Surgical Tools, Inc., Moves to Roanoke

In late November, the Carilion Biomedical Institute helped Surgical Tools, Inc., move its operations from Mystic, Connecticut to Roanoke. The surgical products distributor relocated after an early stage financial investment by the Carilion Biomedical Institute and private investors. CBI also connected the company to potential customers and helped them to find local real estate that would meet their needs.

We are very excited to have a company like Surgical Tools in Roanoke.  This is a win for both CBI and Roanoke.  Our goal is to attract more medical companies to Southwestern Virginia by connecting them to the resources they need, such as capital, industrial partners, and management talent. Surgical Tools was a natural fit with this goal and we are continually pursuing other opportunities for economic development for this region, says Daniel Barchi, the CEO of CBI.

The Surgical Tools partnership marks the third company this year that CBI has helped move to the Roanoke Valley -Genomatix from Ohio and PhysioAdvantage starting operations here from the Richmond area.

Established in 1995, Surgical Tools found its new home on Walnut Avenue downtown and has leased 1,500 square feet of office and warehouse space. The company has an established reputation as a leading online supplier of high quality surgical instrumentation to doctors, surgeons, and hospitals in North America, but routinely ships products worldwide as well. Surgical Tools founder and current CEO , Mr. Alan Greener, has more than 40 years of experience in the medical industry. The company has leveraged long-standing relationships with several manufacturers of precision German surgical instruments to expand the company and grow its online presence.

After driving Surgical Tools to increased profits in 2001, 2002, and 2003, company management decided that location was key to continued growth. Surgical Tools was running well in Connecticut, but after working with CBI and looking at the lower cost of operations in this area, we decided to bring the company here, said Willie Morris, the company's president. Following the first investment round in mid-November, Morris and his team packed its equipment, computers and servers, and inventory of surgical tools and moved to Roanoke. Company management and the office manager moved with the company, and Morris expects to add additional customer service and sales people in the first quarter of 2005.

Surgical Tools has grown its revenue 35% or more annually since 2001 , this move marks a focus on growth into larger markets and into more substantial Federal Government contracting . "We are thrilled to have moved operations to Roanoke and are looking forward to establishing a strong regional presence here as well as further enhancing our online business," said Morris.

Morris himself has had considerable experience in this region and in the medical industry. He is a lifelong Lynchburg resident and graduate of Hampden-Sydney College in Farmville, as well as the founder and President of several medical companies, most notably Blue Ridge Anesthesia and Critical Care, Inc.

Webb Burns, the CBI principal who managed the Surgical Tools investment, is pleased by what Surgical Tools brings to the area Surgical Tools is a fantastic company - an industry leader and the perfect size to relocate here to grow. Additionally, as a medical device distributor, Surgical Tools brings a capability to partner with other device companies we are developing for national sales and distribution.

There are additional benefits to operating in SouthWestern Virginia as well. Surgical Tools online presence is very important to its success, and CBI introduced Surgical Tools to New City Media of Blacksburg, a leading website development and maintenance company. President and Owner of New City Media, David Poteet, has helped Surgical Tools refine its website, add additional features, and increase the reliability of its e-commerce platform. "As the largest and most active website for surgical instruments online, www.surgicaltools.com has presented some unique challenges in redesign. We are quite proud to have taken such a large commercial platform and streamlined such things as search engine functions, seamless presentation of images, as well as adding the latest in encrypted security features. This is a large commercial website geared to physicians and medical professionals - folks who can't afford to waste a lot of time. When the latest version 6 of the site goes live in December, from initial search for products to completion of an order should take no more than a few minutes, with a detailed email confirmation of the order provided to the customer within seconds. Not bad at all for a website with over 36,000 products and images."

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