News
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Statement on the Neighborhood Improvement Zone
By admin 4/19/2012 5:01pmLVEDC statement on the Neighborhood Improvement Zone, issued April 18th, 2012 The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation began its life in 1995 as a regional marketing organization, promoting the best development sites that the Lehigh Valley has to offer. That remains a prime function. Recently, as a result of broad input into our new strategic plan, we have grown to encompass critical new functions such as enhancing urban development and sustainable development, improvements that will help attract and retain the best and the brightest of the young generation. Rarely does the opportunity arise to combine these things in a complete way yet the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) provides exactly that opportunity. It is a project that will transform Allentown and in the long term enable the entire Lehigh Valley region to rise to new levels of economic success. LVEDC is committed to adding to the collective wealth of the region by working with private-sector partners to market NIZ sites and benefits to companies OUTSIDE OF the Lehigh Valley, as we do for all quality development sites in the region. The NIZ brings an exciting addition to the menu of sites and programs we have to market and is another arrow in our quiver to compliment programs such as Keystone Opportunity Zones, Keystone Innovation Zones, Foreign Trade Zones and Governor’s Action Team incentives. Regional cooperation is never easy but because the Lehigh Valley has met previous challenges it has a burgeoning reputation for being up to the task. It has never been more important to work together and turn into reality the cliché that a rising tide lifts all boats. When these efforts succeed, and they will, it adds to the positive image of our region as an area that continues to proactively reshape its economy in constructive and creative ways. For our metropolitan area to be viewed nationally as a success and a desirable place to locate, the downtowns must be a success. The NIZ is a once in a lifetime opportunity to revive Allentown’s downtown and it is essential that we work together to make it happen and maximize the regional benefits it will bring to our region’s reputation and to economic prosperity.
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D.E.P secretary to address Marcellus Shale
By Steve Althouse 4/5/2012 4:01pmPennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer will be the keynote speaker at an upcoming seminar entitled “Marcellus Shale: Pennsylvania’s Present & Future Needs/Issues/Impact. The event will start at 1 p.m. on April 20th Room 101 of the Packard Laboratory on the campus of Lehigh University. Sec. Krancer was nominated by Gov. Tom Corbett to head the D.E.P. and he was confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate on April 26, 2011. Prior to his position as the secretary, he was a judge on the Pennsylvania Enviornmental Hearing Board. For more information on this event, please contact The Office of Interdisciplinary Programs at 610-758-3996 or by emailing incasip@lehigh.edu
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OMWOB seminar scheduled for April 25th
By Eduardo Eichenwald 4/3/2012 5:50pmThe LVEDC Office of Minority and Women-Owned Businesses is hosting an event that will help grow your business amid a changing and challenging economy. Join OMWOB for a one-hour seminar titled “Effective Interviewing, Assessments and Hiring” followed by a panel discussion with representatives from LVEDC’s internship programs, Lehigh Valley SHRM, the Workforce Investment Board, and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation on local resources for effectively staffing and growing your business. The event is sponsored by Penn State Lehigh Valley and the Sands Casino-Resort in Bethlehem. Location: Penn State Lehigh Valley 2809 Saucon Valley Road Center Valley Date: April 25th Agenda: 3 to 3:30 p.m. – Networking and registration 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. – Seminar 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. – Panel discussion Cost: $20. There is no charge for LVEDC investors or OMWOB directory members. To register, please call Eduardo Eichenwald at 610-266-2216 or email him at eeichenwald@lehighvalley.org
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School offers entrepreneurship program
By Steve Althouse 3/30/2012 4:20pmThe Baker Institute at Lehigh University has recently developed a Master’s in Technical Entrepreneurship program that will launch later this spring. Classes focus on innovation and new-venture creation, which supports the development of novel, innovative and commercially-viable technologies. The school is hosting an open house at 4:30 p.m. on April 4th at the Wilbur Powerhouse. To learn more about the Master’s In Technical Entrepreneurship program, please click here.
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SBKIZ company moves to the head of the class
By Steve Althouse 3/15/2012 2:37pmGoodSemester 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.
