With international giants B. Braun and Olympus leading the way, Lehigh Valley is fast becoming a leader in the life sciences arena.

So, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, via its Department of Community and Economic Development, arranged a media tour of life science companies in the Philadelphia suburbs, Lehigh Valley and State College, Lehigh Valley Economic Development leaped at the chance to host a quartet of key media players and their tour guides.

A casual dinner was scheduled at Hotel Bethlehem for the evening of April 15. The writers and their hosts were in town the night before a tour of nearby B. Braun. Jarrett Witt, LVEDC vice president of economic development, and John McGran, LVEDC vice president of marketing, provided our guests with info on Lehigh Valley and its blooming life sciences sector.

Enjoying the hospitality were media members Sudeep Basu of Frost & Sullivan, Mark Kleszczewski of Business Xpansion Journal, Jim Pomager of Med Device Online, and Ed Miseta of Life Science Connect. Representing the Pa. DCED and its PR firm, Tierney Agency, were Debbie Bowman, Mary Bethea, Sheri Collins, Jenna Lefever, and Sarah Thomas.

“LVEDC is working on arranging key sector tours of our own so we felt this was a great opportunity to see how a professional tour is conducted,” said McGran. “It proved a great forum for touting Lehigh Valley and our growing life sciences sector.”

Life Sciences Research & Manufacturing is one of the four optimal targets listed in the A Blueprint for Success report created for LVEDC by Garner Economics of Atlanta, Ga. LVEDC hosted a similar media tour dinner in October 2013 for five writers covering the food and beverage processing sector.

“Food & Beverage Processing happens to also be one of the four optimal targets, so you can bet LVEDC will be working to bring in key media members whose beat includes other two key areas: High Value Business Services and High Performance Manufacturing,” said McGran.

The writers spent the next morning touring B. Braun, which has global headquarters in Melsungen, Germany and operations in 60 countries. However, in the U.S., B. Braun’s corporate headquarters is located in Bethlehem; its primary manufacturing facilities are in Allentown and Irvine, Calif.

About B. Braun

According to its website, B. Braun leads the way in developing infusion therapy and pain management products and services that meet the highest standards for quality, safety, sustainability and efficiency.

One of the biggest challenges facing health care providers today is enhancing safety and patient care while managing workflow efficiencies. As a division of the 13th largest global medical device manufacturer, B. Braun Medical Inc. is uniquely poised to address this challenge.