Lilly sells Greenfield ops

[Viper43]

Lilly announced today that they are selling their Greenfield operations to Covance http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=8798438
The sale leaves employees up in the air about their futures. Oddly enough the normally silent radio system used for operations and security at the large site suddenly got really busy today, even doing testing of alert systems.... seems odd that sales of the plant brought on all kinds of radio chatter though. It will be interesting to see what happens with communications systems at the plant as well as what they do for security and fire ops. Presently they have their own fire department and security but they also use local police and Sheriffs deputies for security.

V

 

[AK9R]

Having their own fire and security is not unusual for Lilly as that's the way it's done at the Lilly Tech Center, as well as other sites. It is Lilly policy at all Lilly sites that if you have an emergency, you are to call the site security and let them determine whether or not to bring in outside help.

Actually, the security is contracted out. The security officers are not Lilly employees though they are supervised by Lilly employees.

The fire department at Greenfield is mostly volunteer. There is a Lilly employee who works in the facilities maintenance department who is trained in fire safety and rescue. He is, in essence, the full-time Fire Chief. If there is a fire on the site, he responds along with several other volunteers who have other primary responsibilities at the site. These volunteers train on a regular basis and they also train with the other public fire departments in the area. The last I knew (I worked out there for about a year), they have an ambulance and an engine. The advantage to having their own fire department is that their people can respond quicker than Greenfield FD or the township FD. The Lilly FD personnel know the campus like the backs of their hands and they don't have to wait for Security to let them in the gate.

Kinda sad to see Lilly sell Greenfield Labs. It's a nice campus with a lot of history, though I think some of the employees who have been relocated out there over the last few years feel like they were put out to pasture. Now, their jobs have been sold. Ouch. Back in the days when vaccines for diseases like diptheria were developed from horse serum, Greenfield Labs was more like a farm. Over the years, the use of large animals has been reduced and most of the farm land is rented out. They still do a lot of testing on rats, rabbits, and monkeys, though.

 

[Viper43]

There security at Greenfield and fire has changed since you worked there. They have their own security which is suplemented with city and county officers 24/7, all other security at Greenfield is/was Lilly personnel following some issues, which is also why the locals are involved. I know the head of the fire and security, he's also a reserve deputy. Security at the joint is unreal to say the least.
Seems odd they sold the place, they are doing some building there, and have done a lot the last few years too.

V

 

[AK9R]

When I was out there, you could count on seeing a Greenfield PD or Hancock Sheriff's car lurking around the campus. I was told that Lilly had actually purchased a vehicle for HCSD. But the guys at the gates and monitoring the systems were contract. My access card was good for 6am to 4pm M-F. If I forgot something and needed to get back in after I left in the evening, the security guys at the guard house had to get clearance from someone inside. Oh, you don't want to exceed the speed limit on the campus. One of the security guys would run the radar and one of the LEOs would write the tickets. As a contractor, I think it was three strikes and you're out.