Tridien job losses in Fishers climb to 80 as firm moves production offshore

Tridien Medical is moving production from a plant in Fishers to an unnamed country overseas, resulting in the loss of about 80 jobs.

Workers at the Fishers plant have filed for Trade Assistance Adjustment, a federal program that includes a range of benefits and services for workers who lose a job because of foreign trade.

The company told the Indiana Department of Workforce Development in December that it planned to close the plant, ending the jobs of 69 people.

But the petition for federal assistance, filed Jan. 31, gives a higher number of lost jobs, and attributes the closure to offshoring. “A large portion of the manufacturing process will be shifted an existing site in a foreign country,” the petition said.

The petition was signed by Patricia Seguim-Arnold, the plant’s executive director of project management. She did not return a call from IBJ on Monday to specify which foreign country would get the production.

Hill-Rom Holdings Inc., which owns Tridien, said in December it plans to begin eliminating employees Jan. 31 with terminations continuing until Sept. 30, when the facility will permanently close.

Hill-Rom, which moved its headquarters from Batesville to Chicago in 2015, cited “changing business needs,” as the reason for the closure. It acquired Tridien in September 2016 for an undisclosed price.

Tridien, formerly known as Anodyne Medical Device Inc., leases a 60,000-square-foot building at 9901 Kincaid Drive in North by Northeast Business Park.

The company makes products used for the prevention and treatment of pressure wounds suffered by patients with limited or no mobility under brand names including SenTech, PrimaTech, ReactiveAir and Anatomic Concepts.

Tridien was owned by Compass Diversified Holdings, a Westport, Conn.-based investment firm, until it was acquired by Hill-Rom.

The company announced plans in 2011 to add 40 employees over the next two years. The city of Fishers offered the company up to $13,000 per employee in training grants when it announced the expansion.

Trade Adjustment Assistance can include money for training and job-search expenses. Qualified workers age 50 and older can also receive supplemental pay if they find a new job that pays less than the one they lost.