Coca-Cola Company completed a $42.9 Million, 50,000-square-foot, expansion to its current 225,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, creating at least 28 jobs.

The company plans to install a hotfill line to produce more non-carbonated products. As a result of the expansion, the company also added equipment and training for new employees at the facility. The expansion, which will not be fully operational until 2014, is expected to help the company retain an additional 130 employees within the three years of the initial agreement.

“The expansion of our facility in Lehigh would not be possible without the support and leadership of the commonwealth. Not only are we growing our workforce, we are creating new and diverse opportunities for existing employees,” Tim Fischbach, plant manager for the Lehigh Valley Coca-Cola facility said. “We see a bright future in the Greater Lehigh Valley metropolitan region. For Coca-Cola, it feels like home and we look forward to continuing to be a strong community partner here.”

“As governor, it is my priority to bring jobs back to Pennsylvania by unleashing the growth of the private sector,” Gov. Tom Corbett said. “It is because of the growth of companies like Coca-Cola, and countless others throughout Pennsylvania, that more than 19,000 jobs were created last month alone.”

As part of an incentive package, the company received a funding from the Department of Community and Economic Development, which includes $56,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits and a $12,600 Guaranteed Free Training grant. The grant will be used for training its new workforce at the project site. The project was coordinated by the Governor’s Action Team.