Medical device maker breaks ground in Bloomington; project to create hundreds of jobs
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — A medical device maker is reviving a dilapidated, 1 million-square-foot property in Bloomington.
Cook Group broke ground Friday on a massive renovation project expected to generate hundreds of jobs.
The company plans to turn the former General Electric refrigerator factory, purchased last year for $6.5 million, into a state-of-the-art facility to make medical devices.
“We have 55 years of history in Bloomington,” Cook Group President Pete Yonkman said. “It’s a great place to grow a business. We’re still a family-owned company. The Cook family still lives here in Bloomington.”
Cook says their project will create at least 500 new jobs over the next 10 years.
Company leaders skipped the shovels and instead broke ground by planting a tree on the property, alongside Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton.
“A job is the most important thing a family can have to help build its future, and we’re proud to have new ones coming here,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said the GE plant employed about 3,000 people at its peak.
Yonkman said he hopes to one day see 3,000 people working for Cook at the property.
Cook said he plans to invest $125 million into renovations, aided by a $5 million incentive from county tax revenue.
According to Yonkman, Cook will be using some parts of the property within the next two years.
“It’s a big property,” Yonkman said. “It’ll probably take us five to 10 years before we’re fully in the facility.”
Cook Group started in Bloomington in 1963.