TOPEKA — Merck Animal Health will build an $895 million capital expansion project and add 200 jobs at its De Soto manufacturing facility, Gov. Laura Kelly and the company announced Thursday.
Merck will invest $860 million in its existing facility and $35 million in its research and development laboratories, a press release said.
KELLY BILLED the announcement as the second-largest private investment in Kansas history.
“This extraordinary investment by Merck Animal Health underscores my administration’s commitment to securing a strong economic future for our state and ensuring prosperity for generations to come,” Kelly said. “Public-private partnerships that lead to major global projects, such as those with Merck, Fiserv and Panasonic — just to name a few recent successes — are occurring because people believe in Kansas.”
Merck Animal Health has been in the De Soto community for more than 20 years, said Mayor Rick Walker.
“We’ve watched them grow. They’ve grown with us. So we’re excited to see them continue to make this level of investment in our city,” he said. “The Merck property, the way their project lays out, it’s pretty much all upside on that. It’s very little stress on our transportation infrastructure and our utility infrastructure.”
CITY administrator Mike Brungardt said other economic developments, like the decision by Panasonic to build a 300-acre facility in the city’s Astra Enterprise Park, are “wonderful,” but seeing Merck expand is special in a different way.
“It’s a recognition that not only did they come here 20 or 25 years ago, but they made the decision again to redouble their investment in our community,” he said. “This one when it came across as a possibility, it stood out from the others because this is an existing partner in our community with an existing employment base. They’ve already invested an enormous amount in the fabric of our community.”
Brungardt added that Lt. Gov. David Toland, who also serves as state commerce secretary, said in a speech Thursday that if the company had decided not to do this expansion, its future plans for the campus were uncertain.
“This was a very big win in ways that the others just weren’t,” Brungardt said.
Brungardt said a tax incentive package for the project has not been finalized. Merck Animal Health has been investing in its existing facility for the past five or 10 years, he said, and has received an incentive package.
That package has been an 80% property tax abatement for 10 years, Walker said, adding that there likely will be a construction sales tax exemption.
THE 200,000 square foot manufacturing facility project will expand filling and freeze dryer capacity for large molecule vaccines and biologic products for Merck Animal Health, the press release said.
Site preparation and facility design will start immediately, creating 2,500 construction jobs. Commercial manufacturing is expected to begin in 2030.
“Our De Soto manufacturing facility is strategically located in the heart of the Animal Health Corridor. This region is renowned for its concentration of animal health companies, fostering an unparalleled ecosystem for innovation, collaboration and industry leadership,” said Richard DeLuca, Merck Animal Health president.
The KC Animal Health Corridor is anchored by Manhattan, Kansas, and Columbia, Missouri, and is home to about 300 animal health companies. Those companies represent 56% of total worldwide animal health, diagnostics and pet food sales, the organization’s website said.
