Arthrex wins recognition for innovation

Naples-based medical device manufacturer Arthrex is getting some well-deserved recognition.

For years, the company has grown in Collier County without many people being fully aware of its global scale. Arthrex has 1,500 employees in Collier and Lee counties and revenues in 2011 reached $1.1 billion.

Gov. Rick Scott recently presented Arthrex with the 2012 Governor's Innovators Business Award, recognizing the company's efforts. Its founder, Reinhold Schmieding, pulled into Naples in the summer of 1991 with all the company's assets in a U-Haul truck.

In addition to its Southwest Florida work force, Arthrex has 700 employees throughout the U.S. and overseas as well as 2,000 commissioned salespeople. It is building a new manufacturing facility in eastern Collier County near the towns of Ave Maria and Immokalee.