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NET reaches agreement with GLVCC

Through a new agreement, the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce is offering NET members, who are sole proprietors or in businesses of 5 or fewer employees, a reduced dues rate of $150 per year. The reduced rate does not apply to NET members who are employed by companies with more than 5 employees or companies/individuals that held previous membership with The Chamber.

GLVCC benefits include:

• Low-Cost Group Health Insurance through Capital BlueCross
• Discounts and special offers
• Networking at various business mixers, grand openings and professional development seminars

Please contact Lanita Lum, Director of Member Relations at GLVCC, at or 610-841-5836 for more information or to sign-up.

ARTIX now available

Through a partnership with the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, NET members are now entitled to ARTIX. Valued at over $500, ARTIX offers buy one, get one free admission at each of the twenty-four participating arts organizations throughout the Lehigh Valley. New members will receive their ARTIX in the mail. Dues-paying members may pick up their ARTIX at November's First Thursday when presenting their membership card. Questions? Please contact Herb Stelzer, Membership Chair at .

Developers show new faith in Allentown

June 1, 2004 - A recent Morning Call article mentions young professionals several times while talking about the development of downtown Allentown.

Developers show new faith in Allentown

Plans for lofts, townhouses hint at revitalization.

Townhouses with 9-foot ceilings and two-car garages are on tap to replace parking lots in Allentown, a move that would end an almost 20-year drought of new home construction in the downtown.

Large, multilevel lofts are rejuvenating a sprawling, dilapidated mill on the south side.

A gated senior community and townhouses are envisioned on dormant tracts in two city industrial zones.

Such enterprise underscores a new-found confidence that several developers are showing in Allentown and its housing market. Even as construction in the suburbs continues to boom, the developers' enthusiasm is bolstered by city initiatives designed to draw young people with comfortable incomes to live downtown.

Developers and city officials are encouraged by national trends and the size of the local work force, which they consider an untapped market. An estimated 9,000 people work downtown in government jobs, retail and businesses, according to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.

City officials hope that the workers' presence after hours would spur renewal by encouraging new businesses and restaurants to open. It's a pattern two planning experts have seen in other small cities, and one some developers say can happen in Allentown.

''It's the buzz,'' developer Jerry Goldstein said.

After a residential project in Lower Saucon Township fizzled, brokers alerted his firm, T-GM Ventures LLC of Totowa, N.J., that in Allentown, as Goldstein relates, ''things are hot.''

Eight months ago, T-GM purchased a five-story, 54,000-square-foot former warehouse at 128-132 N. Eighth St., which it plans to convert into 17 condominium lofts by the end of September, he said. He and his two partners are eying more properties in the city.

Other developers are planning similar conversions of downtown commercial space into lofts, a popular style of apartments. But new residential construction is slated as well.

''There's a tremendous, pent-up demand for brand new housing in downtown,'' said John Zawarski, director of sales and marketing for Nic Zawarski and Sons of Bethlehem, which is making its first foray into Allentown. The company, founded by Zawarski's father more than 40 years ago, has so far built exclusively in Lehigh Valley suburbs.

The firm wants to build about 65 upscale townhouses on three center city parking lots that the Allentown Parking Authority no longer needs and has slated for redevelopment. The plans aren't a done deal, however; Zawarski still needs a sales agreement and he has the option to pull out after he conducts a feasibility study.

If he proceeds, the development would be the first new downtown housing since the Riverbend apartments were built in 1986. The homes would be in a zone in which residents would pay no state or local taxes through 2010.

Based on current tax rates, a person who makes $60,000 a year and who buys a $190,000 townhouse would save $7,092 a year in state and local income taxes, and property taxes levied by the county, city and school district, according to Lehigh County officials.

Potential buyers would be drawn from young professionals in the area, Zawarski said.

Although he hasn't performed any market studies, Zawarski bases his optimism on these factors: the homes' amenities, which he says are unavailable now in the downtown; the considerable tax savings to buyers; and the ''strong employment base.''

Since its pitch was made public, the company has received 30 inquiries about the townhoues, which would sell for between $180,000 and $250,000, he said.

