PALMER TWP., Pa. – A leading global technology company announced Wednesday it will open a regional distribution center that will bring more than 100 jobs to the Lehigh Valley.
ABB, a European company, plans the 350,000-square-foot regional distribution center on nearly 10 acres in the Carson 33 park area.
The facility will be at 1000 Carson Court, in the building at the northeast corner of Van Buren and Main streets.
It’s expected to be fully operational by January, the company said.
“Creating this regional distribution center will help boost ABB’s inventory availability and decrease delivery times to customers in more than a dozen states by up to 50 percent,” the company said in a release.
It said the facility, for its Installation Products Division, will supply a wide range of electrical products “to thousands of contractors, distributors and industrial customers throughout the Northeast United States.”
The new distribution center will stock more than 5,000 electrical products and reduce delivery times to some customers by up to 50%, the company said in a release.
Because it will be within 80 miles of New York City and Philadelphia, the “Northeast facility brings business closer to contractors, distributors and industrial customers to increase efficiency and sustainability,” the company release said.
The “investment reinforces ABB’s commitment to growing [its] U.S. market,” it said.
“The United States is ABB’s largest single growth market, and the company has invested over $14 billion in the U.S. since 2010,” Matthias Heilmann, president of ABB’s Installation Products Division, said in a release.
“Regionalizing our global supply chain in the Lehigh Valley community reduces our carbon footprint by bringing us closer to our customers to continue to meet their needs for safe, smart and sustainable electrification solutions.
“This investment adds to over $100 million in Installation Products expansions and improvements we’ve made in the U.S. over the past few years to drive capacity and innovation.”
The company said the center will be “a multimillion dollar investment,” but didn’t specify a total cost.
The warehouse will stock more than 5,000 electrical medium voltage, industrial and consumer market high-demand products such as Ty- Rap cable ties, Color-Keyed lugs, Steel City commercial boxes and fittings, and Elastimold cable accessories.
The new facility adds to Installation Products U.S. distribution sites in Phoenix, Arizona and Byhalia, Mississippi, and will help increase direct delivery routes from its distribution center in Mississippi, the company said.
“Our commitment is to provide our customers with products and solutions when and where they’re needed for critical construction, utility, industrial and infrastructure projects,” said Ralph Donati, general manager of ABB Installation Products US and Latin America.
“A range of employment opportunities will be posted on ABB’s career page for interested candidates to apply online.”
ABB connects software to its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio. The company’s history stretches back more than 130 years. It has 105,000 employees in more than 100 countries. It has more than 200,000 products and more than 200 manufacturing sites.
ABB has a facility in Warminster, Bucks County, where in recent years it added 50 new jobs and now employs more than 200. It also doubled the operation size there, adding products and a new state-of-the-art calibration lab serving oil & gas, coal, chemicals and other process industries.
