The Lehigh Valley is a region seeing major growth, new development and big investment opportunities, from warehouses and workforce concerns to the economic impact of the Latino community and Eli Lilly's major expansion plans.

We're asking an important question tonight.

How do we ensure economic growth benefits everyone in the Lehigh Valley?

We'll ask that question and more on this community conversation.

The economic health of the Lehigh Valley.

Here's your host, Brittany Sweeney.

Good evening, and welcome to a community conversation.

The economic health of the Lehigh Valley, brought to you by Lehigh Valley Public Media.

Tonight we bring together local leaders, economic experts, business owners, and community voices to examine the economic health of the Lehigh Valley.

Using data and insight from the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.

The discussion explores job growth, workforce challenges, infrastructure, housing pressures, and the opportunities and concerns tied to continued development as the region grows.

The conversation asks a critical question how can the Lehigh Valley build an economy that is not only bigger, but stronger and more inclusive for everyone?

Joining us now to set the stage and answer some of those questions about what the local economy currently looks like are Don Cunningham, president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, along with the president and CEO, Cassie Hilger.

They are going to discuss how quality of life impacts the economy.

We're going to start, though, with you, Don.

Thank you both so much for joining us.

Thank you.

Don, what does the overall picture of the Lehigh Valley economy look like right now?

Let's set the stage there.

Well, from a data perspective, the Lehigh Valley economy has never been better.

We are putting out 57 billion in GDP every year.

Manufacturing is the number one part of our economy.

Again, we've just landed one of the largest economic development projects in the United States, with Eli Lilly coming in with a $3.5 billion investment.

And last year, we were the number one market in the United States for our size for economic development projects.

So both in terms of quantity and quality.

We're at the top of our game right now in the Lehigh Valley.

Yet I want to make another note of that number one mid-sized market in the nation for economic development.

Your strategic plan pointed out.

And so how do we sustain this momentum, what's driving this momentum and how do we sustain it?

Well, a couple of things are driving it.

Number one is companies will stay and grow or go to places that are growing in population and that have talented people.

So the number one factor in economic development is talent is workforce.

You need to have a workforce with a wide variety of skills in order to have an economy that is a wide variety of sectors and industries.

What's nice now in the Lehigh Valley economy is the balance that we see from life sciences and medtech to advanced manufacturing, to food and beverage production and distribution, to professional services and creative services.

They're all very balanced parts of the economy, unlike we were maybe 30 years ago when we had all of our eggs in one basket.

Sure, we're going to talk more about that diversity in the workplace in just a little bit.

But Cassy, I want to bring you into the conversation.

You don't always think think about arts and entertainment when you're thinking about economic development.

But that's a huge factor here, especially in the Lehigh Valley when it comes to the programing that Arts Quest has offered to the Valley.

Sure.

I mean, Arts Quest in 2025 had $192 million economic impact in the region.

That's just Arts Quest.

Let's not forget all the other arts and culture institutions that contribute even more to that number.

I like to think of it as when you think about economic development, you assume as a businessperson that where you're going to locate, you're going to have meds and EDS and workforce.

That's, that's that's kind of an important thing to me.

The stickiness that comes past that or the cultural amenities that will attract that workforce that Don is talking about.

Can they raise a family here?

Can they live here as an early graduate?

Can they live here as a retiree?

Can they live here as they're growing a family and growing a business?

So.

We have long been talking about the importance of arts and culture for economic development.

When you look nationwide.

Arts and entertainment is a bigger industry than construction.

And very often we don't tarter on horn because we are by nature nonprofit.

You know, we immediately say, well, we don't do versus saying what we do do, which is create jobs and economic impact.

Absolutely.

And yes, Don, the arts and entertainment is a growing sector of the economy, but beyond that, it's the front door of economic development.

People discover a market and people decide to live in a market because of the quality of life, because of the authenticity and because of the arts and culture and history and downtowns that exist.

Right.

So you can't have a growing economy without a community that's thriving in terms of its own presentation, its own culture, its own arts, and its own historical preservation.

Sure.

So similar question I asked about the momentum within the economic growth.

How do we continue that momentum within the arts and entertainment world here in the Lehigh Valley?

It takes investment just like economic development, just like any other industry.

You need that continued investment.

Of the 4000 camps, classes and concerts we do a year, 40% of that is free to the public.

It is not free to put on.

And we are seeing, like every industry, increasing pressure in insurance, in tent cost, in everything that it takes to put on any programing.

We are seeing a real strain in that.

If that is taken for granted, you will lose that momentum and you won't feel that for a while.

But by the time you feel it, it's too late.

So continued investment and recognition of that and prioritization is certainly as important as it is for meds and EDS and any other industry here in the Lehigh Valley.

Absolutely.

So that momentum is so important.

Don, manufacturing logistics, as you spoke about just a few minutes ago, huge drivers of the local economy with nearly 74,000 people working in making and moving goods here within the Lehigh Valley and throughout the nation, as this is a pit stop.

So how do you balance that continued growth in industry with some of the complaints from people who live around here?

It's congested.

There's traffic.

How do you balance that?

Well, the key to life in any realm of life is balance, right?

Is having that balance.

Because the last thing you want to do as you grow an economy is lose the character and the authenticity and the quality of life that draw people to an area.

But jobs and employment are the number one reason that people move somewhere also.

Right?

So and you need jobs for people of all different skill levels and all education levels.

You know, I hear people say, well, we only should be going after, you know, biotech and creating jobs for people with PhDs and master's degrees and chemists.

And we do go hard after those jobs.

