One of the fastest-growing medical device companies in the world is thriving in the unlikely community of Lawrence, a city better known for its high immigrant population than its medical or technological expertise.

Lawrence-based NxStage Medical, maker of home dialysis equipment, is a bright spot amid the challenges facing medical device companies, including a new 2.3-percent tax on revenue under the Affordable Care Act. It was founded by Jeffrey Burbank, its current CEO, in 2000, and except for a couple years when it was located in Tewksbury, has always called Lawrence its home. Two years ago, the company moved into bigger headquarters on the east side of the city, just off Interstate 495 and overlooking the Merrimack River. Burbank says the area offers cheap rent and a reverse commute for the 320-plus employees who work there.

But it’s the global growth of the company that is striking by any measure: In 2013, it went from 2,700 employees to 3,200, a 19-percent increase that landed it the number 10 spot on a list of top medical device hirers last year by EP Vantage. NxStage was also the second-largest company on the list of global companies, with Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter International (a 61,000-employee company that grew by 20 percent, and is one of NxStage’s competitors) as the only one with more employees. Already this year, NxStage has hired another 200 people and Burbank says he’s got several open positions which he’s trying to fill.

Locally, the Lawrence headquarters has grown more than 21 percent from 285 employees a year ago. Burbank said that most of the global employees are in manufacturing, with a large facility in Mexico and others in Germany and Italy.

source:bizjournals