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Albemarle imaging-based medical technologies company expanding

Rivanna, an imaging-based medical technologies company in Albemarle County, is investing $260,000 to expand and renovate its facility.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Will Mauldin said the community is seen as a key stakeholder in the company’s success, which is one of the reasons it was named after the Rivanna River.

“It’s our mission to serve health care providers and patients with new innovative medical technology, but also to serve the community by contributing in a positive way to a vibrant economy and unparalleled employee experience with a growing number of high quality jobs,” Mauldin said at an announcement event outside the company’s facility on Hunters Way.

Earlier this year, the company was awarded a federal government contract with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for the design and development of a computer-aided 3D fracture detection and diagnosis product called Accuro XV.

BARDA will provide $11.6 million to Rivanna over two years with options for additional funding to support further development up to $65 million.

“We’re taking our imaging-based technology and placing it into a medical countermeasure product that will address the bottlenecks in mass casualty trauma situations,” Mauldin said. “This is a big award for the company and that, in addition to our growing sales, is what’s really driving the growth of the business right now.”

Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball came to Albemarle for the announcement, which also includes state funding for employee training.

“Rivanna’s expansion right here in Albemarle County will aid in the commercialization of its next generation product platforms,” Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball said. “These will address large markets in anesthesia, urology, hematology and emergency medicine. This is a combined what we call an ‘addressable market opportunity’ of $4 billion.”

The company was founded in 2010 by graduate students at the University of Virginia and now holds more than 38 global patents and patent applications.

Rivanna is in the process of adding 18 new jobs and the company will receive funding and services to support employee training activities through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

According to a news release, Virginia competed with North Carolina for the project.

“Rivanna’s expansion in Albemarle County demonstrates the infrastructure, resources, and talent available in Virginia for medical-technology developers,” Governor Ralph Northam said in the release. “We look forward to seeing this home-grown company’s far-reaching impact. Medical innovation like this will advance the medical field in Virginia and beyond.”

Mauldin said Rivanna has gotten a head start on hiring, as it started the year with 13 employees and has grown to 29 employees.

“We’re really filling roles across the company — marketing, a lot of manufacturing jobs, engineering jobs to support our new product development and business administration,” he said. “We’ve filled a lot of those but we still have another five roles that we’re planning to fill.”

Albemarle Board of Supervisor Chairman Ned Gallaway said many times when people think about economic development they think of “massive construction” and moving goods into and out of the county.

“Our economic development strategic plan, … it’s really different and it looks like what we see here today,” he said. “What we’re doing is we’re taking a space and we’re adapting it to make it work for the next generation of business.”

Source: www.dailyprogress.com

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