LVEDC Director of Community Outreach and Redevelopment Andrew Kleiner (center) with officials from North Catasauqua during one of 46 municipal visits that took place in 2018.

This article originally appeared in the February 14, 2019 issue of “Quarterly Connections,” a quarterly newsletter LVEDC distributes to municipal officials in the Lehigh Valley.

Last year, as part of the ongoing 2017-20 strategic plan of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), we continued a permanent and sustained campaign of visitation, connection, and conversation with across both counties and all 62 municipalities in the Lehigh Valley.

From Lower Milford Township to Portland Borough, LVEDC traveled hundreds of miles of information from our public sector partners and were able to create new relationships with key stakeholders throughout the region.

In LVEDC’s strategic plan, we vow to “continue to engage county and municipal leaders on local development priorities, marketing support, financing programs, and information sharing through website connections and enhancements, and communication vehicles.” In 2018, LVEDC had face-to-face visits in 46 unique municipalities in the Lehigh Valley.

Looking ahead to 2019, LVEDC will continue and expand this system of visitation. While we continue the conversation happening in each of the municipalities visited, LVEDC wants to learn more about the factors affecting regional development including housing trends, water & wastewater trends, redevelopment opportunities, and regional talent supply.

This initiative is housed in a new department at LVEDC that is dedicated to strategic initiatives and research.

It is essential that each of these meetings is a two-way conversation between LVEDC and our regional partners. In addition to learning about each municipality, LVEDC want to ensure that municipal leaders are informed about the resources and programs offered by LVEDC.

This includes the Lehigh Valley Lending Network and the Business Outreach Program (BOP), which links regional businesses to resources throughout the community. Click here to read more about how those programs can be beneficial to the region’s municipalities.

As we look forward to 2019, we also want to look back at the continued and ongoing success happening in the Lehigh Valley. 2018 marked yet another banner year for the Lehigh Valley. The economic output of the Lehigh Valley economy reached its highest mark ever at $40.1 billion in GDP, and for the second consecutive year Lehigh Valley was ranked the top region of its size in the Northeast for development projects.

Please join LVEDC at the Annual Meeting on Tuesday March 19^th as we celebrate the economic success stories of 2018 and look ahead to new initiatives and projects.

We look forward to seeing you out there, on the road again, in 2019.