Hospital Central Services Inc. & Affiliates of
Allentown on Tuesday afternoon began site work for a $10.5 million plant expansion.
The linen-service provider, which operates a laundry
facility and serves hospitals, ambulatory care centers and surgicenters in the
Lehigh Valley and beyond, is expanding capacity and modernizing operations.
Construction should begin in May, and the project should
be finished in the fall, Peter Castagna, president and CEO of Hospital Central
Services Inc. & Affiliates, said at Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony.
The company decided to expand to lower operating costs
and put itself in a better position to compete and add capacity.
“Our business is at capacity, and not many businesses can
say that right now,” said Terry Purcell, vice president of ambulatory and
support services for Blue Mountain Health System and chairman of the board of
directors for Hospital Central Services Cooperative Inc.
The first expansion of the 40-year-old plant will allow
the company to upgrade and install new equipment, such as automated material
handling systems. The company will add 21,000 square feet to its 52,000 square
feet.
HCSC has 162 workers in its plant and will add 38 with
the expansion, Castagna said. The company’s 20 million pounds of capacity
should rise to 35 million pounds after the expansion, while automated processes
will allow for fewer employees on the floor.
HCSC worked with the Lehigh Valley Economic Development
Corp., the city of Allentown and the Governor’s Action Team (a group of
economic development professionals) to acquire funding.
Also, the company received a grant from the Governor’s
Action Team and a loan of more than $2 million from the Pennsylvania Industrial
Development Authority for the project.
Lafayette Ambassador Bank is financing the project and
provided $8 million directly plus a $2.25 million bridge loan while the project
is under construction, for a total of $10.25 million, according to Stephen A.
Gergar, vice president, finance and chief financial officer for Hospital
Central Services Inc./Miller-Keystone Blood Center. The bridge loan will be
replaced by the $2.25M PIDA loan after project completion.
Hospital Central Services Inc. is the parent company,
while the cooperative is a division comprised of its laundry and group
purchasing divisions. The HCSC-Blood Center also is a division of the
organization that does business as Miller-Keystone Blood Center, according to
Marie Clemens, Hospital Central Services corporate director of communications.
“It’s exciting for me to see the growth. This has been in
the planning stages for a number of years,” said Rocco DelVecchio, president of
Lafayette Ambassador Bank. DelVecchio also is chairman of the HCSC board of
directors and vice chairman of the Miller-Keystone Blood Center board of
directors.
While LVEDC’s mission is to recruit new companies here,
it also strives to retain those who already are here, said Don Cunningham,
president and CEO of LVEDC.
“That’s really critical and important for the economy of
the Lehigh Valley,” Cunningham said.
The core of the Valley’s economic growth comes from the
companies that are here and choose to stay here, he added.
Castagna described the investment as the largest one the
company has made in its 47-year history. All of the teams worked together and
connected to make the project happen, he added.
“To continue that and expand our business base really
means a lot,” Castagna said.
Serfass Construction Co. Inc. of North
Whitehall Township is handling the construction management and Barry Isett
& Associates Inc. of Upper Macungie Township is the engineer for the
project.
Source: LVB
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