Cook is looking for at least 350 more workers to keep up with the growing demand for the medical products manufactured by the company based in Bloomington, according to Cook spokesperson Marsha Lovejoy, whom the Bloomingtonian reached out to Thursday. The jobs start at 15-dollars per hour for the first shift and 16.50 for the second shift.
Demand for Cook’s products is so high that the company is also leaning on manufacturing partner Seisa Medical to hire workers in Mexico to help keep up with manufacturing, according to Lovejoy.
After an article published on the Herald-Times website Thursday, Cook Incorporated President Pete Yonkman emphasized in a message to Cook employees that nobody in Bloomington is at risk of losing their job, and in fact, there is an “unprecedented labor shortage in Indiana and most of the country. We currently have over 350 open positions to be filled at Cook Inc.”
“We’ve worked with Seisa Medical for over a decade and have relied on them when our need for people has been greater than our local community can meet. They have always stepped up for us, and we’re in that situation now,” said Yonkman.
“Seisa is a qualified medical device manufacturer with corporate headquarters in El Paso, Tx. Seisa has three locations in the US, one in Mexico, one in Europe. They provide services to medical device companies and have been a trusted partner of ours’s for well over a decade. Right now, we’re asking them to take on more work because of the current labor shortage in South Central Indiana. We simply can’t hire enough people to keep up with the demand from physicians,” said Lovejoy.
Lovejoy reiterated, “Park 48 has always been our largest manufacturing site and it will continue to grow. We started in the spare bedroom of a Bloomington apartment in 1963. We’ve been committed to this community since the beginning.”
“We are actively hiring hundreds of people in Bloomington, Ellettsville and Spencer for medical device assembler roles. The starting wage is $15/hour for the first shift and $16.50/hour for second shift. Including overtime and bonuses, many employees that have been with Cook for less than five years make over $20/hour. Employee benefits range from health, dental and vision insurance to a free education from a high school degree through a master’s degree,” said Lovejoy.
Cook Incorporated was founded by the late William A. “Bill” Cook who later used his wealth to help preserve downtown Bloomington when other cities tore down their traditional architecture. Cook’s companies also restored The French Lick Resort and West Baden Springs Hotel. Cook was known for his hobbies such as go-cart racing and used to participate in an annual go-cart race around the Courthouse Square in Bloomington. Cook also began a drum & bugle corps called, “Star of Indiana.”
The company currently has over 12,000 employees spread out at locations across the world.
More about the company can be found on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Group