But 38% of our population has a high school diploma or less, which the federal government lists as non skilled.

So if there's not employment for the non skilled folks, they are going to become a burden on your community.

They're going to either be in your social services system or your criminal justice system.

They need opportunity and they need to be able to upskill themselves and grow.

And you know, there's a lot of complaints about so-called warehousing from a land use perspective.

The piece that's always left out is that folks that are working in there that are making 20, $25 an hour and getting health care benefits, our non skilled workers, who otherwise will be getting $8 an hour working at a Burger King or a McDonald's, and they can carve out a little piece of a pathway to their American dream if they can.

Right.

So you need to do economic development.

You need jobs of all skill levels in all varieties.

Sure.

And just like the industry has grown and changed here in the Lehigh Valley, so has the population.

Has that been a challenge or has that been a benefit to economic growth?

Well it's both right.

So we are a growing area.

And the only way to have economic growth is to have population growth.

Believe me, there's not a company that doesn't look at if you're growing in population and if you're growing in population of people under 40.

So you need growth to sustain that.

But we're also growing.

Both Lehigh and Northampton counties were top 5% counties for international migration and domestic migration into the market.

So we continue to be a center for immigration.

And just like traditionally, oftentimes immigrants are working in first rung or second rung positions.

That is still happening in the Lehigh Valley.

And we don't talk about that enough.

We're creating opportunity for people of all different backgrounds and all different types, and we're a welcoming community, and we have the jobs to to sustain that openness.

Sure, we have opportunity happening right here in the Lehigh Valley.

And one of those projects, I'd like to talk about the process to pave the way for a $3.5 billion pharmaceutical plant in Upper Macungie Township.

It's underway.

Eli Lilly, one of the most valuable companies in the world, is building a facility that covers almost 800,000ft² on Main Street, old U.S.

22.

The LV, DC shared this video about the project.

Today, Eli Lilly and Company write the first page of a new chapter.

The ERA of Life Sciences in the Lehigh Valley is proud history of making things in America.

Today, I'm excited to announce that we will invest more than $3.5 billion in a brand new injectable medicine facility right here in Lehigh Valley.

Ultimately, when it's finished, about 850 full time employees will make medicine around the clock and really an anchor point for our US supply chain here in the Lehigh Valley.

This is the kind of project we like to see everywhere.

But you're getting it done here in Lehigh Valley.

We decided to land on Lehigh Valley primarily because of the strategic advantages that we saw with this location, the infrastructure, the region, the manufacturing, know how.

These were things that attracted us.

We prepared for this type of future for a long time.

In terms of site readiness.

There was a lot of effort over many years to have it come to fruition.

In fact, it was a 20 year effort.

There's been a planning process for the last 12 years for a new interchange at the western end of the property, the Jandal company had developed a new roadway that would bypass around downtown Fogel Ville.

It really started with the investment that we've done into our grid, which is transformed our good to a smarter, more reliable grid for all customers.

It has allowed us to interconnect customers like Lilly faster and meet the demands of all new customers.

We saw a lot of talented individuals here, a lot of manufacturing, and what we're looking for is to have talented employees work in our facility for advanced medicines.

That's a combination that will be there for decades to come.

Our schools are preparing our workforce with the skills needed for life sciences, for biotechnology and advanced manufacturing.

Through our close partnership with Lehigh Carbon Community College, we were aware of their efforts to adapt their programing and their facilities to meet the needs of a company just like Lilly Hale.

Tracy, you had the opportunity to work very closely with the Lilly team in developing curriculum that aligns to the career occupations that they all have at the Lilly facility.

This partnership with Lilly is such a life changing opportunity for our valley, for our students.

We had really good partnerships with different levels of government, a lot of good discussion dialog, a lot of understanding what the needs of the community and what the needs are.

For Lilly, there was strong collaboration with the community, with the township, with LVC, with the state and the governor.

At the end of the day, everybody in the Valley recognizes that Leah Valley is a special place to be.

Quality of life is fantastic to grow and raise a family.

And the fact that Eli Lilly saw it as well just affirms and validates that Leah Valley is a truly special place to be.

Today, we really enter into a new chapter of this region's history on making things for America.

The project is expected to create about 2000 jobs during construction, with 850 people expected to work at the facility once it's fully up and running in 2031.

So a lot of opportunity here, Don, but a lot of pressure with that kind of growth.

What are some of the opportunities and what are some of the obstacles that you're looking at right now?

Well, one of the challenges in any growing metropolitan area, right.

And we're not unique across the United States with some of the pressures of cost, right.

Cost of housing, availability of housing, cost of rents.

And we need to to be engaged to create more products.

So we have supply and demand in a better balance to create more housing opportunities.

A planning Commission estimates estimates for 9 to 10,000 housing units short of meeting the population.

And again, we're not alone in this, but those are some new pressures and new challenges that I didn't have 25 years ago when I was mayor.

And Bethlehem Steel was closing and we were rebuilding and revitalizing the economy.

I will tell you that I'd rather have the challenges of today than the challenges we had 25 years ago when the economy was being being lost in population was being lost.

So in a short period of time, we've turned it around.

But, you know, those problems can be solved.

It just takes some time to get through that pipeline.

Kasey.

So through this economic development, we're growing, right?

How do we keep up with that on the and why is it so important to keep up with that?

On the arts and culture side, how do we what do we look at to make sure we're keeping up with the trends of the people moving into the area?

That is a great point.

At Arts Quest, we actually have five different boards that govern our organization.

We have 300 committee members.

