Manufacturer opening new facility in West Easton that will create more than 40 new jobs

Full-time manufacturing jobs are heading to the Easton area, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday.

IQ Fibers chose to place its first manufacturing operation in the state in Northampton County. The project is expected to create 43 jobs to the area.

“We’re very pleased that IQ Fibers has decided to establish its first Pennsylvania manufacturing operation here in the Lehigh Valley, where manufacturing is alive and well,” Don Cunningham, President and CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., says in a statement. “We welcome IQ Fibers to our family of manufacturers.”

The startup cellulose fiber manufacturer will lease a 45,000-square-foot building at 1550 Lehigh Drive in West Easton.

The company will invest at least $5.4 million in the project.

Courtesy Photo

“I believe they’ll be leasing where Ingersoll Rand used to be located and that most of the investment will be spent on new machinery coming in,” West Easton Mayor Dan DePaul said Tuesday. “If they hire locally it’s certainly a good thing for the town."

Funding for the project came from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. A Pennsylvania First grant provided $86,000, another $86,000 came from Job Creation Tax Credits and $32,550 came from a workforce development grant.

“The investments our administration is making in our business sector represent significant opportunities for the commonwealth to grow and prosper,” Wolf says in a statement. “Their success will turn into a stronger economy and new opportunities for job creation and retention in Pennsylvania.”

The Governor’s Action Team, a group of economic development professionals, worked on the investment project.

“We are extremely proud of our facility and the highly engineered cellulose fiber products we manufacture,” says George Day, CEO of IQ Fibers. “We believe this is the right time and place to launch our company. We greatly appreciate the assistance of the Governor’s Action Team and Governor Wolf’s commitment for business growth.”

Visit dced.pa.gov for more information about the DCED and the Governor’s Action Team.

Desmond Boyle may be reached at dboyle@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @DesJBoyle. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook. Originally published:

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2019/07/manufacturer-opening-new-facility-in-west-easton-that-will-create-more-than-40-new-jobs.html