For Molnlycke Health Care China is the Maine Event

NORCROSS, Ga., Sept. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Molnlycke Health Care US is helping Maine expand its international presence with a trade mission to China.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120911/CL72025 )

The maker of advanced wound care products made its new facility in Brunswick, Maine, available for a video that will promote the state's products and solicit foreign direct investment. Maine's Governor Paul LePage is leading the trade mission to Hong Kong and Shanghai from September 8-15.

Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, Molnlycke Health Care US is a leader in wound care products, with a five-layer technology called Safetac® that promotes healing and minimizes pain to patients and trauma to wounds. The company is building the Brunswick facility to make a line of advanced wound-care products used to treat pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers and burns. Its Mepilex® dressings are also used by hospitals to prevent the development of wounds.

Earlier this year Maine officials named Molnlycke Health Care its Foreign Direct Investor of the Year. The U.S. unit's parent company is based in Sweden.

When completed by the end of 2012, the Brunswick facility will bring 100 jobs and $37 million to the local economy, according to Molnlycke spokesperson Emily Butcher . The video showed highlights of the new plant and the products that will be made there.

Molnlycke decided to build the Maine facility because it wanted to produce wound-care products closer to one of its major markets. The company initially sourced the foam component of its dressings from Brunswick-based Rynel, then bought the manufacturer. "We used to purchase from them; now we've decided to invest in them," said James G. Wetrich , FACHE, Molnlycke's president and general manager of the Americas.

The company ships the foam to Finland for assembly into the final product. When the Brunswick facility opens, the products will be fully assembled in the United States.

The trade mission offers Maine companies a chance to showcase their products in one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. "China offers enormous opportunities for Maine businesses," said Janine Bisaillon-Cary ; state director of International Trade and president of the Maine International Trade Center (MITC). "U.S. exports to China reached record levels last year at $103.8 billion; the market now represents the state's third largest foreign export destination with $275 million of Maine products exported in 2011."

The MITC is a public-private nonprofit funded through the state's Department of Economic & Community Development and the dues and sponsorships of its members.

Contact:
Emily Butcher
Molnlycke Health Care US
Emily.Butcher@Molnlycke.com
1-678-250-7973

SOURCE Molnlycke Health Care US, LLC

RELATED LINKS
http://www.molnlycke.com/us