VOL. 133 | NO. 178 | Friday, September 7, 2018

Wright Medical Group’s plans to expand its manufacturing near Memphis could add 80 jobs, according to construction plans.

The maker of orthopedic implants last week submitted for code review documents that show a 43,750-square-foot building at the northeast corner of Tenn. 385 and Memphis Arlington Road. The site is adjacent to Wright Medical’s existing facilities at 11576 Memphis Arlington Road.

A “bio facility’’ portion of the project covers 37,500 square feet, the documents show.

The plans put the proposed number of employees at 80, and the site could have as many as 80 parking spaces or a minimum of 54 spaces.

About 300 people work at Wright Medical’s existing manufacturing facility in Arlington.

The proposed building includes nine offices and three conference rooms.

The exterior would be insulated metal panels. But the plans show 12-foot-tall windows of insulated tinted glass flanking the entrance door in the front.

Labels in the documents for some of the manufacturing rooms include “Allo Cleanroom,’’ “Powder/Solution Filling Cleanroom,’’ “Bio Final Packaging,’’ “Raw Materials Cleanroom,’’ “Equipment Pass Thru Washer Room,’’ “Bio-Product Staging Area,’’ “Sterility Lab,’’ and “Augment Bone Graft Incoming Material Processing.’’

In an email earlier this week to The Memphis Daily News, Wright Medical Group confirmed the company plans to enlarge its manufacturing facility.

“Wright Medical is in the early stages of planning an expansion to its manufacturing facility in Arlington,’’ wrote Julie Dewey, chief communications officer.

“We anticipate that this project will retain existing jobs and create new, quality local jobs,’’ she said.

But the company’s spokeswoman did not reveal how many jobs would be added, the reason for the expansion or the size of the project.

“Expansion is to accommodate our current and expected future growth needs,” Dewey wrote. “No other details available at this time.’’

Wright Medical applied last week for a building permit that estimates the cost of new construction to be $9 million.

Wright Medical Technology owns the 22-acre site, public records show. H&M Architects Engineers prepared the construction documents.

Wright Medical makes orthopedic implants for small joints and extremities in Arlington.

The company moved its corporate headquarters four years ago from Arlington to Oaksedge Office Campus, 10233 Cherry Road in East Memphis. About 400 people work there.

Wright Medical sold its hip- and knee-implant manufacturing unit, also in Arlington, to MicroPort Scientific Group for $290 million in 2013. The MicroPort facility still operates in Arlington.