AFS Corporate Member Victaulic (Easton, Pennsylvania), a manufacturer of mechanical pipe joining solutions, has unveiled a plan to build an additional state-of-the-art manufacturing center in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. The 400,000 sq. ft. facility is the result of increased domestic demand for the company’s products.

The facility is expected to break ground later this year and be fully operational in 2019. Along with the expansion, Victaulic anticipates adding 40-50 new jobs by the end of 2018. It is expected that many of the new positions will be filled by local talent from the area’s workforce. New hires will join the current Victaulic team of 3,600 employees globally.

Victaulic has been a part of the Lehigh Valley business community for nearly 40 years. The new facility will be located on 28 acres of land located in Lower Nazareth Township, Pennsylvania.

“This new facility will play an important role in meeting increased customer demand, while also producing the highest quality products in the industry—something our customers have come to expect from us since our first innovation nearly 100 years ago,” said John F. Malloy, CEO, Victaulic. “A major aspect of our business strategy has always been to manufacture products in close proximity to our customers. While we already manufacture 80% of domestically sold products in the United States, this facility will further enhance our product delivery capabilities, making our U.S. operations even more competitive.”

In addition to housing the company’s current light assembly operation, which has been conducted in partnership with Cast-Pac Inc. for 20 years, the new facility will include several millions of dollars in new equipment to modernize its manufacturing operations. Robotic and optical technology in Victaulic’s new facility will advance the limits of quality control for the company’s castings and finished products through automated assembly operations.