Infrastructure Development Program assists in $46 million plant expansion, addition of new beverage manufacturing lines and 50 new jobs

UPPER MACUNGIE TWP. – JULY 12, 2012 – It’s not too often you get to give a little “pop” to Coca-Cola.

This week, officials from the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. and the Lehigh Economic Advancement Project were able to do just that in presenting a $1.25 million grant check to Coca-Cola Refreshments’ Lehigh Valley Syrup Manufacturing Facility for infrastructure development to support the Upper Macungie Township plant’s recent $46 million expansion.

The Infrastructure Development Program, or IDP, grant was secured by LVEDC through Lehigh’s Economic Advancement Project (LEAP) from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

“The experience of working with LVEDC to help us secure the IDP grant was flawless,” said Tim Fischbach, general manager of the Coca-Cola Refreshments Lehigh Valley facility. “Their finance division understood our needs, quickly identified the resources available to Coca-Cola and assisted us with the grant application. LVEDC helped bring all the necessary parties together and made this invaluable funding resource available to our expansion project.”

The facility expansion includes the addition of bottling operations for the beverages Powerade, vitaminwater and Fuze, which are sold in stores here in the Lehigh Valley and from Maine to North Carolina. Coca-Cola’s Schantz Road location also manufactures syrup for the company’s iconic soda. The project assured the retention of 78 full-time positions and the creation of an additional 50 jobs, while strengthening the company’s commitment to the Lehigh Valley.

“We are grateful that Coca-Cola Refreshments’ Lehigh Valley has chosen to stay here and to expand its beverage manufacturing operations in the Lehigh Valley,” said Don Cunningham, president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. “Our partners in the Lehigh Valley and Harrisburg were extremely helpful in securing this grant. LVEDC was created to help companies grow here and to locate here. This is an example of LVEDC’s operation doing just that.”

Cunningham was joined by Chris Persichetti of American Bank, the vice president of Lehigh’s Economic Advancement Project, and John Kingsley, vice president of finance at LVEDC, to tour the facility this week and to present Fischbach with the $1.25 million check.

LVEDC is a public-private partnership developed to help existing companies to remain and to grow in the Lehigh Valley and to market the region to attract and develop new businesses. The LVEDC finance division is currently marketing commercial and industrial business loans at an interest rate as low as 1.75 percent. Please contact John Kingsley in the finance division at jkingsley@lehighvalley.org for more information.

PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Donald Cunningham, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. president and C.E.O; Tim Fischbach, general manager of Coca-Cola Refreshments Lehigh Valley facility; Chris Persichetti, senior vice president, American Bank and vice president, Lehigh’s Economic Advancement Project