A federally imposed medical device excise tax has stopped plans for new corporate headquarters for one of the biggest manufacturers in the Greater Lehigh Valley – and is costing the company $13 million a year.
However, B. Braun Medical Inc. will expand its medical manufacturing operations in the Valley and sees strong, continued economic growth in the region despite fierce industry competition and new federal mandates.
B. Braun chairman and CEO Caroll Heinz Neubauer disclosed the decision to suspend plans for the new headquarters during an exclusive interview with Lehigh Valley Business, when he also talked about his life and career and the future of the global company.
“The medical device tax stopped that project,” Neubauer said of plans for new North American headquarters at Stabler Corporate Center in Upper Saucon Township. “We decided to put that project on hold.”
Neubauer, 59, leads more than 5,500 employees across B. Braun’s North America headquarters in Bethlehem, four manufacturing facilities in North America and 25 pharmacies nationwide. The German-owned company develops and sells infusion therapy and pain management devices, products and passive safety devices. It produces materials that are free of toxicants and in use globally in hospitals and medical facilities of all types and sizes.
