Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy Wins 2011 Gold Shovel Award
Flint's Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, the nation's largest independent specialty pharmacy, received a Gold Shovel Award from Area Development magazine.
Diplomat is one of 10 companies in Michigan to accept a Gold Shovel Award. This award is presented annually to the states that have achieved the most success in terms of significant job creation through innovative policies, infrastructure improvements, processes and promotions that attract new employers as well as investments in expanded facilities, while creating an economic impact.
"We're proud to play a major role in job creation, especially in the Flint area," said Phil Hagerman, president and CEO of Diplomat. "We added 50 new employees in the first quarter of 2011. They were primarily in patient care roles but also included employees in managed care, finance, analytics, IT and HR. As our retailer partner programs ramp up, we expect to add significant staff in this area over the next two quarters."
Since receiving an 18-year Michigan Economic Growth Authority tax credit from the state in April 2010 and relocating its national headquarters into the former GM Great Lakes Technology Centre in December 2010, Diplomat has created more than 150 new jobs -- 58 since the start of 2011.
Indiana, Michigan and South Carolina were awarded Gold Shovels for the 6th Annual Gold and Silver Shovel Awards present by Area Development magazine in recognition of projects undertaken in 2010 creating a significant number of high value-added new jobs as well as investment.
Other Michigan companies that received a Gold Shovel Award include BioDri, Four Winns, Whirlpool Corp., Ford Motor Co., Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingles, TSC Michigan, LG Chem/Compact Power, Dow Kolam and Johnson Controls- SAFT.
"Diplomat continues to share excitement about growth in our market," said Steven Miesowicz, vice president of Human Resources, Planning and Government Relations at Diplomat. "The excitement of a new facility is great alone, but the pick up in capabilities the new headquarters offers both for now and in the future has the entire company focused on growth."
Each of the 50 states was invited by Area Development to submit information about its top-10 job creation and investment projects. Only those projects that began to materialize in 2010 were considered. Area Development gave the Shovel Awards to the states with the highest weighted scores based on the number of high-valued added jobs per capita, amount of investment, number of new facilities, and industry diversity.
More at www.areadevelopment.com.
Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, founded in 1975, is the nation's largest privately held Specialty Pharmacy and focuses on complete medication management programs for patients with serious and chronic conditions. Key programs include: oncology, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's, hemophilia, growth hormone and psoriasis.
More at www.diplomatpharmacy.com
