Tech giant Canon Inc. is preparing to make Cleveland the headquarters of a US-based medical imaging unit, which will significantly expand the company’s research and development efforts in the country.
Canon plans a big investment — on orders of 300 million dollars over the next few years — to establish what’s called Canon Healthcare USA Inc. The unit will launch in January with around 20 employees but is expected to grow to 200 or more within the next four to five years, according to the man who has been tapped as president of Canon Healthcare USA, Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita, founder and CEO of Mayfield Village-based Quality Electrodynamics. (In 2019, Canon acquired Quality Electrodynamics, known as QED, which develops and manufactures the coils inside magnetic resonance imaging machines.) Canon Healthcare USA’s president of leadership will be Hisashi Tachizaki, who will report. with Toshio Takiguchi, president and CEO of Canon Medical Systems Corporation
Fujita said in a Zoom interview on Monday, December 5, that Canon Healthcare USA will start with employees working at QED’s operating facilities on Beta Drive in Mayfield Village but will eventually fall in love. bridge its own building. He said in the interview, “We have a number of locations under consideration,” and specifically mentioned two: the expansion of the QED headquarters, which has about 170 employees; and the Corridor of Opportunity, a growing Cleveland location that provides quick access to the city’s largest healthcare institutions, the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital.
Fujita adds, “There are several websites that have contacted us.” However, he did not identify other sites. Fujita said Canon Healthcare USA will consider both new construction and renovation of the existing facility, although it will likely own, rather than lease, the space of that facility.
Fujita said the company worked with JobsOhio, the state’s private nonprofit economic development corporation, during the search. “The support we have received from JobsOhio has been amazing,” he said, adding that Canon Healthcare USA hopes to locate a site in the first quarter of 2023.
Matt Englehart, a spokesman for JobsOhio, said the nonprofit did not disclose whether it discussed the project with the companies.
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Marie Zickefoose, a spokeswoman for the city of Cleveland, said in a statement that the city “is continuously working to bring innovative businesses and quality jobs to the city and the Opportunity Corridor. excited to be on the list of locations being reviewed by Canon in Healthcare USA.”
Mayfield Village Mayor Brenda Bodnar wrote in an email, “Under Dr. Fujita’s leadership, QED has led the industry in innovation in medical imaging equipment and we are proud that QED has chosen Mayfield Village as its home. We are excited about the prospect of expanding QED’s headquarters to include Canon Healthcare USA operations.”
John Marquart, the village’s economic development director, said there was “no certainty” about the QED expansion in Mayfield Village. However, he added that village officials have been “in fairly regular contact with the company (QED)” for many years, and that “we are here to help” support an expansion project if necessary.
He pointed out that Mayfield Village voters in May approved a zoning overlay that gives property owners on Beta Drive more flexibility in managing their properties, such as reducing setbacks and increasing building height.
