By Matthew Moriarty: Staff Writer

Corneal Science, the pharmaceutical company that specializes in producing drops that treat eye problem, has decided that the Aberdeen site it had previously chosen is too small.

Corneal Science instead plans to locate in the former Access Printing building near the corner of May Street and Yadkin Road.

Partners in Progress CEO Ray Ogden said the decision is good news because it likely means that the 75 to 100 jobs the business hopes to create are going to come faster than was previously thought.

“Absolutely it’s a good thing,” he said. “They’ve made an investment in our community and in job growth.”

The previous site is in Aberdeen on N.C. 5 near several other industrial buildings. Aberdeen and the county agreed to provide incentives of $10,000 each, to help the business move equipment from South Dakota, where the production facility is currently located.

Aberdeen will now not be responsible for that money. Ogden hopes Southern Pines will agree to put up $10,000. The Pilot could not reach Southern Pines Town Manager Reagan Parsons for comment Thursday.

Aberdeen also applied for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to install infrastructure at the site.

Ogden and Aberdeen Manager Bill Zell said they hope to find some other company to come in and justify that grant. But in the meantime, Zell said, it might be delayed for now. He said the town was disappointed to lose the business but that it is pleased Corneal Science will still be located in Moore County.

“Obviously we would love to have them here,” Zell said. “As long as we have them in Moore County, it helps the total cause here. You’ve got to go where you’ve got to go. We’re just looking for the next one.”

Corneal Science will move into a building that has 61,000 square feet of space. The building has been essentially abandoned for several years, Ogden said.

The O’Connor Co. contracted with Corneal to refurbish the building.

It will total about a $3 million investment in the community, Ogden said. It illustrates how much Corneal Science has grown in the last year.

When Ogden first started talking with the business about locating in Moore County, they were talking about an 8,000- to 10,000-square-foot building and 20 to 30 jobs.

“Their business has expanded dramatically in the past several months,” Ogden said.

Dr. Alan J. Touch, the CEO of Corneal Science and chief science officer, said the business has been blessed in the past year and has become known as a producer of high quality product.

“We’ll have some wonderful expansion opportunities,” Touch said. “It means that some of the jobs we’re trying to bring to the area will arrive sooner rather than later.”

Corneal Science has already began operating a packaging and labeling business in Southern Pines in a strip mall next to Fast Freddie’s Custom Choppers on U.S. 1. It also plans to open a warehouse facility.

Touch said it was important to show that the business is committed to Moore County.

He said it is a shame that the site in Aberdeen fell through, but he considers the business part of the general area, and not one specific town. He thinks that the business will employ people from a 30- to 40-mile radius.

It already employs about 10 workers in its packaging area and sometimes brings in an additional 15 temporary workers when filling a large order.

That production will be incorporated into the new building when it is ready. The building will include sterile chemical production and research, an aspect Touch said has been under the radar.

“It’s part of the expanded plan,” he said.

Touch said the company never considered looking outside of Moore County when it realized that a larger building would be needed. Ogden and Partners in Progress were ready when challenges arose, Touch said.

He said the decision was made to move to Moore County primarily because of the work of Ogden, who understood what a growing company would need.

Moore County was the farthest place from its headquarters in Raleigh, that the company was considering. Touch felt like it had the most to offer.

Ogden knew that one weakness might be the lack of a trained workforce, so he worked with Sandhills Community College to make sure there would be a program to educate prospective workers, Touch said. He turned that weakness into a strength.

In all the other communities the business talked to, Touch said, one person would understand one aspect and another would understand another aspect, but Moore County was the only place with one person who knew it all.

Said Touch: “Ray just sort of got it.”