South Carolina firm will hire more than 100 workers for new catheter plant in Arden Hills

A South Carolina material science manufacturer will open a factory this summer in Arden Hills to make catheters, saying it needs to be closer to Minnesota med-tech customers.

Zeus, a global company that also makes products for the aerospace, automotive and fiber optics sectors, said Thursday the facility should create more than 100 jobs over the next few years.

"We want to be close to our customers. Minnesota is a pretty big med-tech hub," said Suresh Sainath, general manager for Zeus' catheter solutions division.

The company already has some customers in Minnesota but wants to grow its base, said Sainath, who declined to disclose its current customers because of non-disclosure agreements.

Zeus expanded its medical business in 2021 with the acquisition San Jose, Calif.-based CathX Medical. The CathX business is what is expanding to Arden Hills. The company is in the process of transitioning the CathX brand to Zeus.

"Minnesota is going to be a much bigger scale than San Jose," said Sainath.

Champlain Associates Arden Hills LLC, a Zeus affiliate, acquired the property at 1275 Red Fox Road for $7.65 million in February 2022.

Zeus renovated the 75,600-square-foot office building, which will include a clean room, R&D lab, manufacturing space, a laser lab, office space and meeting space.

Information on file with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development lists the estimated project budget at $5 million. DEED awarded the CathX unit $400,00 from its Job Creation Fund for the project.

DEED lists the projected average pay for workers at $36.25 per hour.

Zeus makes catheters used for neurovascular, structural heart, cardiovascular and peripheral applications.

Zeus has more than 2,200 employees in facilities in South Carolina, New Jersey, Tennessee, California, Ireland and China. Founded in 1966, the privately held Zeus does not disclose revenue.