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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Ocean Spray Moves Bottle Plant from New Jersey to $110 Million Pennsylvania Facility

04/18/2012
Ocean Spray Cranberries broke ground on a $110 million, 315,000-square-foot, Lehigh Valley Bottling Plant on 44-acres in the Upper Macungie Township of Pennsylvania, with plans to create about 165 highly-skilled jobs.

It's state-of-the-art facility will bottle both Ocean Spray juices, as well as Nestle's Juicy Juice products, producing over 32 million cases of beverages each year. When the new facility's doors open in September 2013, it will replace the company's aging manufacturing facility in Bordentown, N.J.

"We are proud to have helped cultivate a highly engaged and motivated workforce at Bordentown, which is why we hope many of our Bordentown employees will be able to relocate to our Lehigh Valley facility," said Randy Papadellis, Ocean Spray President and CEO.

"Our agricultural roots run deep at Ocean Spray and we are excited to bring good jobs and a commitment to corporate citizenship to the Lehigh Valley community," said Papadellis. "We hope to grow at the Lehigh Valley facility and we are very pleased that Upper Macungie Township and the Commonwealth have partnered with us and welcomed Ocean Spray as a neighbor."

As a gift to its new hometown, Ocean Spray made a donation to the building and construction of the Parkland Community Library that will serve the Lehigh Valley region.

"Ocean Spray's decision to relocate to the Lehigh Valley is a result of Governor Tom Corbett's commitment to creating a business climate in Pennsylvania that attracts economic growth and new jobs," the state's Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker said. "The positive impact of this project on the community will be enormous, and one the commonwealth is proud to support."

Among incentives used to attract Ocean Spray, the state provided the firm with a Pennsylvania Development Authority low interest loan, and assistance with infrastructure improvements as part of a $4.5 million incentive package.

The project was coordinated by the Governor Tom Corbett's Action Team, a group of economic development professionals who work directly with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania. GAT worked with Team Pennsylvania Foundation and the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation to bring Ocean Spray to Pennsylvania.

"The governor had it right when he said that when government partners with the private sector, everyone wins. The economy grows and most importantly, jobs are created," said Walker. "Today marks an important win for the people of Pennsylvania, and for Ocean Spray."

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