Prosper Lehigh Valley

GoodSemester is a company on the move. The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation’s Keystone Innovation Zone client is the brainchild of CEO Jason Rappaport, an ambitious and innovative Lehigh University student, who has used his own ingenuity to expand upon tradition. GoodSemester developed a new class of learning software built from the ground up around the collaborative web. Its aim is simple: Improve education at colleges and universities everywhere across the fruited plain and the world by creating an academic social network that uses the latest technology to enhance learning. Rappaport along with lead developer Scott Smallback and Vice President of Sales David Gritz are helping universities operate more effectively by creating a one-stop virtual community for professors to hold discussions, review coursework and issue grades. By creating an organized and searchable knowledge repository for course notes and student projects to enable a more productive use of academic resources as an economic resource, GoodSemester has moved to the top of the class. The latest development is the unveiling of the company’s new API (application programming interface) at the first-ever Lehigh Valley Hack 2012, which kicks off March 30that Ben Franklin Tech Ventures. API is something that will allow anyone to easily create apps that utilize GoodSemester’s core features. It will let anyone build powerful education services quickly, using the same tools used by GoodSemester. “The Lehigh Valley Hack 2012 is our first foray into API development,” Rappaport says. “For the first time ever, developers will be able to rapidly create incredible apps for education that utilize the powerful features we’ve developed forGoodSemester.” It represents a turning point for the company. “We’re not just a service companyanymore,” he adds. “Now we’re a platform. We’re finally going to be the operating system for education and help people easily create amazing new services that transform the classroom. That’s huge.” The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation’s KIZ program helped GoodSemester in its formative stages with a grant that enabled Rappaport to attend his first trade show and build their first and only promotional video. The video proved indispensible in promoting the product. “Without the KIZ grant, there might not have been any means to marketing GoodSemester,” he notes. At the hack event, Rappaport will unveil the developer preview of their API. They’ll demonstrate how you can incorporate GoodSemester services into their own education apps to make them more interactive or build their own education services wholesale, using nothing but GoodSemester technology and a little good old-fashioned ingenuity. For more information about the Lehigh Valley Hack 2012 event, please click here.

The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, is seeking the following individual: Coordinator, Sustainable Development The coordinator of sustainable development will support the director and the administration of a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant.  Work will include organization of public meetings, grant reporting and financial accounting.  The incumbent coordinates monthly meetings of the LV Sustainability Consortium meetings and other committees as they are developed.  The coordinator will support the director in data collection to ensure compliance with the contractual agreement with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  Experience in grant administration and/or bookkeeping preferred.  PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Provide general administrative support to director of sustainable development. Track requests for payments and monitor compliance with budget Support implementation of partners responsibilities and contractual obligations In conjunction with director, review and update work plan   This position is requires experience in Microsoft Quick Books and general accounting principles. Experience in Microsoft Office is required. Knowledge of contract management and grant administration is preferred. Book keeping experience preferred. Minimum education required is an associate’s degree and three years of work experience is required.  Cover letter and resume should be sent to: Ms. Jean Mateff LVEDC 2158 Ave. C, Suite 200 Bethlehem, PA 18017 JMateff@lehighvalley.org

Monday, November 21st was a day for the LVEDC record books. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of many talented people and agencies, LVEDC was awarded a historic $3.4 M grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop the Lehigh Valley Sustainable Plan during a news conference held at the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley (CACLV) in Bethlehem. The amount was the largest the organization’s ever recevied. As noted above, this was by no mean a solo effort. LVEDC had the cooperation and collaboration of several very talented and important partners throughout the Lehigh Valley whose total efforts produced this regional success. The funding was allocated to the Lehigh Valley Sustainability Consortium, consisting of 11 public and non-profit entities. The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission; Lehigh and Northampton Transit Authority (LANTA); Renew Lehigh Valley (RenewLV); the Lehigh County Department of Community and Economic Development; the Northampton County Department of Community and Economic Development; Wildlands Conservancy and the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and CACLV. LVEDC served as the lead applicant. It is not an exaggeration that this intiative will positively impact the quality of life for all Lehigh Valley residents. The LVSC will create a sustainable Lehigh Valley by implementing the Comprehensive Plan The Lehigh Valley… 2030, which meets the definition of a sustainability plan and embodies the six livability principles. LVSC will further the adoption of the plan by promoting adoption of affordable housing policies at municipal level and fostering transit related land development to support public transportation. LVSC will also prepare an Assessment of Jobs/Housing Balance and a Regional Economic Development Plan that promotes sustainability. Throughout the development of the Regional Economic Development Plan and promotion of the Comprehensive Plan LVSC will engage the community through public participation sessions. All types of communities will be targeted in this process to ensure all populations are given voice in direction of the region.   The Consortium aims to develop stable, working communities by connecting workers with economic opportunities throughout the region and bringing jobs back to the cities. The opportunity gaps and the distributional inequalities in the region will widen unless addressed by aggressive policy that is both sustainable and transformative.   The first step of this process will be an update to the report titled An Affordable Housing Assessment of the Lehigh Valley, 2007 including data associated with Housing in the Lehigh Valley, 2008. This update will direct the implementation strategies of the Lehigh Valley Affordable Housing Effort that is housed at CACLV.   The Consortium will foster transit related land development as a key component to creating a more livable Lehigh Valley. LANTA will monitor land development and pursue ordinance changes along priority transit corridors. In addition, LANTA will be a key partner in the development of the regional Comprehensive Economic Development Plan.   A Jobs and Housing Study will be developed by LVPC and will be the jumping off point for a Comprehensive Economic Development Plan. This Economic Development Plan will focus on increasing economic competitiveness and improving the relationship between job locations and housing opportunities. An economic model will be employed to create and analyze various economic scenarios as part of this plan.   Finally, the region will become more sustainable by fostering three catalytic projects — one each in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. These projects will directly improve and support existing communities, and increase the access to jobs for these neighborhoods.   Throughout all pieces of the work plan, the Lehigh Valley Sustainability Consortium will engage the communities. By utilizing the resources of CACLV all of the partners in the Consortium will have meaningful input from under represented populations of the two counties.