We have 1800 volunteers.

And so that is very important to us to stay connected to the community.

I think we're going to need to engage that population.

And elderly is one part.

The cottage industries that will support Eli Lilly is in another impact that will be just as big and just as important.

So we welcome that community.

Our mission is to increase access to the arts for all.

And I think what we're going to find is that we've got a lot of gaps that are not being addressed.

We welcome those opportunities and we want to find those opportunities.

We've seen our audiences change over the last 43 years, and the one thing we know is that change is consistent.

What do you see either staying the same or evolving over the next few years?

What do we what are we doing well, now in the arts and culture scene, but what are some of the things we have to make sure we're moving with?

I think we're very unique as a region.

You don't have a city the size of Allentown that usually has a museum and a symphony that's very unique.

To have organizations like Arts Quest and you have the choir.

You've got, you know, Godfrey Daniels.

We've got a rung on the ladder of just about every size within the arts.

I think it is maintaining that, welcoming those that are coming in in the very short term, the head ones are very bad.

We've got inflation, we've got gas costs, we've got soaring ticketing fees that are happening industry wide.

What I think is a benefit for Arts West is, again, 40% of our programing is free.

So we'd like to feel that we can meet people where they are, whether they can afford a ticket or they want to bring the family to something free.

I think that is going to continue, and I think the taste of the Valley will will continue to evolve very similar to national trends.

Two, we don't see that much different than what is happening nationally.

So we watch that very closely.

Absolutely.

And I want to make note.

You kind of touched upon this in the beginning, but Arts Quest released an economic impact report earlier this year saying that you generated nearly $200 million in economic impact funds in 2025.

That was a 34% increase over the year before.

How do we continue that momentum, that key word momentum here?

But how do we continue that momentum within quality of life here in the Lehigh Valley?

I have to say, in 25, we did have 11 days of rain at music festival.

That might have had an impact, but I think keeping the momentum going is, again, getting the investors that will build out the infrastructure that will bring the kind of cultural amenities here that you would expect to travel to Philadelphia and New York for.

You don't need to.

Now we are building the elven part of Jefferson Health turn and grind.

One of the purposes of that building is to bring traveling exhibits that you would need to leave this valley to go see, so to bring those here helps to attract that workforce and those companies.

It all really works together, right?

I mean, we are the rare community.

16% of our economy is making things right.

The United States of America, it's only 11% of the economy.

We have over 37,000 people working, making things.

Even with automation and technology, that's more people collectively than they used to work at the Bethlehem Steel plant.

This is so rare and unique in the United States, and every one of these companies and their employees invest back in, they attend shows, they go out to eat in the downtowns, they go to music Fest, they go to the arts and cultural institutions across the Lehigh Valley.

You can't have one without the other.

And I think the great thing we've done as a valley is in our own lanes.

Everybody has done a great job of planning together.

A lot of its market driven.

You know, people always say, why are you building this and not that?

We have to realize the market dictates a lot of what gets built or doesn't get built.

But in terms of where we've put our money and our efforts and our strategic planning, I think we have focused on the right thing.

There's no one perfect community, there's no utopia that's not going to be without challenges or without flaws or without things that have to be overcome.

But I think the Lehigh Valley has done as good of a job as anybody in America at recovering from what we lost in the 80s, in the 90s and withstanding recessions, withstanding, you know, challenges with inflation.

We're not alone, but we're doing better than most places.

Sure.

Is there a focus on higher wage jobs and innovation here in the Lehigh Valley, or is it jobs across the board that I would say this around higher wage, when folks, you know, there's often discussions about there should be a $15 minimum wage.

They don't even ask us about that, because the market based minimum wage in the Lehigh Valley is well above $15 an hour.

We tell employers, if you're not going to pay $20 an hour, have health care, have education benefits, you're going to be on a churn and burn, where every 90 days you get different employees come in and out.

So whether you're at the non skilled level of the thing or that our wages here are higher and it shows out in our median income statistics.

Now that doesn't mean that inflation still not impacting folks here.

But you'd rather be making $22 an hour at an Amazon warehouse than 850 at a Burger King and withstand inflation, right?

So yeah, the wages have been an upward growth in the Lehigh Valley about creatives.

That's going to happen at any wage level.

Right.

So as we see AI develop, as we see other technologies and innovations, one thing that I hear from employers over and over again is the need for employees that can solve problems who are curious and creative, and I think that's an important role for the arts and culture institutions to help introduce the idea of creativity and lifelong curiosity.

To help with that, regardless of what job you have, what are the big challenges that we are looking at to solve right now from an arts and culture standpoint, from an arts and culture standpoint, sustainability.

It sounds boring and it sounds tired, but we are all reaching and dealing with considerable headwinds.

The the the industry is changing.

If you just look at the concert industry, what has happened with the blue Dot syndrome, what has happened?

And you put that against Taylor Swift, who could charge $1,500 for a ticket.

That was a ticket buyer that used to go to eight concerts a year.

Now they're putting it all into one because of dynamic pricing.

So that puts downward pressure on the entire industry.

Sure makes sense, Don.

Same question, but on a broader economic view, what are the challenges we're really looking at and trying to solve right now?

One of the biggest challenges with growth is while we're at our height of being known across the country, the Lilly Project and really high value employers wanting to come here is at the same time where a lot of the public is saying, we don't want anymore, right?

We don't want any more.

Make it stop.

Right.

So that's a real challenge, because if you don't have land, if you don't have property, you know, industrial land is used for Eli Lilly, the same as it is for a warehouse.

