Nokia announced Tuesday a $30 million expansion in semiconductor production in the Lehigh Valley that is expected to create 242 jobs, further strengthening a regional technology sector whose innovations helped usher the world into the modern electronics era more than 75 years ago. 
The investment positions the Lehigh Valley to play an even larger role in Nokia's $4 billion U.S. research & development and manufacturing strategy.
The expansion in Upper Macungie Township will increase the company's production capacity tenfold, helping strengthen domestic semiconductor packaging capabilities at a time when the United States accounts for less than 2% of global capacity and artificial intelligence is driving unprecedented demand for network infrastructure.
“This location has become a strategic hub for the United States for advanced testing packaging of optical components supporting telecommunications and AI infrastructure here in the United States but reaching globally,” Nokia CEO Justin Hotard said, standing alongside Gov. Josh Shapiro.
The announcement marks the second time this year Shapiro has traveled to the Lehigh Valley to celebrate a major economic development win. In January, he welcomed Eli Lilly and Company Chair & CEO David Ricks to announce the company's planned $3.5 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing investment just down the road in Upper Macungie.
“The biggest companies in the world are choosing the Lehigh Valley as the place to plant their flag,” Shapiro said. “Nokia’s investment is going to create 250 new jobs in advanced manufacturing. It’s going to ensure that the future of chip manufacturing runs right here through this region where it all began about 75 years ago.”
Lehigh Valley has played a pivotal role in semiconductor innovation. In 1951, Western Electric's Allentown facility became the site of the world's first mass production of transistors, a forerunner of semiconductors. Components for the first iPhone were innovated here, along with Bluetooth and USBs.
"Semiconductor and optoelectronics development have long been an important part of the Lehigh Valley economy," said Don Cunningham, President & CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC). "Nokia's investment and expansion here with the support of Gov. Shapiro and the Commonwealth showcase the continued growth and importance of this critical technology sector here in the Lehigh Valley."
The expansion will have a projected economic impact of more than $500 million over the next five years,
Nokia hired 160 new technicians and engineers last year in Pennsylvania and is adding another 100 in the near future.
Nokia, headquartered in Finland, is a global telecommunications technology company whose products support broadband, wireless, cloud, and data center networks worldwide, employing 78,000 around the globe.
The new facility on Snowdrift Road in Upper Macungie Township – Nokia’s second in the region – will expand the company’s existing photonic semiconductor advanced test and packaging operations for optical networking equipment used in telecommunications and technology infrastructure.
The new facility will include 10,000 square feet for office and another 10,000 square feet for labs, and assembly and logistics expansion. The non-manufacturing space is essential to allow the nearby existing facility on Windsor Drive to focus on packaging and testing.
Chips produced elsewhere are tested in the Lehigh Valley for quality and then assembled into optical modules and transceivers to be inserted into optical transport equipment used for networking, cloud connectivity, and data center interconnect services.
Hotard and Shapiro were joined by Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger and LVEDC Executive Vice President Jaime Whalen for the announcement at Nokia’s current facility on Windsor Drive.
The state will provide an approximately $3.2 million grant and up to $129,500 in tax credits through the Manufacturing Tax Credit Program. The project also includes $10 million through the federal CHIPS investment tax credit.
Siger said the project was two years in the making. He credited streamlined permitting through the state, public-private partnerships, civic engagement, and the “fabric of this community” for helping to make the economic development like Nokia’s expansion possible.
“The Lehigh Valley is setting the pace for economic development not just here in Pennsylvania but around the United States,” he said.
More than 1,100 people are employed at 35 Lehigh Valley semiconductor and related technology businesses, including global brands Nokia, Broadcom, Cisco, Coherent, and Intel, and smaller companies such as AAYUNA and iDEAL Semiconductor.
LVEDC’s Strategic Plan targets expanding that high-value sector, part of a growing advanced manufacturing ecosystem of more than 700 companies that collectively produce an output of $9 billion, representing 16% of the region’s Gross Domestic Product. Nationally, manufacturing is 11% of GDP.
Nokia’s Windsor Drive location previously operated as Infinera, which Nokia acquired last year. 
Infinera, headquartered in California, started operations in the Lehigh Valley in 2002, harnessing the talent from the legacy of Western Electric. Infinera’s Lehigh Valley presence grew from a small engineering firm of 10 into a world-class photonics, engineering, and manufacturing operation of 400 that work in engineering, manufacturing, and research and development.
Lehigh Valley’s ability to provide a workforce is positioning companies to expand here, Whalen said.
“Companies like Nokia choose places where the workforce, infrastructure, supply chain, and technical expertise already exist. The Lehigh Valley has spent decades building that foundation,” she said.
The Nokia expansion was coordinated by Gov. Shapiro’s BusinessPA team, an experienced group of economic development professionals that provides tailored guidance, strategic partnerships, and financial resources to help businesses succeed.