A new water treatment facility at MilliporeSigma’s Jaffrey location will open the doors for manufacturing to expand and hundreds of new jobs.
During a virtual “ribbon cutting” ceremony on Tuesday, legislators, including Gov. Chris Sununu, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Congresswoman Annie Kuster offered their congratulations to the company.
The $14.4 million facility is expected to process more than 18,000 gallons of water a day on average, reducing the burden on the Jaffrey town water system and provide enough treatment services to allow for the company’s next five years of growth.
MilliporeSigma, a medical manufacturer, has nearly 1,100 employees at its Jaffrey facility, and is planning to add a total of 160 new jobs this year alone, as part of a larger expansion plan, according to head of site operations David Poggi. Products being manufactured at MilliporeSigma are being used in the research of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Sununu, speaking virtually during a livestream of the ribbon cutting, praised the company for being able to continue to grow despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As usual, MilliporeSigma is stepping up and really making the best of a tough situation,” Sununu said. “Your expansion plans haven’t slowed down, business continues to boom, and I am so pleased to know that you still plan to add over 100 new jobs by next year. Millipore’s resiliency and innovation, it’s a model for the rest of our state.”
Shaheen also praised MilliporeSigma’s job creation efforts.
“Locally, this company provides hundreds of good paying jobs, and I’m thrilled that more are on the way,” Shaheen said. “It’s innovators like Millipore that are helping to get our economy in New Hampshire back on track. And these aren’t just any jobs, they’re jobs with a mission. That includes helping our nation deliver on a vaccine to combat the most deadly pandemic the world has faced in a century.”
MilliporeSigma is planning on adding a new 25,000 square foot clean room, and upgrading equipment once there is the physical space to support it.
“We’re dependent upon water to grow,” Poggi said. “Our manufacturing processes use about 60 million gallons a year.”
There have been issues in the past with effluent from the MilliporeSigma plant causing spikes in certain chemicals at the Jaffrey water treatment plant, which, along with knowing the facility was going to increase its water usage along with its growth, spurred the investment into a plant of its own, Poggi said.
Water from the new treatment plant will flow into Jaffrey’s water treatment facilities for its final treatment, but the water will already have undergone treatment to ensure it is “very close to” drinking water standards already, Poggi said.
“Our new, industrial water treatment plant reduces the load on the town treatment works, while also supporting future growth at our Jaffrey facility,” said Chris Ross, interim CEO, MilliporeSigma. “This investment reflects MilliporeSigma’s commitment to environmental sustainability, to the town of Jaffrey and to the surrounding communities in New Hampshire.”
Poggi said and the company is hoping in the future to be able to recycle the water from its own plant, and use it in its manufacturing processes again.
The Jaffrey plant already recycles about 40 percent of its water.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.