The newest issue of LVstartup, a monthly e-newsletter about entrepreneurship and startups in the Lehigh Valley. Click the image above to enlarge.

The October issue of LVstartup, a monthly e-newsletter about the entrepreneurship and startup scene in the Lehigh Valley, has been released.

Written and distributed by the Entrepreneurship Council of the Lehigh Valley, LVstartup is focused on the needs of startups in the region, providing information about local events, news, and resources available to entrepreneurs.

LVstartup is distributed the first Thursday of each month. If you’re interested in subscribing, sign up here. If you’re not signed up, but would like the most recent issue forwarded to you, contact news@lehighvalley.org.

The newest edition, released today, includes stories about Allentown-based County Seat Spirits winning a medal at a national competition for one of its gins, a team of Lehigh University students winning first place for their HIV detection kit, the U.S. government giving another $7.2 million to the Bethlehem-based OraSure Technologies for its rapid Ebola test.

Other stories included a trio of Lehigh University student-led companies showing off their products at the most recent LVTech Meetup, the manufacturing company Acme Cryogenics adding a new building to its South Allentown facility, and the TEDxLehighRiver event featuring several Lehigh Valley speakers, including oen who discussed how to communicate with whales using their verbal frequencies.

The new LVstartup issue also highlights various upcoming events, like the Lehigh Valley Meet the Buyers Expo, Venture Lehigh Valley, Ben Franklin Venture Idol, and the Young Professionals Council event “FERMENT & INVENT: A Taste of Entrepreneurship from Allentown’s Business Incubator.”

Each month, LVstartup also spotlights a Lehigh Valley startup. This issue, the company is Stackablz, 3-D puzzles for children ages three and over, made up of non-obvious slices that the child has to reassemble to create a final three-dimensional shape. The puzzle is intended not only to be fun, but to help improve cross-sectional spatial skills in children, an area currently underexplored by mainstream educational toys and games, according to Stackablz founder Lauren Villaverde, 23.

The Entrepreneurship Council of the Lehigh Valley is a council of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), whose mission is to improve the entrepreneurial environment of the region by listening to its entrepreneurs, identifying their unmet needs, communicating regional entrepreneurship initiatives between council members, and connecting local resources to continue the development of new entrepreneurial support initiatives.

LVstartup receives input from various organizations that serves the local entrepreneurial community, including LVEDC, the Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation at Lehigh University, Lehigh Valley Tech, Allentown Economic Development Corporation (AEDC), the Bethlehem Department of Community and Economic Development, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, and others.