Cook Group to bring more jobs to town

In the past 10 years, layoffs from the General Electric refrigerator plant and other companies that have closed or outsourced work to other countries in an effort to save money have hit the Bloomington employment market hard.\nBut the success of Cook Group is helping to bring jobs back to the city. \nCook Group plans an expansion of its current headquarters and a new Cook Group company, Cook Pharmica. The expansion is expected to bring approximately 250 new jobs to Bloomington, and the company is expected to bring at least 200 jobs, with the possibility of eventually employing up to 600 workers, said David McCarty, director of public relations for Cook Group. \nMcCarty said Cook Pharmica is in a long-term growth phase, meaning that while construction of the plant is actually completed, it cannot open until it undergoes a lengthy FDA validation process, which he said could take another 18 months.\nThe earliest phases of the expansion project, such as the construction of new parking lots, have already begun, McCarty said, but the company is unsure when the project is expected to be completed. The new expansion will house new office and warehouse space and will employ up to 250 new workers in office and administrative roles, as well as warehouse jobs, McCarty said.\nBloomington resident William Cook founded Cook Incorporated in 1963. According to the company's Web site, Cook saw the need for wire-guide needles and catheters in the medical community. He embarked with his partner, Charles Dotter, to fulfill this need. Forty-two years later, Cook Incorporated is one of the largest companies in the world, and Bill Cook is a mainstay on the Fortune 500 list.\n"We're expanding here because this is our global headquarters and we have a long-standing commitment to the Bloomington area," McCarty said in an e-mail statement.\nShawn Taylor, an Ellettsville resident, has worked at Cook for 24 years. She said since she started working there, the Cook philosophy has not changed; the dedication to helping people with medical supplies and jobs has not wavered despite the massive growth.\nThough Monroe County provides Cook Incorporated and Cook Pharmaceutical with tax breaks, Cook could have saved money by moving its headquarters to Ireland, said Linda Williamson, director of the Bloomington Economic Development Center.\nWilliamson said she believes that the workforce available to Cook Group in Monroe County has helped. She noted that the number of adults with a college degree in Monroe County considerably exceeds the state average. The county is also the crossroads for four state highways, which bring 15,000 people into the region, Williamson said.\nCook Group has not only stayed in town, but periodically starts companies to develop new products. One such company is Zenith, the developer of the Zenith Endovascular Graft, a medical supply used to treat patients with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, an aneurysm that develops when part of the aorta, the main vein that carries blood from the heart to the legs, begins to bulge, according to the Zenith Web site.\n"When Cook itself starts new companies, when they create new business ventures, Monroe County has a huge advantage," Williamson said. "Having a world-class entrepreneur (like William Cook) in your community is huge." \n-- Assistant City & State Editor Brittany Hite contributed to this story.