Study: Medical device industry pumps $2.6B into Memphis economy

A study from the Greater Memphis Medical Device Council reports that the medical device industry has brought approximately 17,000  jobs and $2.6 billion.

The study, which was funded by a grant from the Memphis-Shelby County Economic Development Growth Engine, relied on data from 50 surveyed medical device companies as well as data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

“With the help of our partners, it’s the mission of the (medical device council) to create meaningful training programs and continue to foster the growth of an industry that makes up nearly 4% of the total GDP of Shelby County,” Smith & Nephew veep Gene Baker told the Memphis Daily News.

Data from the study indicates that the medical device industry is accountable for 16,823 direct and indirect jobs, $1.2 billion in wages and more than $46 million in property taxes. Medical device manufacturing jobs in the county have an average wage of $88,660, 66% higher than the county’s average.

The study reported that employment in the medical device industry has grown 50% since 1999, which is 4 times the national growth rate. Shelby County is the 2nd largest county in the U.S. for orthopedic device manufacturing.

The economic is an outgrowth from the council which the Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce launched last year.

“We can grow this incredible economic resource by making investments in developing a competitive workforce that can fill the jobs this industry will create in the future,” Bartlett chamber of commerce CEO John Threadgill told the paper.

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