Lehigh Valley Companies with 100 Employeers or More

This is a very interesting list that comes to us from our friends at the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.  The highlighted companies are members of The Chamber.

Easton vs. Phillipsburg - in golf??

We just had a great event at the new Infini-Tee Golf Center, featuring a golf-throw down between Easton and Phillipsburg.  A new twist on an old rivalry.  The story below will air on Service Electric's "Sports Scene."  Check it out:

Daily Briefing, 11/20/2009

Good morning everyone! Here is today's Daily Briefing.

Attorney John Karoly was found guilty of mail fraud and money laundering yesterday.  He was accused of steering a charitable donation to a charity he controlled and using the donation for personal and business expenses.  He faces up to nine years in prison and more than $2 million in fines.  Chamber member Crayola broke ground on a solar farm plant in Forks township yesterday; the plant should start generating energy by next year.  In Bethlehem, Mayor Callahan is pushing for a $10 million line of credit to cover the costs of construction projects.  In Emmaus, the successful Main Street Program is looking at achieving new goals after fulfilling their already existing ones.  PBS-39 has announced that they are donating $80,000 in air time to Northampton County, allowing the county to promote whatever they want.  There was good news for the Lehigh Valley International Airport, as the Airport announced that their traffic increased for the fourth-straight month.

We have one Chamber event today: a Small Business Council breakfast on marketing for small businesses.

Also, just in case you missed it yesterday: The Chamber is now hiring.

That's it for now! Have a great weekend!

The Chamber is hiring!

Hi everyone,

There is a new job opening at The Chamber - the description is below:
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Borough Business Revitalization Program Coordinator

General Description

This position is directly accountable to the President or his/her designee of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and is responsible for assisting in the development and organization of Main Street initiatives in assigned boroughs throughout the Lehigh Valley.  This position works closely with the Chamber Foundation, Lehigh and Northampton Counties and the participating communities to implement initiatives that foster economic revitalization and quality of life improvements that benefit the downtown communities of the Lehigh Valley.

Essential duties and responsibilities (other duties may be assigned):

·        Works with community based steering committee, comprised of volunteers from the business, non-profit, residential and public sectors to develop, implement and maintain viable grassroots vision and strategic plan. 

·        Facilitates interaction with community stakeholders to encourage broad-based support of the program and its various initiatives. 

·        Advocates on behalf of Main Street merchants and property owners to various regional and local agencies, such as the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, private Foundations, county Departments of Community & Economic Development, etc.

·        Seeks funding from the public or private sector in order to ensure program continuity and long-term sustainability, as well as to complete identified improvement projects.

·        Works closely with Borough governments to identity and implement priority projects that promote downtown/borough revitalization.

·        Acts as liaison to government and businesses to identify resources and requirements for businesses; identifies state and county programs that can serve business community; assists in the development of financial programs and incentives for downtown revitalization.

·        Responsible for the development and implementation of the Facade Grant program.

·        Works closely with other urban staff at The Chamber and throughout the Lehigh Valley to share information and create a collaborative problem solving environment.

·        Builds partnerships with community organizations to implement initiatives of the Borough Business Revitalization Program.

·        Educates interested parties on the Main Street Approach, downtown initiatives and importance of downtowns and Main Streets to the community.

·        Works closely with Pennsylvania Downtown Chamber, Chamber Foundation, Lehigh and Northampton Counties to ensure efficient program delivery.

Qualifications

Strong interpersonal and team-building skills, able to motivate volunteers with diverse skills and interests, excellent verbal and written communication skills, organizational and supervisory experience, ability to multi-task by working on various projects at once and produce work within short-time periods and the ability to interface with multiple agencies and individuals.  General computer skills, an interest in historic preservation and valid drivers’ license is required. Economic Development or Main Street Managerial and marketing experience preferred.   Please forward resume with cover letter and salary requirements to:

Mike Schlossberg

840 Hamilton Street, Suite 205

Allentown, PA 18101

Phone:  484-809-1796

Fax: 610-437-4907

mikes@lehighvalleychamber.org

Please note:  This position is a one year position; however, the program may be extended beyond one year, dependant upon funding. 

Deadline:  Thursday, December 11, 5:00pm

Making status updates easy

One of the most common complaints about social networking, if not the most common complaint, is that it takes too much time.  To do it right, many people argue, requires too much time, especially if you are active on multiple social networking services. 

Its true that social networking is an additional "thing to do," though I'd argue the time investment it more than worth it.  However, many services exist that can help you reduce the time required when using any (or many) of these services.

One of those websites is Ping.  Ping allows you to push your status updates to multiple services - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, AOL Instant Messanger and over 100 other services.  This can be a huge time-saver and make your life much easier.

The only potential problem with it, as far as I can tell, is that you need to be careful with your updates.  There are different expectations with different services (Facebook is more personal, LinkedIn is more professional, and what is appropriate on one service might not be appropriate on another) and different technical requirements (you can only post an update of 140 characters on Twitter, so if you use Ping with Twitter and any other service, an update of more than 140 characters won't be displayed right on Twitter).

Still, on the whole, this is a great service!

Daily Briefing, 11/19/2009

Daily Briefing,

Good morning everyone!  Here is today's Daily Briefing:

In a report issued at a press conference yesterday, Auditor General Jack Wagner found that the risky "bond swaps" cost Bethlehem Area School District taxpayers millions and recommended that future bond swaps be banned as being to risky.  State Senator Lisa Boscola (D-18) said she would introduce that legislation.  In Lower Mount Bethel Township, officials were able to hold off a tax increase, though that will likely end next year.  In Emmaus, officials are attempting to avoid a tax increase next year, though doing so is appearing more and more difficult.  In Bangor, officials announced that they are seeking historic designation for the Borough as part of the revitalization process, of which The Chamber is a partner through our Borough Business Revitalization Program.  In Northampton County, County Councilman Ron Angle and Wilson Borough Councilman Tony Verenna were both elected to the Bangor Area and Wilson Area School Districts two weeks ago, despite holding other elected offices.  Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli believes that this is illegal and has issued orders seeking to remove both from their legislative offices.

In state-wide news, a constitutional amendment introduced last week would make it illegal for teachers to strike.

In national news, a new study shows that those enrolled in a mortgage counseling program are 60% less likely to lose their homes.  Meanwhile, the Senate version of health care reform costs $849 billion over the next 10 years and would reduce the deficit by $130 billion, according to numbers from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Today will be another busy day at The Chamber with four events: a mixer and Grand Opening at the new Made in Brazil restaurant in downtown Allentown, a mixer at Sam's Club in Nazareth, a webinar on Microsoft Office and an Easton Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast featuring a presentation on bank loans.

And that's it!  Have a great day and we'll catch you later.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Bugbee Productions made an outstanding video for The Chamber on our Foundation.   The mission of the Chamber Foundation is to revitalize the urban cores of the Lehigh Valley.  Check out the video: