EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine August 2019 | Page 16
With this being said, B. Braun is working on the cutting edge to
maximize their $100 million investment in Volusia County, while
providing the highest quality work environment for its employees
according to von Lersner.
“The new manufacturing line which B. Braun is installing
makes heavy use of robotics for material movement. Not only
does this eliminate the need for operators to perform menial tasks
involving repetitive motion risks, the robotics also can accomplish
many tasks with greater speed and precision than an operator,”
said von Lersner.
“There are literally dozens of robots from multiple equipment
manufacturers used in our new high speed production line. This is
a big shift from the manufacturing methods which were used while
the site was operated by Gambro. The Gambro production line only
made use of a single robot.”
Statistics show there are more than 12 million people employed
by the manufacturing industry in the United States alone, with
the majority of the manufacturing businesses deemed “small” or
having less than 500 employees.
In addition to their substantial financial investment in Volusia
County with upgrades to the manufacturing facility and off-site
400,000 square foot distribution center, B. Braun has pledged to
create 175 jobs with an average annual salary of $41,000, at the
plant. Von Lersner anticipates hiring line operators beginning in
the fourth quarter of 2019.
“Once fully staffed and operational, the new B. Braun
production line will have an annual payroll in excess of $10 million
dollars,” said von Lersner.
DAVID CHAMPLIN
CAMPUS PRESIDENT
KEISER UNIVERSITY / DAYTONA BEACH
Timeline
1997 Pete von Lersner hired as Director of Operations for Gambro
Healthcare – DeLand facility
1999 Gambro Healthcare exits DeLand facility, moving operations to new
Mason Avenue facility in Daytona Beach
2004 Daytona Beach plant and warehouse expanded
2006 FDA approves NDA and Daytona Beach plant manufactures products
classified as pharmaceuticals, expands product line
2010 Consolidation efforts begin for Gambro via private equity, Daytona
Beach plant for sale
2012-13 Baxter International acquires Gambro, including Daytona Beach
plant
2014 B. Braun Medical, Inc. acquires Daytona Beach plant from Baxter
International, leasing back a portion of the facility to Baxter-Gambro
to complete Gambro orders while building facility elsewhere
2017 Lease-back contract ends, Baxter-Gambro transitions out. B. Braun
begins redesign and repurpose of Daytona Beach facility
2019 B. Braun begins to hire additional staff
2020 B. Braun slated to begin production at Daytona Beach facility
Danielle Anderson has worked in the public
relations and media industry for a decade.
She started her career as a reporter for Flagler
Broadcasting where she discovered her passion for
telling the stories of communities in Florida.
EDUCATION IS
EVERYTHING!
When it comes to education, David Champlin, Campus
President of Keiser University in Daytona Beach, is all in.
Serving approximately 500 students pursuing associate,
bachelor’s and graduate degrees, curricula include career-
focused education in business, criminal justice, information
technology, legal studies, health care and more. Keiser
University has 23 campuses in Florida and internationally
and has served our area for over 20 years. David has been
in higher education for more than 15 years and practiced
law in Birmingham for 12 years before that. He is a proud
graduate of Leadership Daytona’s Class 39 and serves as a
Board Level Investor of Team Volusia.
TEAMVOLUSIAEDC.COM
386.265.6332
INVESTOR SPOTLIGHT
| 16 | EVOLVE BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE