Kentucky-based Westport Axle had no trouble getting its new facility in Upper Macungie Township operational.

The company, which recently opened its doors in the former JCPenney distribution warehouse, 650 Boulder Drive, Breinigsville, is expected to hire 500 employees within the next several months.

"What has been done here in such a short period has been amazing," Alexander Van Leyen, president of Westport, said.

"This has been a very quick, aggressive build-out," Westport Vice President Rena Sharpe told The Press.

Sharpe said they were able to build their first chassis within 27 days, after moving into the new plant on June 1.

"When we moved here, this was actually an empty building, with no overhead cranes, no construction whatsoever," she said. "That's a pretty big endeavor to have accomplished.

"Our landlord, Liberty Property Trust, was very cooperative and flexible to get us into this location."

The plant, which builds chassis for Mack Trucks, is expected to be fully operational by Oct. 1, Sharpe said.

She said the plant currently operates on one shift but is planning on going to two shifts in the future.

"Depending on the market it could go to three shifts by January 2013," Sharpe said.

After touring Westport on Aug. 21, Gov. Tom Corbett, along with a member of his Manufacturing Advisory Council, unveiled the council's report on growing manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania.

"This is not a very thick document, but I believe it is a very helpful document, one that we are going to be using quite a bit, during the rest of my time in office," Corbett said.

Corbett said one of the points in the report in particular talks about having a trained work force for the 21st century.

According to the report, manufacturing employs 574,000 Pennsylvanians, accounting for 10 percent of the total workforce.

The average annual compensation in manufacturing is $64, 913, a 44.2 percent higher than non-manufacturing sectors.

"One of the things you will note in there is that 25 percent of the trades-type people are 55 and older," Corbett said. "So we have a challenge now when it comes to education, to take the kids that are in junior high and high school … and have them start looking at the trades."

The report also highlights recommendations such as developing an "Adopt a School" program led by the manufacturing community, expand and better support career and technical education in Pennsylvania, create measures and support systems for educators and school districts and better connect job seekers with job opening in the manufacturing sector.

"The middle class makes something and that's what we have to encourage from this state and from this nation, to get ourselves back to manufacturing," Corbett said. "And, we have the potential to do it.

"We need to put America and Pennsylvania back to making things."