MINNETONKA, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 2, 2026--
Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS) celebrated the grand opening of its Americas Regional Corporate Headquarters (ARCH), a new 200,000-square-foot facility in Minnetonka, Minnesota, underscoring the company’s continued commitment to the U.S. market and to strengthening the high-tech manufacturing capacity that will help define the future of industrial innovation in Minnesota.
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The event brought together United States Representative Betty McCollum; United States Representative Brad Finstad; United States Representative Kelly Morrison; Erin Streeter, EVP of National Association of Manufacturers; Scott Crump, inventor of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)and Stratasys Board Member, together with his wife Lisa Crump,co-founder of Stratasys in 1988; alongside Stratasys leadership, customers, partners, and community stakeholders, underscoring the critical role of additive manufacturing in strengthening regional economic development and industrial competitiveness.
United States Congressman and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said : “Stratasys is helping Minnesota lead in innovation and development as a global leader in additive manufacturing. With the grand opening of their new facility in Minnetonka comes good paying jobs and economic growth. Their investments in the region are bringing hundreds of high‑skilled engineering, manufacturing, and technical jobs to Minnesota. I’ve been proud to support their work in the past and look forward to working with them in the future.”
United States Representative Betty McCollum added: “As a pioneer in additive manufacturing technologies, Stratasys is at the forefront of advancing our country's national and economic security. Their innovations are making the work of our service members safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective for the taxpayer. I’m thrilled to welcome their new facility here in Minnesota, and I look forward to watching them flourish as a premier innovator in the Twin Cities.”
Also speaking at the ceremony , Erin Streeter, Executive Vice President of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), added: “Congratulations to Stratasys on today’s grand opening, an exciting milestone for manufacturing in Minnesota. This investment strengthens the region’s manufacturing capabilities, supports strong jobs, and expands opportunities for manufacturing workers. Additive manufacturing is helping drive the next era of American manufacturing, and Stratasys’ continued investment in Minnesota is a strong example of that progress.”
Dr. Yoav Zeif, Chief Executive Officer of Stratasys, commented, “This state-of-the-art facility in Minnesota brings together our talent, technology, and the capabilities needed to innovate, collaborate, and help our customers accelerate additive manufacturing production at scale.”
ARCH brings together engineering, advanced research and development, applications expertise, and customer collaboration capabilities under one roof, along with Stratasys Direct, the company’s on-demand manufacturing business. Visitors to the facility can experience industrial-scale 3D printing technologies in action and see how Stratasys delivers production grade parts across aerospace, defense, automotive, healthcare, dental, and industrial applications.
“Bringing our teams together under one roof has a meaningful impact on how we operate, innovate, and serve our customers,” said Rich Garrity, Chief Business Unit Officer of Stratasys and NAM Board Member. “ARCH gives us the scale and workspace to accelerate collaboration across engineering, manufacturing, and customer facing teams, enabling faster delivery of high-quality solutions.”
As part of its commitment to the local community, with the teams on-site for the event, Stratasys also highlighted its partnership with High Tech Kids and its support for FIRST Robotics programs in Minnesota, reinforcing its role in advancing STEM education and developing the next generation of engineers.
The opening of ARCH follows a recent independent audit of Stratasys’ Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) management systems at the Minnetonka campus, which confirmed alignment with ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 standards and recommended renewal of both certifications. This demonstrates the company’s ability to scale operations while maintaining rigorous global quality, compliance, and ESG practices.
The launch of ARCH underscores Stratasys’ continued commitment to U.S.-based innovation, workforce development, and community engagement, reinforcing its leadership in advanced manufacturing and its role in enabling more sustainable production.
About Stratasys
Stratasys is leading the global shift to additive manufacturing with innovative 3D printing solutions for industries including aerospace, automotive, consumer products, and healthcare. Through smart and connected 3D printers, polymer materials, a software ecosystem, and parts on demand, Stratasys solutions deliver competitive advantages at every stage of the product value chain. The world’s leading organizations turn to Stratasys to transform product design, bring agility to manufacturing and supply chains, and improve patient care.
To learn more about Stratasys, visit www.stratasys.com, the Stratasys blog, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Stratasys reserves the right to utilize any of the foregoing social media platforms, including Stratasys’ websites, to share material, non-public information pursuant to the SEC’s Regulation FD. To the extent necessary and mandated by applicable law, Stratasys will also include such information in its public disclosure filings.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those forward-looking statements are based on current information that is, by its nature, subject to potential change, due to risks and uncertainties faced by the Company, including those risks described in Item 3.D “Key Information - Risk Factors” of Stratasys’ annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024, which Stratasys filed with the SEC on March 6, 2025, and in other reports and documents that Stratasys files with or furnishes to the SEC from time to time, which are designed to advise interested parties of the risks and factors that may affect Stratasys’ business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Any forward-looking statements made in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and Stratasys undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Ribbon-cutting ceremony at the grand opening of Stratasys’ Americas Regional Corporate Headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota, with Stratasys leaders, partners, and community guests, including Rich Garrity, Scott and Lisa Crump.
BIRAO, Central African Republic (AP) — The agony began for Maude Ahmad Fadala shortly after sunset.
Her baby was coming. She was in a refugee camp, weakened by typhoid. There were no camp facilities for what was about to happen, and she had no money to travel. She struggled to her feet and started walking.
She stopped every few minutes, gripped by pain from contractions, then could go no farther.
