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In response to requests by members and partners, and in an effort to ensure the continued development of a talent pipeline within the economic development profession, PEDA is offering a one-time, discounted young professional membership promotion in 2020.

Individuals under the age of 40 who are both new members to PEDA and who represent net new memberships to PEDA from their particular organizations are eligible for this promotion. More specifically, any organization renewing the same number and types of full price PEDA memberships in 2020 as it had in 2019 will have the opportunity to also add an additional qualifying member at a reduced rate of $ 200 for 2020.

To determine your eligibility to take advantage of this one-time promotion or to learn more about PEDA's plans to further involve young professionals via some of the sessions and after-hours gatherings being developed for 2020 conferences, please contact PEDA at pedastaff@peda.org.

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Notes: Individuals for whom discounted membership is requested must be eligible new members joining PEDA for 2020, who also represent net new memberships to PEDA from their particular organizations. The discounted rate only applies to the net new member's 2020 dues. After the discount period, dues renewal rates for 2021 will be at the regular rates for the specific membership type. Net new members may not be existing members. PEDA's board of directors makes all formal decisions regarding approval of membership applications. PEDA reserves the right to suspend or end this promotion at any time. Some restrictions apply. 

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Kathy Henderson has been Director of Economic Development for Carbon Chamber and Economic Development Corp. (CCEDC) since 2014. In that time, she has counseled numerous business start-ups and new entrepreneurs, helped existing businesses to grow in the county, recruited a large medical waste processing company to the CCEDC warehouse, earned Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) certification for the CCEDC and resuscitated the Business and Education Partnership, which also organizes and runs the CCEDC's annual Hippie Run. This event raises money for scholarships for graduating seniors from each of the County's 6 school districts.

Her work responsibilities include property management of the CCEDC's warehouse and office building. She also underwrites loan packages for the CCEDC's Small Business Expansion Loan Fund and the Carbon County Industrial Development Authority's Revolving Loan Fund.

In 2018 she helped to facilitate Carbon County's completion of the Return on Environment Study along with Audubon Pennsylvania, and John Rogers of Keystone Conservation Trust.

Mrs. Henderson is a member of numerous Boards, including the Northeast PA Alliance (NEPA), Commuter Services, CTC Manufacturing, Carbon/Schuylkill/Luzerne STEM Ecosystem, Lehighton Main Street Steering Committee and the Lehigh Canal and Recreation Commission (LCRC).  

She is the vice-chair of the NEPA MPO Policy Committee, a member of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber's Public Policy Committee and the Pennsylvania Economic Development Association (PEDA) Advocacy Committee and Convention and Professional Standards Committee.  

In her past life, she was a licensed Realtor in both Florida and Pennsylvania. What spare time she has she devotes to acting as the Committee Chair for her church's Boy Scout Troop and is a member of the church's audit committee. She enjoys bicycling, camping, fishing, hiking and gardening.

Late this spring, PEDA released the initial results of its EDC Impact Study. The study, as discussed at the time, was aimed at documenting both the effort required by our EDC community to successfully compete on a global scale and the impact that results from their efforts to serve as the cornerstone for social and business networks that propel the local economy.

Since that time, PEDA's work with Fourth Economy Consulting and Econsult Solutions, Inc., has continued, as a full report has been developed to provide a broader understanding of the underlying processes through which the data was collected, the impacts were estimated, etc. We welcome you to review the full report (or the Executive Summary) and encourage you to share this information with legislators and key stakeholders in your communities.

Lew Villotti is the President of the Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development (BCCED), the lead economic development organization for Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

Born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania Lew began his professional career working for the Washington County Planning Commission in Washington, PA, were he spent nearly nine years, the last two as the Assistant Director. Lew is a graduate of California University of Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor's in Urban Affairs and a Masters in Geography and Regional Planning and, prior to joining BCCED, served as the Planning and Development Director for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) and Vice President of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Corporation. Lew also held previous positions of Transportation Program Manager at SPC and was a Project Manager for Michael Baker Corporation.

Lew has also served as a peer consultant for the Federal Highway Administration's scenario, planning initiatives in Birmingham, Alabama; Newark, New Jersey; and Richmond, Virginia. Lew lives in Avella, Pennsylvania with his wife Beth and daughter Maria, where he is an active member of the community and has served on the board of the Independence Cross Creek Joint Sewer Authority and coached soccer for 12 years.

IMPACT Across PA | Beaver County

On July 3rd, Governor Tom Wolf announced a low-interest loan approval through the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) for Beemac Trucking, LLC in Beaver County. The funding will enable the construction of a new full-service maintenance and repair facility in Ambridge Borough and will support the combined creation and retention of more than 200 full-time jobs.

Beemac Trucking, LLC provides asset-based trucking, logistics, port, warehousing, and specialized services to customers throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The company was approved for a $1,573,087, 15-year loan at a 3 percent rate through the Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development. The funding will be used for construction of an eight-bay state-of-the-art maintenance facility and a service shop with a 110-space paved truck and trailer marshaling area.

The total project cost is $3,146,173. The project will enable the company to create 24 full-time jobs while retaining 190 full-time jobs within three years.

This content is shared courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). 

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Stephen is President and CEO of the Altoona Blair County Development Corporation. Stephen brings more than 25 years of management and economic development experience in both the public and private sector. Throughout his career he has worked to identify organizational and community place-based assets, matching them with new market opportunities.

Stephen first worked at the ABCD Corporation from 2000 to 2007 serving as Director of Corporate Services. He was a member of the Southern Alleghenies Tourism Committee, the Workforce Investment Board and managed the development and marketing of the I-99 Innovation Corridor Initiative.

In 2010 he was a co-founder of the economic development firm Fourth Economy Consulting where he worked with communities and industry across the country building competitive operational growth strategies and industrial site selection. A native of Blair County, Stephen can be found on a ski slope in the winter and on the roads and trails all seasons in between. 

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