The phrase ''young professionals'' also peppers talk from city officials, who envision them filling new lofts or homes, eating in restaurants and shopping in stores.

''We want to create a 24/7 environment'' downtown, said Ed Pawlowski, the city's community and economic development director.

Attracting young professionals to live in the city is key to stemming the flight of wealthier residents to the suburbs, a common urban phenomenon. Decades ago, people regarded Allentown as a desirable place to live, with some historians pegging the heyday between the 1940s and 1970s. That changed with the downturn of Allentown's fortunes.

According to the latest census data available, the city's median household income, adjusted for inflation, dropped 8 percent from 1989 to 1999. Over the same period, Allentown's poverty rate jumped by almost 44 percent.

Housing that offers appealing but affordable amenities often expected by suburbanites would diversify the downtown, which now has mostly low- to moderate-income housing, according to Pawlowski.

To this end, the city is offering a zero-interest loan program for loft conversions of upper floors along Hamilton Street. It's conducting an online survey to determine interest in downtown living. Lehigh County and city officials are considering incentives to buy or improve center city homes. A consultant also is analyzing the potential downtown retail market, which would note the incomes of people living within a certain radius of the area, Pawlowski said.

But downtown living may be a tough sell.

Joe Urbanavage, a 40-year-old PPL Corp. employee who lives in a townhouse in Whitehall Township, said he ''would never consider'' living downtown, which he considers unsafe. ''The whole environment is horrible,'' he said as he chatted with colleagues outside the Plaza at PPL Center downtown.

Fellow employee Craig Becker, who lives in Wescosville, said the lack of restaurants and activity is discouraging.

''When there's nothing going on, there's not much incentive to live here,'' said Becker, 40.

''Rooftops precede retail'' is the mantra city officials give to that attitude. Shops and restaurants need to see a market before they come, they say.

Some factors could work in Allentown's favor, such as the overall characteristics of the Lehigh Valley. The Valley's job base and good highways make Allentown a potential market for the higher-end residences, said Anne Warhover of the Urban Land Institute, a planning organization in Washington, D.C. A panel of consultants led by Warhover issued recommendations this year to revitalize downtown Allentown.

In a nod to local business, Forbes magazine listed the Allentown metropolitan region as the 50th best place in the country to do business and pursue a career, and it ranked the region 59th in job growth.

Warhover added that since Allentown has ''a more urban feel'' than the Valley's other two cities, Bethlehem and Easton, it would attract those young professionals who want affordable city living, with its arts, entertainment and nightlife.

There's a nationwide trend of empty-nesters and young working people spurning suburbs for an urban environment, said Warhover, fellow redevelopment experts and developers.

''People are interested in that living style, rather than live in the suburbs and drive everywhere,'' said Mark Dambly, president of Pennrose Properties Inc. in Philadelphia. Pennrose's plan for townhouses downtown lost out to Zawarski's.

For instance, officials in Norfolk, Va., have embarked on improving and increasing housing there. A downtown housing development of both rentals and homes, which broke ground in 1998 amid some local skepticism, is now filled primarily with young singles and couples, and empty-nesters and retirees, according to Todd Zimmerman, managing director of Zimmerman/Volk Associates. The Clinton, N.J., firm has analyzed housing markets in Norfolk and other cities and specializes in urban redevelopment.

In Spokane, Wash., the downtown is bustling for the first time in years, thanks to new construction, the rehabilitation of old buildings and an emerging arts scene. Closer to home, millions of dollars are pouring into New Brunswick, N.J., in redevelopment projects from upscale condos to retail and entertainment complexes.

The trend of people turning to the cities will become more dramatic when more ''millenials'' — those aged 8 to 27 — move, said Zimmerman.

He said members of the demographic tend to be ''very disdainful'' of the suburban environment they grew up in and that a ''significant and noticeable'' number of them want to live in cities.

And with major cities such as New York and Chicago out of their consideration, either because of expense or location, they flow into smaller cities for the arts, entertainment and other staples of urban life, helping spur renewal, he said.

