Pharmaceutical packing manufacturer announces $42.9M expansion in Lehigh Valley

A pharmaceutical packaging manufacturer will be investing in a $42.9 million expansion in the Lehigh Valley, creating more than 335 new jobs over the next years.

Sharp, which offers advanced clinical supply chain services and contract pharmaceutical packaging, already has facilities in Allentown and Conshohocken.

The new facility will be located in the borough of Macungie. Sharp acquired the property from Quality Packaging Specialists International LLC.

“Our focus as always is to invest to better serve our clients and their patients, and the acquisition of the Macungie facility will help us to support their needs immediately and for years to come. Its proximity to our Centers of Excellence in Allentown will allow us to leverage existing capabilities and help us to continue delivering efficiently while growing our capacity,” said Kevin Orfan president of Sharp.

Sharp will increase its manufacturing capacity by upgrading and partially repurposing some of its four-facility Allentown campus, upgrading and obtaining new machinery and equipment for its two-facility Conshohocken campus and renovating and equipping the new 170,000-square-foot facility it recently acquired in Macungie.

The state Department of Community and Economic Development offered Sharp a $140,400 workforce development grant through the WEDnetPA program to help the company train workers, a $1.25 million Pennsylvania First grant, and $670,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits to be distributed when the new jobs are created.

“My administration is thrilled to support Sharp – whose history in the Lehigh Valley is established and dates back decades – as it continues to expand and grow its teams and capabilities in the commonwealth,” said Gov. Tom Wolf. “This expansion is a testament to the strength of Pennsylvania’s manufacturing sector and will bring new jobs and opportunities, at a critical time in pandemic recovery, to all three facilities and their communities.”

Sharp, which is part of UDG Healthcare plc, has an international footprint with facilities in the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands