Becton Dickinson (BD) has led in needle and syringe production all across the world for years. Now, they’re putting all their efforts into COVID-19 syringes, expanding production to meet the needs of the worldwide vaccination effort.
BD has had operations in Nebraska for about 70 years and has four locations in Nebraska. Its facilities in Columbus and Holdrege are in the Nebraska Public Power District service territory.
“Nebraska has some of our largest needle and syringe manufacturing plants we have anywhere in the world,” BD spokesperson Troy Kirkpatrick said.
“We normally make seven billion syringes a year, we’re going to make an extra billion this year to specifically deliver the COVID vaccine,” BD CEO Thomas Polen said in March during one of Nebraska Governor Pete Rickett’s regular COVID-19 news conferences.
Polen said from the start of the pandemic they’ve been running around the clock to meet various needs.
“This past December we announced a $1.2 billion investment over four years to expand production capacity there in Columbus, Nebraska as well as in other parts of the world for our pre-filled syringes. This is as vaccines move from vials into pre-filled devices. We’re going to be making those devices right there in Nebraska,” Polen said. The two Columbus BD locations are served by Loup Public Power District, a wholesale customer of NPPD.
Part of the expansion means hiring approximately 200 to 250 more staff at the Nebraska locations on top of the 3,500 jobs already located in the state.
BD has been in touch with the federal government to make sure enough syringes are being produced to support the worldwide vaccination effort.
BD is the largest manufacturer of injection devices in the world, producing billions of syringes and needles annually through its global manufacturing network. Learn more about BD’s vaccination preparedness efforts at bd.com/vaccination.