ARTICLE
The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation held its annual meeting at ArtsQuest's SteelStacks campus to celebrate the year in economic development Thursday evening. Anthony Salamone Contact Reporter of The Morning Call BETHLEHEM — Don Cunningham invoked the recent past Thursday during Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.'s annual meeting. Last year's Kraft-Heinz merger led to the closing of the Upper Macungie Township Kraft factory, and Cunningham, who is LVEDC's president and CEO, said that resulted in calls from the national media "salivating on a preconceived storyline of Rust Belt demise." When Cunningham told the media that the Lehigh Valley is Pennsylvania's fastest-growing region, with a workforce of about 350,000, the media lost interest in doing a potentially big business story, he said. "While I will say the loss of any job causes us to feel for that worker and that family, the reality is that today many more are being created than lost," Cunningham told an audience of about 450 at SteelStacks' ArtsQuest Center. LVEDC's annual meeting typically highlights notable projects, organizations and people who have contributed to the region's success during the last year, and Thursday evening's event was no exception. There were several rounds of applause, videos and special recognitions throughout the 100-minute event. Cunningham and LVEDC executives drilled down on the Valley's growth in such things as increased office space, a boost in the region's gross domestic product to $37 billion, and the arrival of new businesses settling into the region as well as new technological innovations. Last week, Cunningham said, Site Selection Magazine ranked the Lehigh Valley as the fifth-leading metropolitan market in the Northeast, one place higher than in 2015. The Valley is ahead of metro regions with populations starting at 200,000, and only trails much larger areas: the New York metropolitan region, the Philadelphia region, Pittsburgh and the Boston-Cambridge-Newton area in Massachusetts. When Cunningham visits potential investors or others intimately involved in economic development, the Valley typically trails much larger markets that are at the table. But Cunningham views them as direct competitors. "The Lehigh Valley punches well above its weight class," he said. "Our competition is larger than us and, frankly, spends more money than us. "But our seat at the table is made possible by all of you who support this regional effort — who believe in the economic and quality-of-life assets of the Lehigh Valley," he said. Cunningham recognized Tony Iannelli, president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce for 20 years, with a first special recognition award for regionalism. "He is the dean of regional leadership," said Cunningham. Recalling when he was Bethlehem's mayor, Cunningham said Iannelli, who then headed the Allentown Chamber, began its growth by merging with the Christmas City's Chamber. Today, the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber extends from Carbon County to Warren County, N.J., and is the seventh-largest business-boosting group in the country. Jane P. Long, incoming LVEDC board chairwoman, welcomed four new members to the group's 35-member board of directors. They are: • Kassie Hilgert, president of ArtsQuest. • Silvia Hoffman, president of MKSD Architects. • Eric Luftig, vice president of Victaulic. • Stuart Shaw, vice president and chief actuary, Guardian Life Insurance. LVEDC, a private organization that advocates business growth and recruits companies to the Valley, had a 2016 operating budget of $2.6 million, which is funded with a single source — nearly $1.4 million — coming from hotel tax proceeds. The agency also received nearly $507,000 in private-sector support from corporate members and $155,000 in taxpayer money from Lehigh and Northampton counties. asalamone@mcall.com 610-820-6694 LVEDC 2016 JOBS SNAPSHOT • Jobs created by development projects: 4,829 • Jobs created by financing programs: 1,461 • Jobs retained by business financing/development: 2,025 Note: Job figures are projections, with some jobs being created over multiple years. Source: LVEDC 2016 annual report Copyright © 2017, Lehigh Valley Business Cycle Read the original article here.