The Coca-Cola Co. announced today that it has expanded its manufacturing facility in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County, creating at least 28 new jobs.
The company completed a 50,000-square-foot expansion to its current 225,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. The $42.9 million building expansion will install a hotfill line to produce more non-carbonated products, which the company began manufacturing in 2012.
The expansion, which will not be fully operational until 2014, is expected to create at least 28 new jobs and retain an additional 130 employees within the three years of the initial agreement.
“The expansion of our facility in Lehigh would not be possible without the support and leadership of the commonwealth. Not only are we growing our workforce, we are creating new and diverse opportunities for existing employees,” Tim Fischbach,plant manager for the Lehigh Valley Coca-Cola facility said. “We see a bright future in the Greater Lehigh Valley metropolitan region. For Coca-Cola, it feels like home and we look forward to continuing to be a strong community partner here.”
The company received a funding offer from the Department of Community and Economic Development, including $56,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits and a $12,600 Guaranteed Free Training grant, to be used for training its new workforce at the project site.
The project was coordinated by the Governor’s Action Team, a group of economic development professionals who work directly with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania.
“As governor, it is my priority to bring jobs back to Pennsylvania by unleashing the growth of the private sector,” Corbett said. “It is because of the growth of companies like Coca-Cola, and countless others throughout Pennsylvania, that morethan 19,000 jobs were created last month alone.”
