Finance & Commerce reports that Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) took the next step toward a massive expansion in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
The report said the Maple Grove Planning Commission issued its support for a proposed building addition at the company’s Weaver Lake Road campus. This project reportedly adds 84,000 square feet of manufacturing and support spaces to an existing 86,000-square-foot facility.
According to the report, the commission recommended approval for a planned development stage on Monday night. Finance & Commerce says Peter Vickerman, Maple Grove’s planning manager, said the City Council will make a decision on approval for the proposed expansion on Dec. 2.
These plans come as part of Boston Scientific’s “Project Black Bear,” an alias used to hide the company’s identity until Finance & Commerce identified the medtech giant’s presence last summer. The project includes a $170 million investment for a new divisional headquarters campus.
Boston Scientific plans to move Maple Grove and Minnetonka employees in its peripheral interventions, interventional cardiology therapies, Watchman and urology businesses to the new location, a spokesperson told MassDevice in mid-2023. The company expects the expansion to create 177 jobs with an average hourly wage of $65.
Boston Scientific is already Maple Grove’s largest employer, with around 4,000 people working in the city. In recent years, the company has been expanding its four-building campus near Interstate 94 and Weaver Lake Road.
The Marlborough, Massachusetts–based company also has a major R&D and manufacturing campus in Arden Hills, Minnesota — on the other side of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro from Maple Grove.