MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A group of 17 medical device makers met in a forum in Tennessee this month and pledged their support to forming the Greater Memphis Medical Device Council, a non-profit group focused on medtech industry issues.
The council counts leaders from Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), Smith & Nephew (FTSE:SN, NYSE:SNN) and Onyx Medical Co., and charter members include Wright Medical (NSDQ:WMGI), Zimmer‘s (NYSE:ZMH) spinal division and Titan Medical (CVE:TMD), among others.
"Today, we do not have a united voice for our industry," board chairman and Smith & Nephew operations vice president Gene Baker said in an evening gathering of the council last week, OrthoSpineNews reported. "If you look across the country in areas that have successful business sectors, they typically have a forum like this. We won’t become as successful as we could be without a forum like this."
The council was formed with support from local lawmakers, including Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell and Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald who opened the meeting with a call to embrace the medtech industry, which has a significant footprint in Tennessee.
The state is home to nearly 740 device makers and employs more than 26,000 medtech workers, according to BusinessClimate.com.
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