{"id":274239,"date":"2026-02-08T20:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T20:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/274239\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T20:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T20:18:08","slug":"colleges-new-lab-will-train-workers-for-eli-lillys-planned-3-5b-facility-in-lehigh-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/274239\/","title":{"rendered":"College\u2019s new lab will train workers for Eli Lilly\u2019s planned $3.5B facility in Lehigh Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lehigh Carbon Community College<\/a> will lead Pennsylvania\u2019s pharmaceutical workforce development efforts with a new $5 million state-funded science and technology laboratory, Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s office says. <\/p>\n

The investment supports Eli Lilly and Company\u2019s $3.5 billion expansion<\/a> into Upper Macungie Township, marking the largest private-sector investment in Lehigh Valley history. <\/p>\n

The college will train local workers for high-demand positions at the pharmaceutical manufacturer\u2019s new facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are carving out clear pathways to careers that offer both stability and the chance to contribute to life-saving medical advancements,\u201d said LCCC President Ann Bieber. \u201cOur programs provide a seamless journey\u2014from workforce certifications to associate degrees and transfers to four-year institutions\u2014offering students \u2018on and off ramps\u2019 for lifelong learning and career advancement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The college plans to renovate an existing building into a laboratory equipped to replicate Lilly\u2019s advanced manufacturing environments. Training programs will prepare workers for roles including lab testers, quality assurance technicians, manufacturing engineers, and production specialists.<\/p>\n

Andrew King, LCCC interim dean of science, mathematics, and health care sciences, said the teaching laboratories will provide hands-on training for producing safe, effective, and accessible medications.<\/p>\n

The Lilly facility will manufacture medications including the weight-loss drug Zepbound. Shapiro said the grant ensures high-paying jobs created by the investment remain accessible to local residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud to have institutions like LCCC where we can create unique curricula to train the workers of tomorrow,\u201d Shapiro said. \u201cThis is a win for Lilly, for Pennsylvania workers, and for local partners like the Parkland School District who will serve as feeders into these high-paying, transformative careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pharmaceutical training initiative represents LCCC\u2019s second major corporate partnership. The college is one of only four centers in the United States authorized to train workers for Amazon\u2019s advanced manufacturing and robotics facilities.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1966, LCCC serves more than 9,000 credit and noncredit students annually across Lehigh, Carbon, and Schuylkill counties. The college offers more than 90 programs at its main campus in Schnecksville and locations in Allentown, Tamaqua, and Lehigh Valley International Airport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lehigh Carbon Community College will lead Pennsylvania\u2019s pharmaceutical workforce development efforts with a new $5 million state-funded science…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-274239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}