Sixteen leading trade publications, with a combined monthly audience of a million readers, showcased critical expansions by Lehigh Valley manufacturers in the last month, underscoring the region’s competitive edge for making and moving products.

Among the companies featured were Bosch Rexroth, investing $20 million in a new logistics center next to its North American hydraulics hub; Phoenix Tube Co., expanding its stainless steel production facility by 75,000 square feet; Filter King, launching a new air filtration plant; and Kervan USA, building a $20 million candy-making factory.

Coverage appeared in top industry outlets including Area Development, Manufacturing Business Technology, Trade & Industrial Development, The Fabricator, Advanced Manufacturing, Construction News and Review, Processing Magazine, Manufacturing.net, and Design & Development Today, among others.

"Lehigh Valley also has a legacy of manufacturing prowess," Filter King CEO Rick Hoskins told Area Development in a Q&A. "The sector drives the region’s economy, with a $9 billion annual output representing 16% of its nearly $56 billion GDP. Because of this, it has the assets, mainly workforce and accessibility, to support its manufacturing ecosystem, which is made up of over 700 companies."

Those trade stories complement coverage from national and international media featuring the Lehigh Valley. Most recently, The New York Times chronicled Allentown’s reinvention and $1 billion boom in the downtown over about the last decade, including 1.3 million square feet of office space, 1,500 apartments, a hockey arena, two hotels, a new science center, and museum.

The downtown boom is just one example of the Lehigh Valley's growing $56 billion, diverse economy where manufacturing is among the largest outputs.

“The media attention that these expansions of our manufacturers are generating demonstrates that the Lehigh Valley is an anchor for making and moving products, and a place where global companies thrive,” said Kristin Cahayla-Hoffman, Vice President of Business Development and Attraction at Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC). “The investment in the Lehigh Valley ensures that opportunity continues to grow for the people of this region, strengthening both our economy and our community.”

The articles help to strategically spread the word to corporate decision makers and site selectors about the advantages of manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley. Those advantages include a talented labor force of nearly 1.8 million within an hour’s drive, and a location that is within a day’s drive of one-third of the U.S. population.

Earlier this year, Site Selection magazine ranked the Lehigh Valley as a top mid-sized market for economic development.

The Lehigh Valley is one of the Top 15% manufacturing markets in the U.S. based on Gross Domestic Product. More than 700 manufacturers collectively produce an output of $9 billion, representing 16% of Lehigh Valley’s GDP. Nationally, manufacturing is 12% of GDP.

Manufacturing jobs are growing at a faster rate in Lehigh Valley than the nation as a whole, reaching nearly 37,200 this year . Combined with logistics, the industrial economy of making and moving products is the region’s largest employer at 73,732.

Explore the Coverage

• Area Development, "First Person: Filter King's Expansion Playbook" appeared September 4, 2025.
• The Fabricator, "Phoenix Tube adding 75,000 sq. ft. to Pennsylvania campus," appeared on August 27, 2025.
• Construction News and Review, "Bosch Rexroth $20 Mil Warehouse Expansion Begins," appeared on August 25, 2025.
• Processing Magazine, "Bosch Rexroth breaks ground on new Pennsylvania facility," appeared on August 22, 2025.
• Manufacturing.net, "Bosch Rexroth Breaks Ground on Pennsylvania Expansion," appeared on August 22, 2025.
• Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation, "Bosch Rexroth Breaks Ground on Pennsylvania Expansion," appeared on August 22, 2025.
• Industrial Equipment News, "Bosch Rexroth Breaks Ground on Pennsylvania Expansion," appeared on August 22, 2025.
• Industrial Distribution, "Bosch Rexroth Breaks Ground on Pennsylvania Expansion," appeared on August 22, 2025.
• Manufacturing Business Technology, "Bosch Rexroth Breaks Ground on Pennsylvania Expansion," appeared on August 22, 2025.
• Design and Development Today, "Bosch Rexroth Breaks Ground on Pennsylvania Expansion," appeared on August 22, 2025.
• Trade & Industry Development, "PA: Bosch Rexroth Breaks Ground on 50,000-SquareFoot Facility in Lehigh Valley," appeared on August 22, 2025.
• The Fabricator, "Bosch Rexroth breaks ground on 50,000-sq.-ft. facility in Pennsylvania," appeared on August 21, 2025.
•  Advanced Manufacturing, "Bosch Rexroth Breaks Ground on Pennsylvania Facility," appeared on August 21, 2025.
• Plant Services, "Filter King opens new air filtration manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania," appeared on August 4, 2025.
• Plant Services, "Kervan invests $20M to open candy manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania," appeared on August 1, 2025.
• Plant Services, "Module Design invests $2.4M to expand modular housing manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania," appeared on August 6, 2025. 

(Photo courtesy of Phoenix Tube Co.)