Right?

So folks don't seem to realize that.

They'll say, oh, we don't want any more where houses.

But warehouses are in an industrial zone.

That's also where high value impact manufacturers go.

That's probably our biggest challenge, along with housing costs and in general, inflation at the rest of the country is suffering under.

Sure.

We have an audience question that I'd like to throw out to you, Don.

One of our audience members is asking a lot of the Lehigh Valley growth story has historically been warehouse driven, as you just mentioned.

I would disagree with that.

Okay.

It's been manufacturing driven, manufacturing driven.

But the region is now seeing life sciences, data centers, health care, education, infrastructure activity from a construction and land development perspective.

Which end markets should we expect to see the most activity over the next 12 to 24 months and the next few years?

How would you describe where we are in the development construction cycle for each of these markets?

Well, I would tell you, so I can go to the LVC strategic plan.

As I said earlier, a lot of things happen just market driven, right.

So a lot of the warehouse economy is working driven, good location, good workforce.

So it happens.

We focus on four areas.

We focus on life sciences, advanced manufacturing, professional and creative arts, and offices and food and beverage distribution.

And we've added a fifth, which is arts and culture and quality of life.

So I think those five areas where we invest our dollars and our know how and our our coalition around economic growth, we're seeing growth in all of those areas, three times the national average in manufacturing, 48% growth in life science workers.

So we're going to see more and more of this high value payoff come from the investment in.

But understand you can't just cherry pick off high value if you don't have the foundational economy that makes goods and moves goods, those other companies aren't going to come.

It all works together.

Don.

The LVC was created about 30 years ago to help the area transition from the Bethlehem Steel era.

So what industries are going to drive us forward from here?

What are we?

What are we focusing on as we move forward in the next chapter of the Lehigh Valley economy?

Every market has its own unique assets, right?

So we're 60 miles, 80 miles from New York and Philadelphia.

We're never going to be a huge headquarter market, right, because companies will fly their corporate flags and Philadelphia or North Jersey or in the city.

But for 250 plus years, we've made things and moved it to the East coast of the United States of America.

Now the world where they'd be Martin Guitars, Mack Trucks, Crayola crayons, Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals.

We are an area that has a great education base for engineers and the talent to make things and move it outward, and some of that will be in biotech, like we already do with B Braun and Olympus and or shore, and some of it will be in hard goods like we do with Victor, with piping and so forth.

So we're going to always be what we are kind of found to be, which is an area that innovates, makes goods, and moves it to the world.

All right.

Wonderful, wonderful.

And, Cassie, we'll make sure we put in a plug to make some good weather this year for Music Fest.

Right.

So we have another record year.

I'm going to keep you both on hand here in the studio for some more audience questions, but we thank you both so much for your insight on this program.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And as Don just mentioned, manufacturing is one of the top contributors to the Lehigh Valley economy, with more than $8 billion in total economic output.

Around 36,000 people are employed by those manufacturers.

So recruitment and retention is imperative.

A program introduced in the past few years is helping to ensure there's a pipeline of skilled workers.

It's called Witek.

Like so many in the Lehigh Valley, manufacturing runs in the blood of Tessa McClain's family.

My grandfather worked at Bethel Steel for years and years until it closed.

My mom currently works as a drafting editor.

The 23 year old now finds herself following in her father's footsteps.

At one point I was like, man, I don't want to be at a desk job for the rest of my life.

So I left that and my dad said, hey, they're looking for technicians here.

Come over here.

You'll be on your feet.

You'll be running machines.

You already like manufacturing things.

And I said, okay.

And I came here and started as a technician for four years.

That company was B Braun in Allentown.

We manufacture life saving, life sustaining medical devices.

It's a place that would become the start of McLean's career.

We're looking for skilled employees to come in.

We have craftspeople, we have technicians.

We have general manufacturing associates.

We have mold shop, we have facilities maintenance.

It's a wide array of employment within the organization.

It's all these skills and things that I've always been interested in and wanting to learn that I didn't really have anywhere to learn until now.

She's on her way to become one of those skilled workers in the field of manufacturing, thanks to a regional apprenticeship program called Witek, which stands for Industrial Training and Education Consortium of the Lehigh Valley.

It's a community of companies very interested in apprenticeship programs, promoting skilled trades and promoting manufacturing.

Lehigh Valley, along with the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, the apprenticeship program is administered by the German American Chamber of Commerce, says Morten Rasmussen.

He's the chairman for Witek and head of workforce development at Braun.

We have big companies like Braun, Heidelberg, Evonik, smaller companies like Berg Power.

The apprenticeship programs really benefited us growing our talent internally, growing the talent in the Lehigh Valley.

We're very fortunate.

We have great trade schools in the area.

We work very closely with Lehigh Carbon Community College, Northampton Community College, Penn College, and they're all involved with programs here at Braun.

It's really what I call an ecosystem for manufacturing and once again, making the Lehigh Valley a great place manufacturer.

We've always been a great place to manufacture, but just building on that foundation, it's not only an employment pipeline for the major manufacturers in the area, but an alternative career path for those not looking to go the traditional four year college route.

For those looking to advance their current industrial career.

It's a paid program.

So that's the great thing you you kind of earn why you learn.

So to actually get a wage while I work here in the factory, and then when they go to school, we'd actually get paid as well.

I tech is a nonprofit and open to people 18 and older with a high school diploma or GED, who live in the greater Lehigh Valley and have an interest in advanced manufacturing.

Program runs anywhere from two years for an industrial manufacturing technician all the way up to four years for later Tool and Die and all make a mechatronics program.

