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.”