A global market leader in chemical and ingredient distribution has announced the grand opening of a newly expanded facility in the Lehigh Valley.

Brenntag’s newly expanded newly expanded Personal Care Application & Development Center in Upper Macungie Township.

Brenntag North America, Inc. announced last month the opening of its expanded Personal Care Application & Development Center in Upper Macungie Township.

The center will further support customers in the United States and Canada who face personal care formulation challenges with technical solutions and inventive ideas, according to Christina Dean, applications lab director at Brenntag North America.

“In addition to offering technical guidance, the application center provides our customers with proof of concept formulations showcasing the latest in ingredient technology and industry trends,” Dean said.

“These formulation prototypes can be used as a starting point for formulators looking to shorten development time or as a guide to using a unique, specialty raw material,” she said. “I am excited the laboratory expansion will allow us to be more innovative in developing new formulations for the hair, skin, and color cosmetics markets and to be a better technical resource for our customers.”

Lehigh Valley is a particularly beneficial location for customer support centers like this Brenntag facility due to the region’s central location, access to markets, well-developed infrastructure, and proximity to major northeastern markets like New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston.

This, in part, is why high value business services has been identified as one of the four target sectors of the Lehigh Valley economy.

Brenntag’s Personal Care team provides application assistance, formulation advice, raw material and ingredient recommendations, and starting point formulas. The company is well-positioned to benefit from Lehigh Valley’s strong pool of skilled labor, which is aided by the region’s excellent educational institutions and career and technical schools.

The applications center is continuously expanding its formulation library with new and unique formulations, according to the company. Each year, the center debuts new hair care, skin care, and color cosmetic prototypes at industry trade shows.

These prototypes serve to showcase trends in the market, as well as unique uses for ingredients offered by Brenntag. Starting point formulations can be customized to fit customer goals and manufacturing requirements.

Additionally, formulary sheets detailing processing instructions, key ingredients, and benefits are often provided as a resource, Dean said.

Brenntag North America, Inc., part of the Brenntag Group, is the global market leader in chemical distribution. The company connects chemical manufacturers and chemical users, and supports its customers and suppliers with tailor-made distribution solutions for industrial and specialty chemicals.

The Upper Macungie Township facility is located on the 7700 block of Imperial Way. Brenntag is headquartered in Essen, Germany, and operates a global network with more than 580 locations in 73 countries and a workforce of more than 16,600 employees.

The company generated sales of $14.8 billion in 2018. With more than 10,000 products and a world-class supplier base, Brenntag offers one-stop-shop solutions to around 195,000 customers.

This includes specific application technology, an extensive technical support and value-added services such as just-in-time delivery, product mixing, formulation, repackaging, inventory management, and drum return handling.