It also provides an opportunity to earn a degree paid for by the company the apprentice is working for, and gain valuable skills to advance in the workplace.

I can grow into either one day being a lead of a man in the area, or I can follow my dad's footsteps and become a supervisor at some point, maybe a manager, but at this point, I'm just going to get into the maintenance spot and see where I belong in there.

The apprenticeship program gives McLean a chance to earn a living while getting a degree from Northampton Community College.

Debt free.

It's also a resource for Bee Brawn to recruit the talent they need.

It's great bringing manufacturing back to America, but I don't have anybody to manufacture.

It doesn't work.

So really the important thing is having the skills trade people to fix my machine, clean my mold and basically manufacturing in the US.

Now, McLean is following in her father's footsteps while setting herself up for a career to last a lifetime.

It's just a blessing.

I now have a better path for my life than I ever thought I would have.

I ever thought I could have to be fair, and this is just something that's like, well, even if all I know right now is my job path, I can figure out everything else on my own from there.

B Braun has around ten apprentices currently enrolled in the program.

Those interested in tech can go to their website for more information.

And the Lehigh Valley is growing and changing rapidly.

Tonight's conversation shows there is tremendous opportunity ahead, but also important questions about affordability, sustainability, workforce development and who benefits from that growth.

Joining us now with more on that side are the president and CEO of the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, Marcy Lesko.

Economist Cameron Afshar from Cameron Afshar Associates.

And the assistant executive director of Workforce Board, Lehigh Valley.

Sara Lutz, thank you all so much for joining the conversation.

Thank you for being here, Cameron.

We're going to start with you.

Give us a snapshot of how the Lehigh Valley economy is looking in terms of the national economy.

When you put the two side by side, what does that look like?

Well, we usually have a little lower inflation rate than the national average.

It has been some years since I've done that study, but all the about 20 some years that I studied the two and compared them, we had slightly lower inflation than national average.

So I hope that that is continuing through in terms of employment growth.

Payroll employment has been running relatively flat since last September, somewhat similar to the national average.

So in those senses, we are basically following the general trend.

So what do we need to be doing here in the High Valley to ensure the economic opportunities are reaching all, all sectors of the Lehigh Valley?

And, you know, some of these communities and we're having equitable reach there.

Well, the more jobs available at different levels, particularly the non-technical ones, because technical jobs usually are easily hired, people are in those areas, but availability of those types of jobs would be very important.

And there is a fear about artificial intelligence taking those jobs.

Actually, artificial intelligence usually takes middle management jobs, not as many as to as to the lower echelons of the job.

So that expansion would help significantly.

Absolutely.

Marcy, I'm going to bring you into the conversation.

Thanks so much for joining us.

For viewers who may not be familiar with the Alice program through the United Way, what does that reveal about the financial reality of that's facing families here in the Lehigh Valley right now?

Talk to us about what Alice means and what it is.

Sure.

Alice is an acronym stands for Asset Limited, Income constrained, employed, which the shorthand version of that is people that are living paycheck to paycheck.

And so, you know, it's it's folks that are living above the federal poverty level, but don't make enough to thrive on a regular basis.

That's what that means.

Sure.

And what are we seeing here in the Lehigh Valley?

Is there a large number of people who that's impacting who stand at that Alice level?

We know that across the region, the average is about 40%.

And so earlier in the program, you heard about Don Cunningham talking about how many folks who may have a high school diploma or less.

You know, that's often what we're seeing.

You know, folks that are unemployed or underemployed or folks that are employed, but, you know, do not have that next set of skills where they can get some of those higher paying jobs and then they're struggling.

And what are some of the what are some of the biggest challenges these Alice families are facing right now when it comes to child care, housing affordability, as you just mentioned, transportation, the overall cost of living right now just seems like it's so much higher than even just a couple of years ago.

So what are these folks facing right now?

That's exactly right.

We have data from our 211 system, and we have about 70,000 calls a year that come in, and the top four calls are all related to housing.

And then from there it's food.

It's transportation and child.

Childcare is a huge one for sure.

That's a huge one.

Absolutely.

And Sarah, I want to bring you into the conversation as well from workforce Board Lehigh Valley.

And so what are we doing enough to be reaching all of the families, whether they be high grossing families or families who are Alice families right now?

Are we doing enough to reach them in terms of employment and opportunities in employment?

That's a great question.

I think we are certainly doing everything that we can.

We are privileged in the Lehigh Valley to have so many nonprofits that are have missions that align to mitigating some of those barriers that you just mentioned child care, transportation, housing.

I think where we have room for improvement is mitigating those silos and really coming together as economic development, workforce development folks at the United Way to ensure that we're aligning our strategies to get into every single community.

One of the largest populations that we see right now is our Hispanic population.

We have nearly 18% of folks in Lehigh, Northampton counties that have limited English.

And so and that is a massive barrier to getting into several different industry sectors and good paying jobs.

And so we are certainly looking to engage that community more.

Sure.

And talk to us about what Workforce Board does to help these folks connect with jobs.

Yes, absolutely.

So the Workforce board, Lehigh Valley, we're one of 22 boards across the state of Pennsylvania.

And so we are funded by the Department of Labor and the Department of Human Services.

So the populations that we serve are under the umbrella of what we call a career link, Lehigh Valley.

And that is a free program and space that jobseekers in our counties can go to for employment and training opportunities.

So free resume support, mock interviewing and 1 to 1 staff job recruitment.

