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Spot & Tango joins growing Lehigh Valley pet food industry
Stacy Wescoe//October 17, 2022//
Listen to this articleFreshpet, Chewy, Nestle Purina and now Spot & Tango. The Lehigh Valley is quickly becoming a hub for pet food and wellness products.
According to Don Cunningham, president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., about 45%, or nearly half, of all pet food made in the state of Pennsylvania is made in the Lehigh Valley, and that’s not even counting Spot & Tango, which cut the ribbon on its new 66,700-square-foot manufacturing facility at 720 Morris Court in Upper Macungie Township on Monday.
Spot & Tango Founder and CEO Russell Breuer said this is the first official manufacturing facility for the direct-to-consumer dog food company.
To date, the Manhattan-based company has been making its food through contract manufacturers.
At the ribbon cutting he said he expects to hire around 100 people to work at the facility over the next 36 months.
He said it was the strong access to great labor and talent that led him to choose the Lehigh Valley as home to the company’s manufacturing.
He said the location and access that the Lehigh Valley has to the Northeastern U.S. infrastructure also makes it an ideal place to get their product to their customers around the country.
At the event, which featured dogs of all shapes and sizes, Breuer said Spot & Tango is all about making it easier for pet parents to provide for the wellness of their animals.
“The food we make is all human grade, sourced from U.S. based food producers, with no artificial ingredients,” he said. “Our belief is that health and wellness is a right not a luxury.”
To help lure Spot & Tango to Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley, the Governor’s Action Team of the Department of Community and Economic Development, arranged for a $288,000 Pennsylvania First grant, a $150,000 workforce development grant to help the company train workers and encouraged the company to apply for the department’s Manufacturing Tax Credit (MTC) program.
Spot & Tango has committed to investing approximately $20 million into the project.
