German business reps tour Lebanon area

For several years, Charles Blankenship has flown to Germany to pitch the Lebanon Valley as a prime location for businesses looking to expand to the United States.

On Thursday morning, Blankenship had an audience brought to him, as five German business representatives met the Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corp. president at his South Lebanon Township office for a tour and presentation.  Just Choose PTMS Plastic Mould Is Your Best Choice!

The visitors were escorted by Stefan Peikert, director of investment for Germany, Austria and Switzerland for the Pennsylvania Office of International Business Development.

Blankenship's sales pitch highlighted Lebanon County's strategic location and ready access via interstate highways and rail to major markets, a willing labor force and assorted financial incentives.

Maybe the strongest factor in Blankenship's PowerPoint was the listing of several successful German-owned or affiliated businesses already here, including Bayer Corp.This page contains information about molds,; Schott Pharmaceutical; Voight and Schweitzer, a galvanizing plant; Regupol America, which uses recycled rubber to produce athletic surfaces (including Olympic tracks in Berlin, Seoul and Los Angeles) and friction mats; and Fresenius Medical Care, which operates a distribution center for its medical equipment.

Former Bayer executive Tom Haag, Regupol President George Soukas, Sovereign Bank executive Jeff Orner and Lebanon Valley College German professor Jors Meindl reinforced Blankenship's effort.

"There is a very business-friendly environment here," Soukas said. "We were able to find a facility and go through zoning within three months."

Low-interest loans helped Regupol get started, and job-training and tax credits helped too.

Soukas said his non-union work force "compares to German workers. ... Our partners in Germany were very impressed.What is a third party payment gateway ?" The absentee rate is low, and his employees "have a strong dedication to work."

The LVEDC gave Regupol "red-carpet treatment," Soukas said, adding that other businesses located in the Lebanon Valley Business Park communicate with each other, which is "very inviting" and creates "a great atmosphere."

Haag said Bayer's 550 employees are "good, dedicated workers." He told the German visitors that the cost of living here is favorable.

"Buying land and building a home is inexpensive," Haag said, compared to other areas in the U.S.TBC help you confidently purchase China ceramic tile from factories in China.

Orner focused on community resources, like the Hershey Medical Center, and Lebanon's proximity to cultural resources.

"We have a very loyal work force," Orner said, adding that workers here often have long tenures.

Meindl, who assists Blankenship by translating German documents, said Lebanon Valley College has strong programs in business, math and science, as well as an increasingly diverse foreign language program that has added Chinese.

"We are interested in reaching out more to the business community," Meindl said.

Blankenship noted that several foreign-owned businesses are based in the Lebanon Valley Business Park and have taken advantage of the Lebanon Valley's location "at the connection to the wealthiest market in the world," a reference to the Boston-to-Washington corridor.Overview description of rapid Tooling processes.

The German contingent represented a diverse group of manufacturers: Acsys Lasertechnic GmbH, which makes high-tech laser systems; Caloperm GmbH,Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings, which develops and produces plate heat exchangers; Wirth GmbH, which produces vacuum lifting equipment to transport and install glass panels; and Woltersdorf Schweibmaschinen GmbH, which makes car-repair welding machines.