Eli Lilly and Company announces largest single economic development project in region’s history
A $3.5 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing investment by Eli Lilly and Company opens a new chapter in Lehigh Valley’s long manufacturing story.
The investment is the largest single economic development project in Lehigh Valley history, and the largest life sciences project in Pennsylvania history.
Lilly, a Fortune 100 company that produces breakthrough weight loss medications, will build 925,000 square feet over multiple buildings and create 850 new jobs at the Fogelsville Corporate Center near Interstate 78 in Upper Macungie Township.
“Today, Eli Lilly and Company write the first page of a new chapter – the era of life sciences – in the Lehigh Valley’s proud history of making things in America,” Don Cunningham, President & CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), said at Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown, where the record investment was announced by Lilly CEO David Ricks and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro before a crowd of about 200 local and regional government, company, education, and community leaders.
Lehigh Valley competed with more than 300 other locations across the country for Lilly’s investment.
“Eli Lilly and Company is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the entire world, and they are a pride of this nation. They can choose to invest anywhere in this country and across the globe. They chose to plant their flag right here in Pennsylvania … right here in the Lehigh Valley,” Shapiro said.
LVEDC played a leading role in Lilly’s competitive site selection process, coordinating with state officials and convening local and regional partners to put together a plan to meet the company’s infrastructure, utility, and workforce needs and ensure that the project can be completed on time.
The Governor thanked the local leaders, particularly Cunningham, for pulling together the key stakeholders.
“Don, you did an outstanding job of bringing the folks from Upper Mac and everywhere else together to make this happen,” Shapiro said.
Lilly chose Lehigh Valley because of the region’s location, within a day’s drive of one-third of the U.S. population; infrastructure, including utilities and direct access to Interstate 78; skilled workforce, 1.8 million people within an hours’ drive; higher education system that can deliver a pipeline of future talent; favorable zoning and incentives; and a commitment by local, regional, and state officials to support the project, company leaders said.
“Everyone was committed to the same thing we were, which is building a high-quality facility, doing it the right way, providing great jobs for people in the region, and being involved in a growing industry in life sciences and life sciences manufacturing,” Ricks said. “Additionally, the commitment to rapid permitting, availability of land, logistics and the ecosystem around us that really supports what we do, were really defining points in making this decision.” 
Shapiro announced that Pennsylvania committed more than $100 million to the project: $50 million in tax credits, $25 million through a PA SITES grant for site development, and a $25 million Pennsylvania First grant.
Additional state funding will be provided to Lehigh Carbon Community College, which will play a key role in helping Lilly to build a talent pipeline by creating and expanding academic and workforce training programs in life sciences. This includes updating science programs customized for biotechnology and advanced manufacturing careers and adding specialized equipment utilized in pharmaceutical operations.
“This partnership is such a life-changing opportunity for our students. There are opportunities to earn family-sustaining wages. They will have careers they can spend a lifetime at. It’s really changing our community residents’ lives now and future generations,” said College President Ann Bieber, who is a member of LVEDC’s Board of Directors.
“Lilly’s commitment to the Lehigh Valley and to Pennsylvania will bring billions of dollars of investment and hundreds of good-paying jobs, solidifying our position as a leader in the growing life sciences industry,” Shapiro said.
Ricks said Lilly’s mission starts with patients and delivering medicines they need. The Lehigh Valley location will produce injectable medications used for weight-loss medications. Work on the campus could begin later this year and is expected to take several years to complete.
In December, Lilly became the first drugmaker to reach $1 trillion in market value, buoyed by sales of weight loss and diabetes medications including Mounjaro and Zepbound. The company’s expansion here is part of its plan to grow manufacturing in the U.S., with new facilities also planned in Virginia, Texas, and Alabama. Since 2020, the company has committed to investing $50 million in expanding its domestic production network.
Cunningham thanked Shapiro and his team for their leadership and understanding of what it takes to grow a state’s economy – for the hard work, smart investment, and attention to detail it takes to compete and win high-value companies like Lilly.
“Only the state could deliver it. And Josh Shapiro and his excellent team did just that,” Cunningham said. “Thank you, Governor, for your leadership, commitment and partnership and thank you, Mr. Ricks, for your innovative company, amazing pharmaceuticals, and your confidence and investment in our corner of the world.”
New Era in Lehigh Valley’s Manufacturing Heritage
From the Moravians who established America’s first industrial parks to Bethlehem Steel, once the world’s No. 2 steelmaker, the Lehigh Valley’s manufacturing legacy is entering the next industrial age where the life sciences play a critical role.
Lehigh Valley touts a growing concentration of life sciences companies, including the U.S. headquarters of B. Braun and Olympus, and operations of ThermoFisher Scientific, Sharp, Piramal Critical Care, and OraSure Technologies, among others.
There are more than 180 life sciences business establishments in the Lehigh Valley - manufacturing facilities, labs, research centers, offices, and distribution centers - that employ about 5,800 people. Employment in Lehigh Valley’s life sciences companies has grown by about 35% over the last decade.
It’s a growing part of the region’s balanced, $56 billion economy where manufacturing leads the way.
The region’s 700 manufacturers pump out $9 billion a year in Gross Domestic Product, making a diverse array of products including semiconductors, candy, and guitars. Pennsylvania’s third largest market, Lehigh Valley manufacturing is a Top 15% production center in the U.S. based on GDP.
