August 22, 2008

Bradshaw Medical Inc. Plans Major Expansion

By Deneen Smith
Kenosha News

One of Kenosha County's fastest-growing home-grown companies is expanding into a new home.

Bradshaw Medical Inc., which opened in 2006, said Thursday it purchased a four-acre lot in the Business Park of Kenosha and plans to build a 60,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing facility.

The company hopes to break ground on the building next spring, looking for a completion date of October 2009.

The new facility will be double the size of the existing building, with space for manufacturing, engineering and business operations.

Bradshaw started 2008 with about 50 employees, and has grown this year to employ about 75 people. By the time the new facility is open the company expects to have more than 100 workers.

Company founder and Chairman Guy Bradshaw said the company has been growing quickly, expanding into a series of rented spaces in the business park. Building a new headquarters was the natural next step.

“It's a combination of things, we're out of space here. And we're at the point where it makes sense to build our own rather than continue to rent,” he said.

Bradshaw Medical designs and manufactures hand-held instruments for orthopedic surgeons, specializing in spinal surgery instruments. The company currently holds five patents on its “Total-Control” instruments, and has patents pending on 20 more.

“We're taking the instruments that were the status quo for years and years in the industry ... and we just come up with a better design,” Bradshaw said.

He said the company had sales of $2.1 million in 2006 and $7.5 million in 2007, adding, “We're on track for $14 to $15 million for 2008.”

Bradshaw was previously a partner in Beere Medical, another surgical instrument maker based in the Business Park of Kenosha. Bradshaw and his partner Richard Beere sold the company to Teleflex Medical in 2002.

After leaving Teleflex, Bradshaw decided to launch his own company, bringing on several of his former associates to join him in the start-up. Their growth has exceeded all their expectations.

Bradshaw said the key to the company's success is both the innovation of its designs and customer service, delivering instruments to customers quickly. “Keeping short lead times,” he said. “That is really the key in this business.”