UPS Consolidates Korea Operation

United Parcel Service Inc. has reached an agreement to with Korea Express Co. Ltd. to acquire the South Korean company’s interest in a joint-venture partnership established more than a decade ago.

UPS officials say changing Korea Express’ status from joint-venture partner to wholly owned subsidiary will give UPS the control the company needs to best serve its customers in the Asian country.

“UPS and KEC have had a successful partnership in Korea for more than 10 years, but UPS has arrived at a point where we need greater flexibility to match our commitment to this important market,” said Derek Woodward, president of UPS’s Asia-Pacific region.

Mr. Woodward noted that South Korea is now the U.S.’s seventh-largest trading partner and said that the deal will help the company “stay ahead of demand” there, a particularly important goal in light of the pending free trade agreement between the two countries.

Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed,  a UPS press release said the two companies signed a cooperation agreement for continued collaboration.

UPS began operating in South Korea in 1988.  UPS Airlines, the world’s ninth largest airline, operates 31 weekly flights  to and from Seoul’s Incheon Airport. 

Visit www.pressroom.ups.com.

Two Healthcare Companies Add to Georgia’s Bioscience Future

At a conference where he heralded Atlanta’s selection as the site for a $250 million National Health Museum, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue also announced that two health-related companies have chosen the state, creating up to 400 jobs combined.

Speaking at a Georgia Pavilion at the 2008 BIO International conference in San Diego, Calif., Mr. Perdue highlighted bioscience and healthcare as primary economic growth sectors for the state.

Docusys Inc., a provider of healthcare information technology, has moved its headquarters from Mobile, Ala., to the Midtown area of Atlanta.  The company aims to hire 300 over the next three years.

Allendale, N.J.-based Dicon Technologies Inc., a medical components manufacturer, will open a $3.7 million manufacturing plant in Bryan County, some 30 miles west of Savannah.  The company will use Georgia’s Quick Start workforce training program to get its employees up to speed.

Dicon’s medical components are used in the skin care, foot care and medical industries and are customized for sale to companies and hospitals.  The company currently manufactures all of its products in China but decided to produce some high-tech goods in Georgia.

“We are very impressed by Georgia’s progressive economic development and partnership programs, as well as the skilled workforce here,” said Sam Ginsberg, Dicon’s chairman. “Those factors, in addition to ease of exporting thanks to our proximity to Georgia’s ports and to Dow Chemical, a key strategic partner, give us great confidence that Georgia is the right location to make the technology-driven, advanced products the health industry demands.”

The company is considering moving its headquarters here, according to a Georgia press release.

Georgia will showcase its bioscience progress next year when the 2009 Bio International conference brings an anticipated 25,000 attendees and $26.2 million immediate economic impact to Atlanta.