So that is our mission is to get folks who are low income folks who are in the Alice programs onto a pathway for a family sustaining career, right?

We don't want to just place folks in a job to get them a job.

We want them on a pathway where there's growth opportunity.

Sure.

What are you hearing from the folks who are coming in through your doors looking for employment right now?

Several things I would say right now, the biggest barrier is actually in human resources.

So folks are leveraging different job platforms like LinkedIn or indeed, and they're sending 500 resumes and they're not hearing a response back.

And so when we talk to our employers on the human resources and they're suggesting, well, this resume didn't quite meet our algorithms.

And so part of our services at the link is to help job seekers have a tailored resume so that it can get through some of those automated human resources processes to just get them in for an interview.

That along with skill development.

So interviewing skills, making sure that they have communication, we refer to them as employability skills.

And we see that lacking and needing a little bit more support.

Sure.

Cameron, how important is workforce development when it comes to boosting the economy and sustaining the economy?

Is that an important factor?

Why or why not?

Absolutely, because bringing a lot of people who are willing to work, able to work, and the companies that need those, those workers together, where all these communication issues are involved, particularly what was just pointed out as if you sent an application or a resumé to a company, is not a person who looks at that initially, 90% of the time is a machine that reads it, and if it doesn't have specific things, would throw it away.

So learning these things help both sides and helps the economy get people who were on welfare or did not have any jobs, be able to have jobs and pay taxes.

And we keep hearing about the inflation rate.

How does a high inflation rate impact the economy?

People still need to spend money.

They still need their necessities food, pay their bills, that kind of thing.

But how does that play into help or hurting the economy?

Well, it hurts in the sense that if, for example, gas prices goes up and you can't immediately cut back on the amount of travel you are doing, so what you are doing, you're spending more money on gas.

You have less money to maybe go out once a week or twice a week to dinner.

So it cuts back on those areas.

And in that sense, it hurts the economy and particularly when essentials like gas goes up or other items that are where that you can't avoid health care, all of a sudden it cuts back on all the discretionary expenditures that you would otherwise do and hurt those sectors of the economy.

Sure, Marcy, how do we support these folks who are maybe lower income or those Alice families?

What programs are in place either through their United Way or partners that you work with?

Well, I think every time we invest in programs that provide after school programs, you know, mom or dad needs to work the 3 to 11 or work the 7 to 3, and they're in an after school, you know, you know, kiddo is in an after school program that may be free or low cost.

They're in a setting that is safe and healthy and providing some enrichment.

We're helping a working family every time we invest in childcare and early childhood education and support for those folks.

You know, we have a shortage of second and third shift childcare options for people.

We know that that's an area we'd like to do more in, things that help people to stay in their homes.

So we're not seeing them that churn.

Certainly we want to help people have a hand up so that they can move up and out into a life that you know that everyone wants.

Marcy, why is it so important to have these conversations with real people who live in the Lehigh Valley, and not just the business leaders and the corporations here in the Lehigh Valley?

Why is the economic development conversation important?

Well, I think we need to have these conversations at every level.

And so folks that use services can inform us about about how well the service is designed and how well it's actually working.

I've personally toured many areas to see how those programs and services are landing in community, and sometimes I'm surprised and sometimes I think, okay, we're getting it right.

Absolutely.

We're going to continue this conversation in just a moment.

But turning now to a major driver of our local economy.

Tonight we examine the powerful impact and the current challenges facing the Lehigh Valley Hispanic community.

Latino economic output in Pennsylvania now exceeds $58 billion annually.

Recently, community leaders gathered at the Fowler Community Wellness Center in South Bethlehem to discuss how local families are navigating rising costs while remaining central to our region's economic future.

PBS 39 reporter Megan Frank was there.

Everyone, if you want to settle in local leaders, small business owners and community advocates recently gathered to discuss a pressing paradox a community with massive buying power that is simultaneously feeling the squeeze of inflation.

The event was organized by Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley, a nonprofit that serves local families in need, and US, the largest Hispanic civil rights group in the country.

Mauricio Garcia, senior VP of programs at Unit, says the Latino communities rapidly growing workforce can't be ignored.

We know we have economic power.

We need everyone else to know that, too.

We will represent by the end of this decade, nearly 80% of new workers in this country.

We represent of dollars in economic activity.

And if we continue to grow in terms of the size of our population, we will have even more power.

So those data points are important for our elected officials to hear about and take us seriously.

Data from us shows that Latinos have a labor participation rate of 67% here in Pennsylvania, but it isn't all growth and prosperity.

According to a 2024 unit poll.

More than half of Pennsylvania's Latino voters say prices and affordability are their top concerns, with escalating housing and food costs topping the list.

Tia Jones is the program manager of the Community Service Worker Program, an initiative of the Preventative Measures Foundation in Allentown.

She works with people who are struggling to make ends meet.

People are having a really difficult time obtaining food.

A lot of our food banks in our area, soup kitchens, are overfilled with people just trying to feed themselves and their families.

Our case manager is really encouraging some of our clients to grow their own gardens.

The struggle to put food on the table in Allentown is a reality echoed in Bethlehem.

For decades, Hispanic center Lehigh Valley has focused on empowering families to build long term economic independence.

But lately, Social Service Coordinator Marcellina Agosto says the sheer scale of the current financial strain is shifting their daily focus from long term growth to immediate survival.

There's people who are sleeping in their cars because they can't afford their rent, because everything is so high.

So the economy changing has drastically affected our community.

Working people are not able to afford rent.

I have families who are working mom and dad working in their short.

They have to use our services like the food pantry.

