South Korean pharmaceutical company UNDBIO is set to build an insulin manufacturing facility in Morgantown.
South Korean pharmaceutical company UNDBIO is set to build an insulin manufacturing facility in Morgantown.
The plant will manufacture insulin shots that those with diabetes would inject once a week to control their blood glucose levels, as opposed to multiple times a day.
UNDBIO Chairman Caleb Jun said during the announcement of the deal’s completion Wednesday morning that bringing a plant to West Virginia is part of his personal goal to make his company global.
“The products of UNDBIO will both save human life and improve the quality of life of those afflicted with diabetes,” Jun said. “And if all goes according to plan, UNDBIO will become one of the top global pharmaceutical companies while bringing price-competitive insulin to the U.S. market.”
The company estimates the facility will add 200 manufacturing jobs to the region during the project’s first three-year phase. That number is expected to grow to 600 after the company secures FDA approval for the insulin product, according to West Virginia Secretary of Commerce Mitch Carmichael.
Gov. Jim Justice contrasted it to the closure of the area’s Mylan plant in 2020.
“[After] the blow that we took with the closure of an incredibly large plant, with a lot, a lot, a lot of folks, this absolutely is tremendous news for that area and for our state,” Justice said.
West Virginia University will work with UNDBIO on research and development, clinical trials and post-market studies, with the company also sponsoring research and internships for students and faculty.
The facility is being built on land leased by WVU. Construction is expected to begin this fall.
A group of students recently got a taste of how to create metal equipment with computer-controlled machines.
A group of students recently got a taste of how to create metal equipment with computer-controlled machines.
The Robert C. Byrd Institute is offering free CNC Machining Bootcamps to attract new people to the field of machine manufacturing. CNC stands for Computer Numerical Controlled, meaning that the machines are operated through computer inputs.
Rick Smoot is an instructor for the inaugural bootcamp. He says that the bootcamp works as an introduction to working with CNC metal mills and lathes.
“It introduces people to manufacturing, specifically machining; how to set coordinates; operate the machines to produce good parts,” he said.
Carol Howerton is the senior strategic advisor for Workforce Development at RCBI. She says the bootcamps are accessible for anyone, regardless of their familiarity with manufacturing.
“We may have someone fresh out of high school, a 17 year old up to a 60 year old,” Howerton said. “It’s a great skill to have, whether it’s for a hobby; you want to do something around the house, or you want a full time career.”
The bootcamps are offered through the U.S. Department of Defense-funded America’s Cutting Edge, or ACE initiative, and in partnership with the National Composites Institute.
“We have guys that maybe have been displaced. We also have people that through workman’s comp, can’t do the normal job they used to do and are being retrained,” Smoot said. “A lot of veterans! Generally all it takes is a really genuine interest in it.”
According to Michael Gomez, a Senior Innovation Research and Development Engineer at MSC Industrial Supply Company, ACE aims to improve American manufacturing by developing new technology and using it to train people in manufacturing.
“We’re going to help show people with CNC Machining early on and understand machine dynamics early on, so that when those students and those people go out into industry, they understand what it is,” Gomez said.
Gomez gave a presentation at the bootcamp on the CNC program Mill Max.
The program works by tapping the metal mill’s tool-tip with a hammer, and measuring the tip’s vibrations. This measurement can be used to optimize the mill’s speed, which affects its cutting efficiency.
Noah Smith is both a student with RCBI’s associates program for CNC Machining and their bootcamp. He works at a machine shop and says he applied to the bootcamp to expand his skills.
“There’s a lot of machine shops around here that deal with RCBI and looking to employ students that come straight out of here,” Smith said.
RCBI plans to offer the bootcamps monthly starting in January, with more programs available in Charleston and Huntington.
Colorado-based OmniTRAX, a freight-only transportation company that links several railroads from coast to coast in the U.S., purchased the Winchester & Western Railroad for $105 million in September.
The railroad runs through part of West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, and the purchase is expected to improve West Virginia’s economy by attracting more businesses to the Eastern Panhandle.
The Winchester & Western Railroad has been around since 1916. It stretches from southern New Jersey, through Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, covering about 100 miles.
Winchester & Western Railroad employee and Berkeley County native Eddie McKee said the interchange at Corning Way in Martinsburg is critical to the operation of the Winchester & Western.
“This is just about the center of the railroad, and the majority of our customers is right in this area, within five miles,” McKee said.
Two of those customers are the Argos cement plant and Procter & Gamble, both in Martinsburg.
McKee thinks OmniTRAX will increase the customer-base for the Winchester & Western Railroad, reaching more industrial companies that will rely on their rail service.
“Basically, it’s another company that we didn’t have, like Procter & Gamble. I mean, Procter & Gamble come here, brand new, OmniTRAX is brand new to West Virginia. So, it’s a win-win for West Virginia. They have so many resources that it’s great,” he said.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Part of the Winchester & Western Railroad at Corning Way in Martinsburg.
OmniTRAX is headquartered in Denver and owns 23 railroads all over the U.S. and in parts of Canada. It also owns more than 500 short line and regional railroads. About 350 industrial customers like P&G, steel companies, and oil and natural gas companies use those railroads to ship their goods.
But the Winchester & Western Railroad is only their second line in the northeast.
“For OmniTRAX, it gets us a dot on the map in a market that we’ve been interested in for a very long time,” Ean Johnson, Vice President of Economic Development at OmniTRAX, said in an interview via Skype.
Johnson said a major benefit in purchasing Winchester & Western is the rail’s proximity to more than 100 million people within a day’s drive. He said that’s a huge draw for potential manufacturing companies looking for a new place to set up shop.
“It’s providing access to market, which then allows our customers to make those strategic decisions to locate their facilities,” he said.
And those facilities that look to locate near the Winchester & Western Railroad will help to diversify West Virginia’s economy, bringing more jobs to the Eastern Panhandle area, Johnson said.
“Oftentimes those jobs are well-paying manufacturing jobs that stick around communities for a very long time.”
The Winchester & Western Railroad is considered a short line, and it’s made up of two divisions. The first is the Virginia Division. It has 53 miles of track running through the Shenandoah Valley and moves about 12,500 carloads per year. The second is the New Jersey Division. It has 47 miles and moves 8,500 carloads per year.
The New Jersey Division interconnects with the Winchester & Western Railroad in Martinsburg. Both divisions have connections to CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern – two major railroads called Class 1s.
The purchase of the Winchester & Western gave OmniTRAX a total of 470 railcars and seven locomotives to add to their overall operation, and the company also picked up about 60 employees through the Winchester & Western.
Berkeley County officials are also glad to see the purchase.
Sandy Hamilton, executive director of the Berkeley County Development Authority, said that for years the Winchester & Western Railroad was underutilized, but she thinks OmniTRAX will help the railroad and the communities around it grow.
“We have a gem here. We have a great line that would cost billions of dollars to replicate it,” she said.
Hamilton notes OmniTRAX will bring in new capital, resources, and support to the railroad, and she believes the impact will filter out throughout West Virginia.
“They have some exciting ideas, they have exciting connections, and I think it’ll be someone good that we can partner with to market.”
But in terms of actual dollar amount, the total economic impact for the community is yet to be determined.
