BioBuzz, a trade publication focused on the life sciences industry, recently touted the Lehigh Valley’s growing life sciences economy in an article titled, “Lehigh Valley: A Booming Life Sciences Ecosystem Right Next Door.”

“With more than 170 life sciences companies employing 6,577 people, Lehigh Valley companies have added 1.3 million square feet of space in the last two years,” the article said. 

The article tells of recent success stories including B. Braun Medical’s 310,000-square-foot expansion in Hanover Township, Lehigh County; OraSure Technologies' expansion in Bethlehem Township during the pandemic to meet the demand for COVID-19 home tests; the opening of the Olympus Corp. distribution and service center in Bethlehem; and Sharp Packaging Solutions receiving a Foreign Trade Zone Designation in Upper Macungie Township.

Don Cunningham, President and CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. (LVEDC) was interviewed by BioBuzz. He explained why the Lehigh Valley is so attractive to the life sciences and other industries, including that one-third of U.S. consumers are within a day’s drive, providing a speed to market opportunity.

“We’re in the top 50 manufacturing centers in the country. Manufacturing is 18% of the overall economy here compared to the U.S., where it’s 12%,” Cunningham said. “And we have the educational infrastructure, both the kind of shop-floor skills-training level and the higher-end research and development, engineering and scientist level. We have more employment than we did back in the days of steel because the market’s grown so much and the evolution, particularly, into medical device and medical diagnostics.”

BioBuzz is the latest publication that has picked up on the Lehigh Valley’s bustling economy. In April, Chief Executive magazine hailed the Lehigh Valley as “an economic pacesetter for the nation.”

Chief Executive, which bills itself as the independent voice of the CEO community, gave the Lehigh Valley top billing in its annual article ranking state business climates. The article touted the region’s “economic vibrance” as underscoring “the dynamism that remains in state business climates in general.”

In May, a leading newspaper in France, Le Monde, included the Lehigh Valley in an article about companies abroad investing in the United States.

The article detailed the growing interest in U.S. investment, bolstered by recent federal legislation like the CHIPS Act, and the locales where businesses overseas are searching. The story mentioned Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget message about fighting to bring that investment to Pennsylvania and called out the Lehigh Valley’s advantages, including its location and skilled workforce.

More than 80 international companies from 23 countries operate in the Lehigh Valley and in 2022, 40% of companies that looked at the Lehigh Valley as a potential location were international.