“We punch above our weight class,” Cunningham said. “Today that punch got stronger. We add major pharmaceutical production to our growing life sciences sector in the region.”
Lilly is in good company in the Lehigh Valley alongside iconic brands including Air Products, Crayola, Mack Trucks, and more. The Lehigh Valley is among America’s busiest mid-sized markets and its employment in manufacturing has grown at three times the national rate.
“I'm proud to say that Eli Lilly and Company will now be among those brands and those international, respected companies that we can look on with pride and say that here in the Lehigh Valley, we still make things here, and that's something to be proud of,” said Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel, a member of LVEDC’s Board of Directors.
Lilly’s Impact on Lehigh Valley
Ricks said Lilly’s mission starts with patients and delivering medicines they need. The Lehigh Valley location will produce injectable medications used for weight-loss medications. Work on the campus could begin later this year and is expected to take several years to complete.
Lilly’s manufacturing complex requires local government approvals. The company is acquiring the property at 9802 Main St. in Upper Macungie from Jaindl Land Development.
In addition to 850 permanent jobs, Lilly’s investment will create 2,000 construction jobs.
Paul Anthony, President of the Lehigh Valley Building Trades and Business Manager/Financial Secretary of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 375, said Lilly’s decision to locate in the Lehigh Valley speaks “volumes about the strength of our workforce, the reliability of our infrastructure, and our shared commitment to innovation that drives complex, high-quality projects.”
“This high-tech campus will be built by skilled union trades,” said Anthony, also an LVEDC Board Member. “Their training, their safety standards, and their craftsmanship are essential to meeting the high demands of pharmaceutical manufacturing.”
Ricks said the average annual salary for Lilly employees is about $100,000: “Those are high value jobs that change the trajectory of families.”
He said every dollar of company investment generates another $4 of spending in its communities. But Lilly’s impact will extend well beyond financial, he said. Lilly will become part of Upper Macungie, Lehigh County, and the Lehigh Valley.
“Everywhere we go, we work very hard to understand the needs of the community and then interlace with your agenda in a very successful way,” he said.
He noted that this includes workforce development efforts such as on-site apprenticeships and partnerships with community colleges and universities, as well as broader initiatives like volunteerism and engagement with local nonprofits.
Jeff Fleischaker, Chair of the Upper Macungie Township Board of Supervisors, welcomed Lilly to the community.
“We are excited about the opportunity to engage with you on how to make Upper Macungie better every day,” he said.
Ricks said Lilly is honored to join the community and promised to be a “good neighbor.”
“It'll be a beautiful site in the end that will make life-changing products for people around the world and create family changing jobs for the people that work there … suppliers, local community businesses that will thrive because we've increased the activity in this area,” Ricks said.
Lilly’s investment is the third largest in Pennsylvania over the past two decades. In the Lehigh Valley, the largest projects prior to this were the initial investment in the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, now owned by Wind Creek, at $800 million when it opened in 2009, and the $400 million expansion of the Air Products campus in Upper Macungie in 2021.
The development of the Lilly site will occur through the state’s PA Permit Fast Track Program, which helps develop, manage, and coordinate permitting for complex and impactful economic development and infrastructure projects. The project was coordinated at the state level by Gov. Shapiro’s BusinessPA team and involved top level officials including Secretary Rick Siger of the Department of Community and Economic Development, and Chief Transformation and Opportunity Officer Ben Kirshner.
Strategy and ‘Dream Team’ Got it Done
Ricks said the state’s commitment to creating an economic development strategy that is committed to helping companies succeed had a significant influence on the decision to choose Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley.
“This was a dynamic process, and I applaud Pennsylvania for what they built,” he said. “That's why they're competing and winning this kind of deal.”
“This announcement further proves that our Economic Development Strategy is working to attract historic, new investments to Pennsylvania,” Siger said. “We will keep competing for major projects like this one that will continue to strengthen our life sciences industry, create good-paying jobs, and fuel economic growth across the Commonwealth.”
Shapiro acknowledged that Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley had competed for a previous Lilly project last year, the one that ultimately went to Virginia. He said Pennsylvania refused to give up, following up with Ricks and others from his team afterwards to understand how to better position the state for the next deal.
“In the end, I would argue we landed an even better deal for the Lehigh Valley,” Shapiro. said. “We sold them on the rich tradition of manufacturing and innovation here in the Commonwealth … and the strength of this region in particular to help open up Lilly's next chapter.”
Fleischaker thanked the coalition of local, county, regional, and state officials who worked together to convince Lilly that Lehigh Valley was the best place to make their latest investment.
“We are very excited for this. We know that a project of this size and magnitude doesn't come just by the acts and the work of one individual,” he said.
Cunningham said the effort involved a “dream team” of key partners who racked up thousands of collective staff hours “working behind the scenes in a multi-year process with no assurance we’d win … Victory truly had a lot of fathers and mothers.” 
That coalition included: Property owner David Jaindl and his team of engineers, lawyers, and staff; Upper Macungie Township, led by Manager Bob Ibach; Lehigh Carbon Community College, led by President Ann Bieber; PPL Electric Utilities; UGI; Lehigh County Authority; Parkland School District; Lehigh County; and LVEDC staff members Jarrett Witt, Director of Business Development; Karianne Gelinas, Vice President of Talent Strategies; and Kristin Cahayla-Hoffman, Vice President of Business Development & Attraction.
(Photos by Eli Lilly and Company, Donna Fisher Photography)