“I gave birth in the street," she said. "There was no doctor, no midwife, and no one holding my hand.”
This is part of a series on maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, which has the world’s fastest-growing population and accounts for 70% of global maternal deaths. Around 180,000 pregnancy deaths are recorded every year across the continent, along with the deaths of about 1 million newborns.
Nearly two-thirds of maternal deaths worldwide occur in countries affected by conflict or “fragility,” the World Health Organization said this year. For women like Fadala, fleeing Sudan’s war to countries like Central African Republic, the danger doesn’t stop at the border.
Displacement can mean missed prenatal appointments, dangerous journeys and weakened health systems, often in remote settings.
Women in Central African Republic are 40 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than in the United States, the United Nations has said. For every 100,000 births in the country, one of the world's poorest, 829 women die.
Years of internal conflict have made Central African Republic and its health system fragile. Despite its vast reserves of gold, health services are scarce outside major cities. One in three people live on less than $2 a day.
The government, aware of its maternal mortality problem, announced a plan in 2024 to increase spending for resources such as skilled birth attendants. Officials did not respond to questions about how it's working.
Now, sweeping cuts in humanitarian aid funding by top donor the United States and other countries have made it even harder for women to find care.
In the remote town of Birao near the Sudan border, where Fadala shelters, four local midwives who had been supported by the U.N. Population Fund lost their jobs last year as the Trump administration cut every U.S. funding agreement with the U.N. sexual and reproductive health agency.
Opposite Fadala's tent is a former UNFPA-funded “safe space” providing transport for pregnant women to the district hospital. It was one of four such spaces in Birao serving nearly 50,000 women. Those have closed without U.S. funding, along with two U.S.-backed health facilities.
Now, "some women run the risk of dying in pregnancy situations that are not medically managed,” said UNFPA program officer Marie Justine Mamba Ibingui.
UNFPA's budget in Central African Republic has been halved in the past two years to $6.5 million, country director Victor Rakoto said. UNFPA was the only provider of reproductive health products in Birao.
“The risk of maternal death is going to increase if there is no solution,” Rakoto said.
Conflict-affected settings like Birao account for six in 10 maternal deaths globally, according to the U.N.
The district hospital, which Fadala had tried to reach, is a few kilometers (over a mile) away over dirt roads.
On a recent day, birthing assistant Delphine Zanabe moved between patients as dozens of women waited, sitting thigh-to-thigh on hard benches in the sweltering heat. Some had walked for hours to reach the hospital. Others had risked their pregnancy with motorbike journeys over rough ground.
From the border, adjoining a part of Sudan held by paramilitary forces fighting the Sudanese military, it’s a 65-kilometer (40-mile) journey to the refugee camp.
“They only come when they are about to give birth,” Zanabe said. “It’s a struggle and it’s either the baby or the mother who suffers.” According to WHO guidelines, pregnant women should attend at least eight prenatal consultations.
For refugees, living in survival mode in unfamiliar surroundings compounds the challenges of poverty and lack of education. Zanabe said those factors often put women at risk for pregnancy and childbirth complications.
In the maternity ward, eight beds were in a room so small they almost touched. They serve a population of about 70,000 people, along with 22,000 Sudanese refugees.
Doctors said 12 staffers have lost their jobs as a result of aid cuts. The majority were from the maternity department.
Amna Adam Hessen had arrived the day before, burning with fever from malaria. Her unborn child was found to be in a breech position, a discovery made late because she had missed prenatal appointments. Brought by motorbike from the refugee camp, she bled heavily during labor and lost her baby.
The next day, her mother, Salet, fanned her in the suffocating heat.
“Giving birth here is exhausting,” she said, describing the long and difficult night.
Amna writhed with fever on the bare foam mattress and cried out, “Mama, mama."
Zanabe is worried about future cuts in humanitarian assistance affecting mothers.
Over 40% of births in Central African Republic already occur away from medical facilities, the United Nations has estimated — a traditional approach that risks otherwise preventable complications.
Clara Abessendé was one of the four midwives who lost their jobs.
She had watched as the number of women arriving daily at the hospital tripled after Sudan's war began in early 2023, and as staffers ran out of supplies like antibiotics and malaria treatments.
“As a result, there were more cases of infant and maternal deaths," she said.
Abessendé said she feels heavy with the guilt of having to leave her job.
“The children born in my hands .. .I abandoned them like that," she said.
Katidje Idrisse Tahire is one of the women she's no longer there to help.
Tahire walked slowly through the refugee camp to fetch water, one child on her back and two others at her side. She was late in her ninth month, preparing to have another.
She said she fled Sudan four months ago on foot. At the border, armed men robbed her of everything. Her husband hasn’t been seen since they fled Darfur.
“My whole body aches,” she said. “I am very tired and unwell.”
She has no money and doesn't know if care will be available when her baby comes.
For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse
The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
UN peacekeepers stand guard of a UN flight refuelling on the tarmac of the Birao Airport in Central African Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)
A woman holds her baby outside the registration center for new refugees on the outskirts of the Korsi Refugee Camp in Birao, Central African Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)
A pharmacist hands pregnant women painkillers from boxes at the pharmacy of the Birao District Hospital in the Central African Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)
A woman has her first pre-natal consultation with nurse Delphine Zanabe at the Birao District Hospital in Central African Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)
A nurse gives painkillers to patient Amna Adam Hessen, whose baby was delivered stillborn the previous day, at the Birao District Hospital in the Central African Republic, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)
