Nordson Corp. cut the ribbon on a new 93,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the City of Carlsbad in March, indicating that they plan to retain and expand operations in the city and region.
The new Nordson facility will employ more than 500 people in advanced manufacturing systems, building upon the company’s presence in Vista and Carlsbad. Nordson’s Carlsbad campus is home to several businesses in the company’s Advanced Technology group, including Nordson ASYMTEK, DAGE, YESTECH, Matrix and MARCH. The new facility on Loker Avenue will house manufacturing, demonstration labs and factory support staff.
Nordson is a global company that designs and makes a full line of equipment used to manufacture many devices that people use every day, such as computers, mobile phones, game systems, medical instruments, automotive electronics and aerospace products. The firm operates in more than 30 countries and employs 6,000 people around the world.
It is a high priority for the City of Carlsbad to retain firms like Nordson, which provide quality, high-paying jobs in the increasing industry of advanced manufacturing. The city helped to uncover specific site issues, talent programs, business liaison services and expedited development review.
Nordson was one of the firms that the City of Carlsbad had in mind when it joined MiraCosta College to bring the school’s Technology Career Institute to a city-owned building in the Carlsbad Research Center. Several firms expressed to the city’s economic development team that they need highly skilled technical workers to help them stay and expand in the region.
Business retention is one of the city’s goals, so the city worked with MiraCosta to provide a building at below market rate where the college could expand its Technology Career Institute. The building also houses the San Diego North Small Business Development Center, which provides programs for small businesses
“Nordson was one of the many companies expressing support for Carlsbad’s MiraCosta Technology Career Institute for accelerated certificate programs for machinists and technicians,” said Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall at the ribbon cutting ceremony on March 22. “MiraCosta trains skilled workers for industries like Nordson in high-tech manufacturing, maritime technology and biotech manufacturing. This provides a pipeline of talent to our businesses and assists business expansion programs.”
Carlsbad’s industry clusters, which include action sports manufacturing, life sciences, information and communications technology, and cleantech, need skilled engineers. To fill that need, the city has a goal of attracting an institute of higher learning that would offer a master’s program in engineering. The city is in regular conversations with representatives of higher education institutions to achieve that goal.
Building partnerships for talent development is a key to keep our economy thriving. We have to consider the impact beyond Carlsbad and leverage partnerships that enable the region’s success. Two years ago, Carlsbad joined neighbor cities along state Route 78 — Escondido, Oceanside, San Marcos and Vista — in a collaborative effort to retain businesses along the 78 Corridor, rather than risk losing them. This effort, called Innovate78, was instrumental in helping Nordson expand in Carlsbad.
In addition, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. was instrumental in leveraging regional assets to ensure Nordson was connected to local and state resources. The EDC is also the organization that is contracted to manage Innovate78, so the synergies were consistent throughout all efforts from a local, regional and state level.
Mayor Hall may have put it best at the ribbon cutting, when he said, “Projects like these are truly special to me because it shows the thriving economy, success in manufacturing and good, well trained talent is available.”