Sign In
Upcoming Event
Free Newsletter
East Penn Manufacturing
LVB Staff//March 9, 2026//
East Penn Manufacturing, based in Lyon Station, operates one of the world’s largest single-site lead battery manufacturing and co-located recycling facilities. The private, family-owned company employs more than 10,000 people and is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year under CEO Pete Stanislawczyk.
In 1946, DeLight Breidegam Jr. and his father recognized soaring demand for rebuilt batteries as returning World War II soldiers needed to restart mothballed vehicles. With battery materials scarce, the pair began collecting old batteries and rebuilding them — launching a mission focused on providing energy solutions responsibly and sustainably.
Shortly after launch, East Penn broke ground on its current Lyons campus with a smelter. By 1976, the facility produced one million batteries in a year. The company built the lead battery industry’s first acid reclamation plant in 1992, opened an on-site employee health and safety center in 1993, and added a wastewater treatment plant in 1996 that processes 100,000 gallons daily. A 42,000-square-foot R&D center now drives development of next-generation energy solutions.
Forty percent of East Penn’s workforce has been with the company at least 10 years, a retention rate the company attributes to above-benchmark healthcare benefits and opportunities for advancement. East Penn donates more than $1 million annually to charitable organizations, ranks among the top 10 United Way supporters in Berks County, and serves as Miller-Keystone’s top organizational blood donor with monthly on-site drives.
