HANOVER TWP., LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro heralded a $21.5 million investment in B. Braun during a tour of the medical equipment manufacturing plant Thursday.
The funding, $1.5 million of which is coming from Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development grants, will create at least 200 new jobs at B. Braun over the next three years.
While the facility itself won't be expanding, the money will go toward growing its apprenticeship program and acquiring more equipment to boost production of medical supplies, said Allison Longenhagen, senior director of corporate communications at B. Braun.
Speaking before a crowd of about 150 elected officials, B. Braun employees, industry specialists and media, Shapiro praised the international corporation as an ideal partner.
The company, one of the largest in the Lehigh Valley with more than 1,700 employees, has set roots in the region and sources $200 million of its materials from across the state, he said. That track record is a boon at a time when the commonwealth is trying to grow its life sciences industry, Shapiro said.
"I know B. Braun is going to use this investment to create more of these cutting-edge products that let doctors and nurses across Pennsylvania and across this country perform life-saving treatments," Shapiro said.
"This is really important stuff. And they're going to create a lot of new jobs in the process," he added.
Life sciences sector
Growing the region's life sciences sector has been a strategic goal for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation in recent years. Economic forecasts expect the industry to grow and produce high-paying jobs for people of a variety of educational backgrounds, said Don Cunningham, LVEDC's executive director. The apprenticeship program is partnering with Northampton Community College to train the next generation of trades people.
The region's manufacturing heritage, commitment to career training and the presence of community colleges and universities makes the region an attractive location for businesses to settle into or expand, Cunningham said.
"It's a nice fit for the Lehigh Valley because of the variety of education and training we have," he said of the life sciences industry. "We have a nice workforce pipeline for it and it's a nice fit with the American economy,"
Tessa McLean, a current apprentice and a second-generation worker at B. Braun, said her employers gave her the opportunity to go back to school after she "worked her butt off" for them as a technician.
She said it was a relief knowing that should anything ever happen to her family, they would be relying on medical equipment she's had a hand in producing.
"This has all just been so surreal, and I am just so grateful to be just here to promote this for you because this is life-changing," she said beside the governor. "This is just changing the course of where I am going in life, and I could not be happier."
Thursday's announcement comes three years after B. Braun completed a $200 million expansion of the facility. That project added 310,000-square-feet and 200 positions to the plant. Much of the new equipment that will be acquired through Thursday's announcement will go into the space completed in 2022.
B. Braun manufactures a wide assortment of medical devices at the facility, including infusion therapy devices such as ports, catheters, valves and IV bags. The manufacturing process is highly automated; LVEDC reported the 2022 expansion allowed B. Braun to produce up to 3 million components a day, requiring skilled workers to keep the machines running and verify the quality of the products.
York County shooting and budget impasse
Shapiro led off the event by addressing a shooting in North Codorus Township on Wednesday that killed three police officers and left two others in critical condition. Calling policing a noble profession, he expressed his support for law enforcement and their families
"The work they do makes days like today possible. Think about it. The days where we can be optimistic about our future. The days where we can think about building something. And it's because we have people on the front lines worried about our safety and well-being," Shapiro said.
The Associated Press has identified the shooter as 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth, whom police were seeking for a domestic violence case that occurred Tuesday. The gunman was killed in the exchange Wednesday, authorities said.
Shapiro declined to answer questions about the shooting from reporters, including the gunman's identity, saying he would allow the police investigation to play out.
Shapiro also fielded questions about the ongoing budget standoff. The 2025-26 budget was due at the end of June, but no deal has yet to emerge. The standoff has left counties, school districts and nonprofit groups that rely on Pennsylvania's pass-through funding stretching their budgets to the breaking point.
Shapiro blamed the continued impasse on the Republican-controlled Senate, noting they've only met 29 times since he introduced his budget in February. He said Senate leadership needs to find a package capable of finding 26 votes in the Senate that won't be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled House.
"I'm frustrated that the Legislature hasn't done its job. I'm frustrated that they haven't done, frankly, what they are supposed to do. It's their one job — to put a budget on my desk," Shapiro said.
For much of the summer, the deadlock appeared to be focused around transit funding. Senate Republicans, who are largely based in suburban and rural communities across the state, opposed granting SEPTA and Pittsburgh Regional Transit more than $460 million of new dedicated funding to maintain their current routes and fares.
SEPTA ran out of funding earlier this month. To avoid drastic cuts and fare increases, the Shapiro administration allowed both authorities to take funding out of capital reserve funds.
It's not yet clear if smaller authorities such as LANTA will be encouraged take similar steps. LANTA will run out of funding come January.
"It is my hope that we can come back to this and that the Senate will rethink their opposition to recurring revenue and fund mass transit systems like LANTA, which are so critical here in the Lehigh Valley," Shapiro said.