They have to come to me so I can help them apply for Snap Medicaid to see if they qualify.

It's exactly those harsh realities that brought national advocacy groups to the Lehigh Valley for this event.

Speaking on behalf of us, Garcia says it's vital to confront these systemic economic pressures out loud.

We're here to talk about the issues of the day, which revolve around the economy and how difficult the economy has been for so many, particularly Latinos in this country.

Whether it's local small businesses and the impacts they've had around their local economies because of tariffs, because of wars, because of just in general.

And we're here to talk about the importance of being able to take care of your family.

What does that mean?

If you're in a position to make a decision between childcare and paying your rent?

These are issues that are important right now.

And for us, it's important to address some of these issues out loud and give people the opportunity to share their experience.

By creating space for these lived experiences, advocates hope to turn local struggles into actionable policy to keep the Lehigh Valleys Hispanic communities thriving.

We thank Megan for that important look at the real world challenges behind those massive economic numbers of the Lehigh Valley Latino community.

And I'm back again with Marcy, Sarah, Sarah, and Cameron.

Thank you all so much for being here.

Sarah.

We're going to come to you.

Following that story about the spending power behind the Latino community, we've seen that community grow substantially over the past decade here in the Lehigh Valley.

What does that look like in terms of workforce and folks coming in looking for work in the Lehigh Valley?

That's a great question.

I believe the video referenced the Pennsylvania average labor force participation rate for the Hispanic community was 67%.

In the Lehigh Valley, it's 71% as of 2024 with a 12% unemployment rate.

And so ultimately, what that's telling us is that the Hispanic population is willing and able to work, but that 12% unemployment is really demonstrating that there are barriers for folks to get into the doors.

And that might be some of those things that we referenced before, whether it's childcare, cost of living, things of that nature.

And when we talk about that percentage rate, it's people over the age of 16 and older, correct, who are eligible to work?

Yes.

Correct.

Anyone who is willing and able is is the definition for labor force participation.

And something that we see that's interesting as well is our Hispanic population.

About 34% of those who are working are in the transportation and warehousing sector, and you have about 20% in manufacturing and around another 15 to 20% in our accommodation and food services.

So one of the things that we're really looking at as a workforce system is how do we get the Hispanic community into our health care sector?

We hear from folks all the time that not only will that improve quality of care, because folks are seeing individuals who represent their community behind the reception desk, behind the wearing the doctor's coat, we want to make sure that we're encouraging pathways to get folks into sectors that they're not already represented in.

Sure.

And, Cameron, how important is it for the economy to include all demographics within the within the community, not just, you know, the higher wage folks or the lower income folks?

Why is it important for the ecosystem of everyone to be involved?

Absolutely, because that will distribute all the income across the board among variety of different people, and that helps the economy in all subsectors of the economy.

Because of that expenditure, disposable income people will have and that they can spend.

And in any economy, particularly when there are subsections that are unable to get to the market, help that is needed to get the create a bridge for them to be able to communicate with available jobs so both parties will benefit over the next ten, 20, 30 years.

What do you think the Lehigh Valley is going to be turning to in terms of job and economic growth?

What do you see as the future of economic growth here in the Lehigh Valley?

Well, Real Valley has all the basics of having fantastic growth going ahead.

Looking in ten years or 20 years, I have no idea of where are we going to be because of the change that is coming through artificial intelligence, and how far that will change the composition of the workforce, and that is needed going forward, and which sections will grow that every other month.

All the forecasts change as to which subsection is more subject to potential growth in the future.

But we definitely have all the basics that we need to do as as well as any other section in the country.

We talked about the Eli Lilly Project earlier in the program.

That is something we're going to look forward to in the future as growth here in the Lehigh Valley.

And as Cassie and Don both mentioned, this impacts different sectors of the Lehigh Valley workforce.

And so, Marcy, how how is the United Way impacted by a project like that?

It's going to see massive growth in the area.

Well, I mean, we I think we all benefit from the incredible work that LVC and Arts Quest and so many of these other giants in the Lehigh Valley have really created.

And so we get to stand on that foundation that they help to build, to have a community that we all love and where everyone can thrive.

And so when we see projects like, you know, what's happening with Eli Lilly, who has a century long partnership with United Way, actually, and they're one of the top five in the world, we know that we can be a partner with them right out of the gate.

We know what they care about, what they're interested in community.

And we stand ready to help Sarah when we're seeing such rapid growth in the Lehigh Valley, like big projects like the Lilly Project, what are some of the barriers or, you know, obstacles that you, from a workforce standpoint, have to help people overcome?

Sure.

I would say training is the largest obstacle.

So Eli Lilly will certainly bring a lot of high skilled jobs.

And what we're finding, especially from folks who are coming from disadvantaged communities, is that they have to both work and train simultaneously, so they do not have the capacity to necessarily go and pursue a four year program or a two year program without working part time as well.

And so that actually brings back to its Lehigh Valley and apprenticeship.

That's why it's so meaningful for the community, because they're able to both earn and learn and become highly skilled workers, to be able to participate in the labor force in jobs like those that Eli Lilly will offer.

All right.

We have another audience question that I will direct to you, Sarah, because it's a workforce question.

What workforce skills will be most critical for the Lehigh Valley over the next 5 to 10 years?

And how can employers, schools, nonprofits and local government better align to prepare residents for those opportunities?

Fantastic question.

I will say it's certainly still subjective at this point, but one of the things that we're hearing the most, particularly for our youth and looking at the education system, is critical thinking.

