Chobani’s $1.2 billion investment in dairy manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley – the region’s second billion-dollar deal in less than a year and Pennsylvania’s largest agricultural investment ever – almost didn’t happen.
As Chobani investigated the potential of purchasing the Keurig Dr Pepper factory in Upper Macungie Township and hiring its 300 workers and adding up to 600 more, there was uncertainty about whether the wastewater system in that part of Lehigh County could handle the additional capacity as Chobani innovated new products, including high-protein milk. 
As they did in landing Eli Lilly and Company’s $3.5 billion pharmaceutical investment in January, Lehigh Valley partners collaborated and worked with state leaders to make Chobani’s plan feasible.
When announcing his company’s investment on Sept. 1, Chobani CEO and Founder Hamdi Ulukaya noted that during negotiations, that challenge seemed insurmountable. He said company leaders discussed internally that “the possibility of this happening is almost zero, because we're talking about a lot of municipalities, and the wastewater is extremely important.”
He lauded Gov. Josh Shapiro and state and local leaders for solving that challenge.
State officials, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), and the Lehigh County Authority, which provides water and wastewater service, pulled key players together to produce the solution.
Three neighboring municipalities – Allentown, Lower Macungie Township, and South Whitehall Township – agreed to temporarily loan Upper Macungie up to a total of 1 million gallons per day of future wastewater capacity if it would be needed to support Chobani’s operations.
The collaboration illustrates a key reason Lehigh Valley has been the No. 1 mid-sized market in America for economic development in two of the past three years, said Don Cunningham, President & CEO of LVEDC.
“They all represented the best of Lehigh Valley regionalism and putting the greater good ahead of parochialism,” he told the audience at the Chobani announcement. “That is the essence of the Lehigh Valley.”
Those communities will have their future capacity allotments restored as the Lehigh County Authority constructs new treatment facilities over the next few years, under a regional plan approved in April by the state Department of Environmental Protection, said Authority CEO Liesel Gross.
At the project announcement, Rick Siger, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, described the agreement as “the best example I've seen of economic development as a team sport.”
A Regional Mindset
At the project announcement, Gross said the agreement reflects how Lehigh County Authority has been working to forge a new partnership approach with the municipalities it serves.
“LCA has a long history of supporting our region's economic vitality through the water and wastewater services that we provide. We're excited to be called upon to develop creative water solutions for this project alongside Chobani and other partners at the state and local level. And the timing just felt right,” she said.
Chobani’s investment reinforces a fundamental reality: economic development cannot occur without the infrastructure to support it, South Whitehall Township Manager Thomas Petrucci told LVEDC.
“From a municipal perspective, ensuring adequate wastewater capacity is a core responsibility that directly supports responsible growth, protects existing users, and positions South Whitehall Township and the broader Lehigh Valley region for continued economic investment,” he said.
Allentown proudly jumped in to help make the project happen, confident that Chobani will be an “transformative investment” for the city as well, Mayor Matt Tuerk said.
"Regionalism sounds easy after a big win, but it takes real work to achieve,” he told LVEDC. “As Mayor of Allentown, I have an unshakeable commitment to the residents I serve, and supporting an investment outside of the city presented a challenge. Thankfully, Chobani made the choice easier with a commitment to our community and the opportunity for every Allentownian to get a good job at their new plant.”
Business growth in any municipality supports jobs for all Lehigh Valley municipalities and beyond, said Jeff Fleischaker, Chair of the Board of Supervisors at Upper Macungie Township. He said the most recent data shows that while more than 36,000 people are employed at businesses in the township, only about 2,000 of them live there. The rest commute to those opportunities.
“Growth – true economic growth – does not start and stop at municipal borders,” Fleischaker told LVEDC. “Chobani is an example of municipalities working together not just for the benefit of the Valley, but the benefit of the entire state, which is a fantastic result.”
Nearby communities will benefit from the jobs that Chobani creates in other ways, too, said Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel.
“The folks who work in this plant in Upper Macungie will live in apartments in downtown Allentown,” he said at the project announcement. “They will visit Main Streets in Emmaus and Coopersburg. And they will patronize businesses all around the Lehigh Valley.”
Infrastructure Enables Growth
Gross said planning for the future of water and wastewater systems is essential to support healthy, growing communities. In addition to the regional sewage facilities plan, LCA published a water supply study to learn where future investments should be made to meet the growing region’s needs. 
“We are blessed to have high-quality water, regulatory partners who support our plans to reinvest in aging infrastructure, county and municipal partners who understand the importance of pulling together to achieve a common goal, and most importantly, a dedicated team of employees with a creative spirit needed to balance our core mission of protecting public health and the environment, and to try something new,” she said.
(Photos by Donna Fisher Photography, Commonwealth Media Services)