Formulated Solutions to reopen the shuttered Beiersdorf plant in Cleveland, Tennessee

Staff photo by Dave Flessner / The Beiersdorf plant on Michigan Avenue in Cleveland, Tenn., was shut down last year shortly after this photograph was taken. The plant was originally built in 1978 and employed 458 employees making Coppertone and other products when Beiersdorf bought the plant in 2019, making it the seventh biggest private manufacturing employer in Bradley County. Formulated Solutions is investing $43.6 million to reopen the plant and employ 524 workers making a variety of products for over-the-counter medical devices and branded prescription drugs.
Staff photo by Dave Flessner / The Beiersdorf plant on Michigan Avenue in Cleveland, Tenn., was shut down last year shortly after this photograph was taken. The plant was originally built in 1978 and employed 458 employees making Coppertone and other products when Beiersdorf bought the plant in 2019, making it the seventh biggest private manufacturing employer in Bradley County. Formulated Solutions is investing $43.6 million to reopen the plant and employ 524 workers making a variety of products for over-the-counter medical devices and branded prescription drugs.

One of Bradley County's biggest manufacturing plants, which shut down last summer after 43 years of operation, is being reopened by another over-the-counter pharmaceutical manufacturer seeking to expand its production.

Formulated Solutions announced Tuesday it has purchased the former Beiersdorf facility in Cleveland, Tennessee, with plans to create 524 new jobs. Formulated Solutions -- which produces aerosols and medical pressurized packs, tubes, liquid and solids at its headquarters in Largo, Florida -- said it will invest $43.6 million to establish its second manufacturing plant, hire 380 new staff members and extend job offers to the majority of the former Beiersdorf employees.

Victor Swint, president and CEO of Formulated Solutions Cleveland LLC, said the expansion to Tennessee will be the company's first production site outside of Florida and will help meet the company's growing customer demand and broaden its pharmaceutical production. Formulated Solutions makes a variety of products for over-the-counter medical devices and branded prescription drugs.

"When scouting for a location to invest and expand our pharmaceutical production facilities, Cleveland, Tennessee, was a very attractive choice," Swint said in an announcement of the company's investment in Cleveland. "With a long history of local pharmaceutical production and an abundance of well-trained, reliable workforce talent, we are excited to join the thriving local community and contribute to the area's manufacturing legacy."

Formulated Solutions bought the former Beiersdorf plant for $8.9 million in January, according to property records filed with the Bradley County Register of Deeds.

Beiersdorf Inc., a Hamburg, Germany-based maker of personal-care products, acquired the 423,535-square-foot Cleveland plant three years ago with its purchase of the Coppertone brand, but Beiersdorf decided to outsource production last year.

The 43-year-old plant on Michigan Avenue was previously operated by Bayer Healthcare, Schering-Plough and Merck, and once employed 458 employees prior to the pandemic.

In a statement Tuesday, Cleveland Mayor Gary Davis welcomed Formulated Solutions and said the company will continue the tradition of consumer health products manufacturing that extends back to 1978. Davis said the new owners will be able to use "a skilled existing workforce and a community committed to manufacturing to ensure success for the company."

Stuart McWhorter, the commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Economic and Community Development that worked to recruit Formulated Solutions to Cleveland, said Tennessee is a leading health care and pharmaceuticals state as home to the world's biggest hospital chain, HCA, and a variety of spinoff businesses.

"With top health care and pharmaceutical businesses in each of our grand divisions, Tennessee is primed to welcome Formulated Solutions to Cleveland," McWhorter said in a statement Tuesday. "We appreciate this company's significant investment in our state and look forward to seeing the prosperity that follows this project in Southeast Tennessee."

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.

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