B. Braun Creating 200 New Jobs with Lehigh Valley Expansion
Braun Medical Inc. has operated in the Lehigh Valley since 1979, and first began operations at its manufacturing facility in Hanover Township, Lehigh County in 1985. The company’s commitment to the Lehigh Valley and its people are so strong that many of its employees have been working there for that entire time.
The Hanover Township facility has grown and improved several times over the nearly four decades, and now it’s doing so again, with the company celebrating the completion of a 310,000 square-foot expansion that will add 200 new jobs over the next few years.
“B. Braun has had the privilege of being part of the Lehigh Valley community for nearly 40 years,” said Jean-Claude Dubacher, President & CEO of B. Braun Medical. “This facility represents both our commitment to Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania, as well as B. Braun’s strategic objective of being a leading health care technology company.”
The $200 million project nearly doubled the footprint of the 939 Marcon Blvd. facility, and will add capacity for the company to manufacture life-sustaining infusion therapy devices used to treat millions of patients across the country.
B. Braun currently employs 1,500 people at the Hanover Township facility, and more than 2,000 throughout the entire Lehigh Valley, Dubacher said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 23 at the facility, which was attended by hundreds of people.
Don Cunningham, President & CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), said B. Braun is an important part of the region’s manufacturing sector, which has grown to become a Top 50 manufacturing market in the United States.
The Lehigh Valley has more than 750 manufacturers employing about 35,000 people, he said. Manufacturing is the second largest economic sector of the regional economy, contributing $7.9 billion – or about 18% – to the Lehigh Valley’s $42.9 billion gross domestic product.
“We still make things here,” Cunningham said. “We often hear about the decline of American manufacturing. Actually, in the Lehigh Valley, manufacturing jobs have grown about 11 times greater than the annual growth rate across the whole country over the last five years, and B. Braun is a big part of that.”
Dubacher was a panelist at the LVEDC Fall Signature Event on Sept. 20, where he discussed manufacturing in the region. He was also previously interviewed as part of LVEDC’s executive video interview series in 2020.
State-of-the-art digitalization and automation technologies are being used to improve efficiencies and seamlessly connect all production steps and business processes at the Lehigh Valley facility, creating a highly competitive smart factory, Dubacher said.
“This is an example of how businesses can succeed when they invest both in their workforce and in their facilities , and I think that’s a tremendous story here today,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at the ribbon-cutting. “This growth is a real testament to your innovation and your leaders, and this growth is also a testament to just how hot the Lehigh Valley is here in Pennsylvania.”
As part of its workforce development program, B. Braun is partnering with local colleges and technical training schools to expand their mechatronics offerings, collaborating with other Lehigh Valley manufacturers to create a region-wide apprenticeship program, and working with schools and non-profit organizations to promote STEM education.
These efforts drew praise at the ribbon-cutting ceremony from Steve D’Ettorre, Deputy Secretary of Technology and Innovation with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED).
“Manufacturing remains one of the commonwealth’s key industries,” D’Ettorre said. “Seeing companies like B. Braun continue to grow and strengthen their presence in Pennsylvania helps further solidify our standing as a great place for manufacturers looking to relocate or expand operations.”
A leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B. Braun Medical Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets innovative medical products and services to the healthcare industry. The company is committed to eliminating preventable treatment errors and enhancing patient, clinician and environmental safety, Dubacher said.
The Hanover Township facility’s environmental management system is ISO 14001 certified, and the plant received the 2022 Large Business Sustainability Award from the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.