So with the advancement of artificial intelligence, and students are using it both in their day to day curriculum, in their schools and also in their personal lives, we're seeing that there's a rapid decline in critical thinking.

On the flip side, prompt engineering and being able to use artificial intelligence appropriately and ethically is another massive skill that I think every resident can benefit from.

As as Cameron mentioned, we don't particularly know the projection of how things are going to advance in the next ten, 20 years.

We didn't expect the internet and now here we are.

So I think it's something that we're certainly doing is staying aligned with our K-12 schools.

We're working very closely on occupational advisory councils, their career and technical schools, and our four year schools.

They are learning from the employers.

And so they'll go out.

They'll ask, what industry skills do you need?

What do you have in demand right now.

And we'll change our curriculum to align to them.

Cameron, I see you shaking your head.

What do you think are some of the the barriers or challenges when you see rapid growth like we're seeing here in the Lehigh Valley, what are some of the obstacles we're going to need to overcome and make sure we're keeping an eye on from an economic standpoint?

Well, the biggest barrier would be having talent for the new growth that is coming in.

Little coming looks at the amount that they're spending.

But what is more important is that for every dollar they're spent, chances are it has a multiplier of four for dollar impact on the economy, because all the entities that will supply them will be coming there.

But looking at the future, talking about it, five years ago, I was telling my students that learn Python.

Now nobody needs that.

Artificial intelligence writes it for you and that has made a huge change.

So we are really standing at the beginning of the new brave board that we are going into because there are so many changes coming, and they are so large that it is not just a small change in this, and this one is becoming a little bit more efficient.

There are total changes that are coming our way.

Sure.

Marcy, in your line of work, you talked to a lot of people throughout the Lehigh Valley.

What are you hearing from the folks that you're interacting with?

Are they excited about this growth?

Are they hesitant?

What are you what are you hearing and what's the feedback been like?

I mean, we have a very large operation.

You know, we reach 250,000 people a year over three counties.

We have, you know, 10,000 donors and 200 plus companies that run campaigns.

We get a lot of feedback about what's going on.

And so we see the benefit of the growth and what that does for some folks.

And we see some of the challenges of some of that growth.

And what that does for folks.

And our job is to help make sure the resources are there and provide that extra bit of safety net support around folks.

I think I would just agree with my colleagues here, though.

We're in a you know, that period of rapid change is, you know, we just I'm not sure exactly where we're going to go, but what we know is that we're going to need to make sure that that safety net is around people.

Absolutely.

And, Cameron, I'm going to bring it back to you.

If you could focus on one thing right now, in the immediate future as we see this growth, what should we be looking at in terms of a business standpoint, in terms of individuals raising families?

What do we need to be keeping an eye on in the economy right now?

Well, biggest thing from my point of view is education starting from the beginning.

We did a study together 100 years ago, that longitudinal study looking at children starting to go pre-K to school.

And it showed that they, in terms of the number of people who would get jobs, become taxpayer.

All of this are documented evidence that it is very, very effective.

We don't know a lot about what's happening, but we know these things work.

We shouldn't give this up, and we should emphasize and put more assets and funds into starting from the beginning.

The rest will take care of itself.

Wonderful.

I'm going to invite Cassie and Don to come back up to our desk here to have some final thoughts on the program as we move forward with economic development.

I'll have you squeeze in right here.

Cassie and Don, from what you've been hearing here, what are your thoughts on the growth and the workforce perspective here in the Lehigh Valley?

Well, I think Cameron just made the critical point, right?

Which is upskill, educate.

It's the it's the way the economy is going.

The best way to sustain yourself is to develop a skill the economy needs and to educate and improve yourself, whether it's in the Stem field, whether it's in a technical field, whether it's in a trade, in a manufacturing art skills will drive your ability to live well.

Absolutely.

I think I would add what Marcy talked about is that there are positives and negatives to all that's happening.

We've got to manage that.

We can't be on the absolute ends of the spectrum saying nothing and everything, right?

So we've got to come together and say, this is going to happen.

There's going to be people that will benefit, people that won't acknowledge that and work together to be able to mitigate that.

Wonderful.

As we close out this conversation, I'd like to ask you some information about where people can get information, whether it be programs on economic development or how they can, how they can reach out for the arts.

Don economic development.

Where can folks go?

Well, just you can go to our website, Lehigh Valley, org or any you just Google you know or I Lehigh Valley economics and you'll take your right there.

Yeah certainly.

But but I will say that something is happening this year and that is the Americas 250 and so for all the cultural institutions that are doing celebrations, check out Discovery High Value website.

They will list every organization that is promoting that.

And this is a very important area of the country to be celebrating our two 50th Sara on our end.

If you're looking for support with training or employment, you can come to Lehigh Valley.

We are located at 555 Union Boulevard, which is just across the way from IronPigs Stadium in Allentown or visit Lehigh Valley.

Wonderful.

Cameron, I agree with everybody here.

I don't have any information.

But Cameron, you also do a podcast that that enlightens folks about the economy in the area and nationally so folks can tune into that.

And, Marcy, finally, if folks want to get involved with the United Way, how can they do so?

Yeah, United Way to our website.

But you know, all these kids that Cameron is suggesting we invest in there can become a United Way donors.

There you go.

You know, there we go.

Wonderful.

Well, I thank our panelists tonight for joining us.

That will do it for this community conversation, the economic health of the Lehigh Valley.

Thank you to our panelists and to our viewers for joining us for this important community conversation from all of us here at Lehigh Valley Public Media.

I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Have a great evening.