INA, for its acronym in Spanish) to train operational, technical, and specialized workers, which contribute to its growth and employability. This is how the sector has become one of the most dynamic in our economy, where medical technologies contributed $ 3,308 million in 2018, as Costa Rica's main export product. The sector already generates about 30,000 quality jobs, formal, well-trained, and well-paid, where 55% are women, many of them single mothers and heads of household."
 
The new facility was designed to be a high-standard workplace. It offers modern spaces to its collaborators, cafeteria, wellness center, and medical services. "Its modern infrastructure and cutting-edge technology in critical systems are combined with green initiatives that allow water reuse, natural lighting and high-efficiency equipment that save energy and take care of the environment," said Josué Campos.