SHINE officials meet their potential neighbors
JANESVILLE — The questions Greg Piefer answered about his company's plan to build a medical isotope production plant on Janesville's south side were ones he has fielded many times.
It was Tuesday night's setting for those questions, however, that was anything but routine.
Piefer, founder and chief executive officer of SHINE Medical Technologies, wasn't in a regulator's office or appearing before the Janesville City Council.
Instead, he and several of his staff were at Kealy's Airport Kafe, where they sat informally and explained the company's planned operation to south-side neighbors who ate pie and drank coffee.
Tuesday's session was a part of the company's ongoing effort to explain itself to the community and get to know its members and their concerns.
SHINE plans to build an $80 million production facility on the city's south side that would initially make molybdenum-99, a medical isotope used in more than 30 different diagnostic imaging procedures that are performed more than 50,000 times each day in the United States.
In February, the city approved a $9 million development agreement that's contingent on the company meeting several benchmarks, including federal licensing and the creation of 125 high-paying jobs in Janesville.
Piefer did create somewhat of a buzz Tuesday night—at least with Janesville Economic Development Director Vic Grassman—when he said the company would need at least 150 employees to operate the plant when it opens in late 2014 or early 2015.
Pay ranges are expected to be $50,000 to $60,000 per year
SHINE is now moving down what can be a long and tedious regulatory path.
In Rock County, it could join another medical isotope maker, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, which plans to build a $194 million plant in Beloit and create more than 150 jobs by 2016.
SHINE and NorthStar are two of just three U.S. companies supported by the National Nuclear Security Administration as it pushes for a more reliable and diverse supply of Mo-99, which is primarily used for detecting heart disease and determining stages of cancer progression.
Historically, most Mo-99 used in the United States has been produced in Canada and the Netherlands using highly enriched uranium in high power research reactors. Both the Canadian and Netherlands reactors are operating beyond their licensed lives, and unscheduled shutdowns of the reactors in 2009 and 2010 caused worldwide shortages that delayed or canceled millions of medical procedures.
Piefer said SHINE's production facility would be about 50,000 square feet and sit on an 84-acre parcel the city bought and annexed across Highway 51 from the Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport.
Apr 15, 2012 at 10:47 p.m.
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Nose4It, do you know how much funding SHINE will be contributing annually to BTC for the training of their employees? Is it a one-year, two-year, three-year program?
Apr 13, 2012 at 7:51 p.m.
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OK naysayers, if you had followed this from the beginning, you would know that SHINE is working with BTC to set up training for LOCALS to qualify for these jobs.
Apr 13, 2012 at 12:48 p.m.
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For those that are interested, this is for nuclear medicine procedures. We cannot do these procedures without this radioactivity. The Society of nuclear medicine has a website at snm.org. Please allow this. I would love to be able to have this here in Colorado. But as long as it is Somewhere here instead of, Canada, S Africa, Poland, Belgium, france or Holland we will be great! Milions of procedures are done in the US alone every year that will depend on these isotopes. For many tis is the only exam that will answer their cardiac, kidney, bone and cancer questions. Glad to hear this and hope it goes well!
Apr 12, 2012 at 1:41 p.m.
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Sometimes the truth hurts.
Apr 12, 2012 at 12:40 p.m.
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JoyM, that's a very nice way of saying that the taxpayers footing the bill for SHINE's welfare are too stupid to work there.
Apr 12, 2012 at 12:25 p.m.
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Just remember, these jobs are bound to be skilled jobs with specific training and education requirements, and not just any unemployed person off the street will qualify. Therefore, it is very possible that most of the jobs will be filled by people moving or commuting from other locations and not by locals. That said, there still should be some positive financial impact when wages are spent in the area.
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