The Lehigh Valley’s growing technology industry has been the subject of nearly a dozen articles by trade and national publications over the past month that highlighted the region’s history of technological innovation and bright future. 
Expansion plans by Infinera and Coherent made headlines in publications including Semiconductor Digest, Manufacturing Business Technology, Industrial Equipment News, ManufacturingDive.com, and Manufacturing.net.
The most recent article was published Feb. 4 by Route Fifty, which writes about trending topics in technology and innovation. A digital publication from Atlantic Media's Government Executive Media Group, it has about 35,000 monthly readers, primarily in government sectors.
Managing Editor Chris Teale interviewed Don Cunningham, President and CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) about the region’s history as the “original Silicon Valley” and the planned expansions by Infinera and Coherent, which are being funded by the federal CHIPS and Science Act.
“It’s the only real federal government intervention into stimulating a manufacturing sector of the economy with direct transfer of hard dollars to support and initiate growth of an industry like that,” Cunningham said in the article. “It’s unusual to see this in any sector, and I would say from our vantage point, it did what it was intended to do.”
A sister publication, City and State Pennsylvania, republished the article to its audience of leaders in Pennsylvania government, education, and business under a headline highlighting the Lehigh Valley – “Lehigh Valley among several metro areas benefitting from computer chip production.”
Infinera plans to use $93 million in CHIPS funding to build a new advanced testing and packaging facility in Bethlehem, and a new fab in California.
Coherent plans to use $79 million in CHIPS funding to expand its manufacturing facility in Palmer Township. There, it produces 150mm and 200mm silicon carbide substrates, an important bandgap material with end uses in energy and military applications.
The expansions will grow the Lehigh Valley’s legacy of global leadership in technological innovation. The first mass production of transistors, the forerunner to semiconductors, occurred in Allentown in 1951.
LVEDC celebrated that storied past and what's yet to come in 2023 at its Fall Signature Event, “Lehigh Valley’s Technology Sector: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” Attended by about 200 Lehigh Valley leaders, the event featured a panel discussion by technology company executives and remarks by industry and economic development officials. The event was recognized with a Gold Award by the International Economic Development Council.
Semiconductors and technology are among many vibrant sectors in the Lehigh Valley’s balanced, diverse economy, Cunningham told Route Fifty.
“I think the strength of our economy now, and the strength of our manufacturing economy, is we have a little bit in each of these buckets,” he said.
Manufacturing makes up $9 billion, or 16%, of the Lehigh Valley’s record $55.7 billion Gross Domestic Product. Other leading sectors include finance, insurance, and real estate; education, health care, and social assistance; and professional and business services.
(Photo by Donna Fisher Photography)