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Henry Schein Inc., which manufacturers and distributes medical supplies for dentists, doctors and veterinarians, is bursting at the seams at its American Fork location and will be moving into a bigger building.
Not only will it be the new home for its 400 Utah employees —whose numbers are expected to grow — but the company also hopes it can build a clinic there to provide free dental care for the needy.
Henry Schein, which is based in Melville, N.Y., marked the ground-breaking Friday for its new facility in the North Pointe Business Park, a block west of the company's current digs.
The American Fork office is home to the Henry Schein division that manufactures and markets business and clinical software for dentists. The operation began as Dentrix until it was purchased in 1997 by Henry Schein, which has 15,500 employees worldwide and services more than 775,000 customers.
The new four-story building will cover 100,000 square feet and be the tallest in American Fork, said Brandon Fugal, executive vice president of Coldwell Banker Commercial.
Construction is expected to be completed by April 2014, and the building will be able to accommodate up to 550 employees. Spokesman Mike Allsop said Henry Schein will be hiring over time to fill that space, and operations could expand to another new building in the business center that will be built some time next year.
"We're acquiring companies and developing products at a pretty impressive rate, and it requires we hire more talent and prepare for that growth," Allsop said.
The company also is working with contractors to turn some of the new office space into the dental clinic that would work with nonprofit charity groups such as Share a Smile and the Utah Food and Care Coalition, both which provide health care for the needy. Henry Schein would provide products and supplies.
"We're looking to partner to identify patients and dentists who would provide this service on a voluntary basis," Allsop said. "We are in the planning stages and have a lot more work to do to roll out a successful dental clinic in our office."