Hollister Incorporated Joins Kaunas FEZ Family

Hollister Incorporated, a medical devices manufacturer and marketing company based in the United States, has signed an agreement to build a manufacturing facility in Kaunas FEZ. The company will establish a production plant on a 13ha plot of land, investing over €50 million and creating 300 jobs. The plant will initially produce ostomy products, with plans to expand production over time.

In selecting Lithuania, and Kaunas in particular, for the company’s newest manufacturing facility, the senior management team at Hollister Incorporated identified a variety of considerations in their decision-making process.

“Very early in our site selection process, our team realized that Kaunas offered not only a superb infrastructure, but also a welcoming business environment and strong community support,” said George Maliekel, President of Hollister Incorporated. “In selecting Kaunas, our team noted the area’s strong academic community, together with its remarkably educated workforce and highly skilled pool of technical talent."

“Two additional considerations we have for locating our new plant here in Kaunas are geography and people,” Mr. Maliekel continued. “Lithuania is oftentimes known as the geographic center of Europe, and locating our newest manufacturing facility here is a benefit not only for our company, but also for Hollister customers throughout Europe who depend on our medical products and services. Moreover, one of the most important reasons we are locating our new plant here in Kaunas is the people of Kaunas themselves. Our business team has witnessed first-hand a very strong cultural fit with the people of Kaunas, and the support we have received from local business leaders and governmental agencies in Lithuania gives us confidence that we have made the right choice for our customers and our company.”

Colliers International supported Hollister Incorporated in the site selection process. Head of the brokerage department for Colliers International, Sandra Jovaisaite, said that Hollister had a number of strong selection criteria, paying special attention to future employee convenience and looking for a strong reliable partner for land development. The law firm PwC Legal Lithuania also worked closely with the Hollister team and Colliers International to secure the land.

Kaunas FEZ General Manager Vytautas Petruzis says this is an excellent addition to the Kaunas FEZ family. “We are delighted to enlarge the international community here at Kaunas FEZ. And we are particularly happy to welcome Hollister, which is renowned for its advanced medical products as well as its reputable company philosophy,” notes Mr. Petruzis.

Hollister Incorporated is an independent, employee-owned company that develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products and services worldwide. The company develops and manufactures products for ostomy care, continence care, critical care and wound care, and also develops educational support materials for patients and healthcare professionals. Hollister Incorporated has been serving healthcare professionals and consumers for more than 95 years and is committed to making life more rewarding and dignified for people who use its products and services. Headquartered in Libertyville, Illinois, Hollister Incorporated has manufacturing and distribution centers on three continents and sells in more than 80 countries around the world.

The company will join another manufacturing giant, which is already in the process of being established in the second development phase at Kaunas FEZ. The territory, which benefits from a strategic location close to Kaunas International Airport, will house Hollister as well as the neighboring German manufacturer of electronic components for cars, Hella. This marks a strong and ambitious goal for Kaunas FEZ.

Kaunas FEZ Management Company launched operations in 2004 and since then has attracted 31 investors, which together occupy an area of 87 hectares, 15% of Kaunas FEZ’s capacity. The total number of investments at Kaunas FEZ so far amount to €489 million, 70% of which have come as FDI, and in total 3,456 jobs have been or will be created.