Monroe County recently named infection control product manufacturer Getinge its business of the month.

Getinge specializes in the manufacture of infection control equipment, including sterilizers for health care instruments and washers for life science operations.

The Sweden-based company has 12 factories worldwide. Rochester is the headquarters of North American operations and sterilizer manufacturing.

"We're about 700 employees, so we do both manufacturing here and we do sales and service," said John Hanssen, vice president of business development.

Getinge management said that helps it provide the complete package to health care customers.

"So we deliver turnkey solutions where you can take surgical instruments from the O.R., process them, and get them back to the O.R., including keeping track of the surgical instruments all the way," Hanssen explained.

While its main competitor moved operations from Pennsylvania to Mexico, Getinge management said it stayed in Rochester thanks to tax breaks from Monroe County and a grant from the state to stay in New York.

"We've spent about $6 million, not only in the factory, but also in the office area to upgrade the facility to a world class status facility," said Brad Tomaszewski, director of human resources.

Getinge calls Rochester a good fit for its business.

"There's a lot of well-educated people. When you work with advanced technical medical equipment like we do, you need to have experienced people. We have a lot of people who have been here a long time with this company, and that is one of the core values," said Hanssen.

Getinge's short-term goal is to get its name better known in the community.

"In order to be able to attract the best employees, we need to be known," Hanssen added.

The long-term goal is growth.

"So, here we are, roughly 15 to 20 percent of the market. Outside of North America we are at least twice as big. So our future here in North America is to grow two or three times, securing the jobs in this area as well," said Hanssen.

Getinge