Avantor to Move Corporate Headquarters to Center Valley

Having outgrown facilities near Phillipsburg, N.J.,  Avantor Performance Materials on Feb. 18 confirmed plans to relocate its corporate headquarters and eventually create 200 jobs to Upper Saucon Township.

Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham made the announcement that Avantor,
formerly known as Mallinckrodt Baker, will move into a 57,000-square-foot facility in Saucon Valley Plaza.

The $6-million project is expected to bring “at least 200 jobs” in the next three years, Cunningham said.

About 140 jobs will be transfered from Avantor’s headquarters in Lopatcong
Township, near Phillipsburg, the  company said. The balance of 60 will be new additions, the company said.

The move would not affect Avantor's manufacturing plant in Phillipsburg, the company reported. About 325 employees will remain at the New Jersey site, it said.

The need for the expansion came after Avantor was acquired in August by New Mountain Capital, a New York private equity firm.

It made Avantor a stand-alone company. It needs more corporate jobs, and space for them, Allison Hosak, director of communications, explained in a release.

“We outgrew our current facility and were looking for a space that would reflect our bold growth objectives and new brand,” Jean-Marc Gilson, President and CEO of Avantor Performance Materials, said in a press release.

“We wanted a larger, more modern work space that would energize our employees. We’re very pleased to have found such a facility in Pennsylvania.”

This summer, Avantor will move into 3477 Corporate Parkway in Center Valley, Upper Saucon Township – 20 miles from its former home in Phillipsburg, it said.

The new building will be twice the size of it’s current site, the company said.

It will continue to make and market chemical products under the names J.T.Baker and Macron, the company said. Among its products are used in biotechnology and pharmaceutical production, including photovoltaic cells, flat panel displays and academic and quality control labs, the company said.

The Pennsylvania Governor’s Action Team under new Gov. Tom Corbett was involved with the project, Cunningham said.

“Anytime a large corporation like Avantor decides to relocate to our county we would welcome them,” Cunningham said in a press release.

“In light of the economic climate of the last three years, it's extra special to have Avantor relocate its corporate headquarters here and support a workforce of 200 full-time employees in Upper Saucon Township.”

Cunningham said the Stabler Center is “emerging as a magnet for corporate relocations and job growth for our region.”

Lehigh County and the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation helped
the company obtain a $3.89 million funding offer for the project from DCED, including a $200,000 opportunity grant, a $3 million grant from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, $90,000 in job training assistance, and $600,000 in job creation tax credits, according to Cunningham’s release.

Philip B. Mittman, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp, president and chief executive, said in a release that a project such as Avantor comes around “once or twice in 10 years.”