An Elon, N.C.-based parts maker for the nutraceutical industry opened a 20,000-square-foot plant in Springville and plans to hire up to 10 machinists, engineers and sales people by year-end.

International Inventory Management, a maker of replacement parts for machinery that makes nutraceutical capsules and tablets, opened its first satellite office in Springville to tap the $124-million nutraceutical industry in Utah County.

Utah, which is home to more than 30 nutraceutical companies, represents 15 percent of International Inventory's total sales. The company acquired its Springville plant for $1 million from Benson Engineering, and is renting about half of the property to Edge Technology Inc., a parts design, welding and manufacturing company.

"We made the decision based on our market analysis of the number of machines we need to support in Utah and a high concentration of those are located within a few miles of Springville," said Darrell Gauthier, the company's managing member. "We're moving our manufacturing to Utah. We make high-precision spare parts for machines that produce 2,000 capsules a minute, or 10,000 tablets per minute."

International Inventory's customers currently include seven Utah companies such as Cornerstone, Alpine Health, and Twin Labs, and national clients including Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck, Teva and Eli Lilly.

The EDCUtah office in Provo, a state agency that helps promote economic development in Utah by attracting, retaining and recruiting businesses, helped the company establish contact with Springville City officials and the nutraceutical industry in Utah as well as provide financing options for the purchase of its Springville plant.

"The company contacted us a year ago and said they were interested in Utah as a possible location in order to be close to their customers," said Tom Gleason, business development manager. As of April, EDCUtah is handling inquiries from 130 out-of-state companies and helping with the expansion of 58 Utah companies.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D6.