''The beneficiaries will be the run-down cities like Allentown, Pennsylvania,'' Zimmerman said.

Such a renaissance is still lacking in Allentown, where many of the new housing proposals have yet to be realized.

The Lehigh Valley region, like the rest of the state, faces a daunting situation with its cities, a 2003 study by the Brookings Institution determined. From 1990 to 2000, higher-paying jobs and residents left cities for the suburbs and rural areas, where most of the growth in the region occurred, the Washington, D.C. think tank noted.

Chuck Hamilton, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Builders Association, is not convinced of the hyped demand for city living.

Many people perceive cities as having higher taxes, more crime and sub-par schools, he said. And there is limited land available for new home construction.

Instead, he said, customers are demanding new homes in the suburbs at an ''unprecedented rate'' and are enjoying low interest rates.

Some developers said, however, they aren't trying to compete in the suburbs. Developer Abraham Atiyeh of Whitehall Township said he is targeting middle-class families with two or three children who can't afford suburban prices. He also hopes to draw people from New Jersey and New York who want a lower cost of living, lower taxes and a better school system.

''We're trying to move them a little west,'' he said, noting that areas closer to New Jersey have seen a rush of such bargain-hunters.

Atiyeh is doggedly trying to put some sort of residential project on an industrial zone in east Allentown, but so far the city's zoning boards and Planning Commission have shot down his requests. He's also pitching a townhouse complex in a former scrap metal yard in south Allentown.

Loft developers in Allentown see demand in another segment of the population: artists and other creative people who enjoy having space to manipulate or work in.

Allentown developer John Bishop has spent at least $200,000 the past year as he converts a circa-1900 mill on Auburn Street into 35 lofts. He said that for a while he had to stop running his ads (the slogan was ''country living in the city'') because ''people got too excited'' when they saw the lofts in progress.

Six people already are in line for the lofts, which are still being built, said his associate Kevin Downey. For the next 10 months, one loft a month should be ready, he said. The developers think creative types, such as people who work at home and artists, create a good market.

Bishop's niche isn't hard to find in the Lehigh Valley, according to one professor and author.

The Allentown metropolitan region ranks fourth nationally among medium-size cities on a creativity index developed by Richard Florida, a Carnegie Mellon regional economic development professor.

Florida based his index on creative occupations, high-tech industry, innovation (as determined by number of patents) and diversity (size of the gay population) and considers a creative population key to economic development.

Bishop's first renters at Auburn Street are a young couple, a cosmetologist and a record store owner, who wanted a ''non-conventional apartment.''

Christina Palumbo, 27, said she and her boyfriend James Holmes, 29, looked at several ''cookie-cutter'' apartment complexes before seeing the loft. They instantly loved the loft, with its open space and character, she said.

Their lease is up on a row home on S. 10th Street in July, but despite suggestions from others, they're staying in Allentown. For the loft, they will pay $975 a month plus utilities, and nothing anywhere else could compete with its new appliances, privacy, and opportunity to express their personalities, Palumbo said.

A city resident for the past 11 years, she's comfortable to remain for now, although she feels that the city life was somewhat better when she was younger, she said.

Her attitude is common among young people, who are less likely than others to be deterred by some urban problems and negative perceptions, experts and developers said.

''A younger population is more flexible coming into the neighborhood,'' said Warhover of the Urban Land Institute.

Amid the optimism and skepticism over the city's housing potential, there's another sentiment. Some Allentown residents are growing alarmed at the prospect of more families with children moving into the city and burdening the school system.

Allentown schools are about 2,000 students over capacity now, according to Jeff Glazier, school board president.

With any proposed development that may introduce more children, he said, ''A reasonable person would say, 'My God, where are they going to put them?' ''

Planners shouldn't allow an industrial tract to be rezoned as residential if the project is likely to affect the school system, said Allentown resident and Republican Party Chairman Bob Lovett, who raised his concerns at public meetings. Overloading the schools would worsen education and drive people away from the city, he said.

''It's a very dangerous situation for the city to be headed,'' Lovett said.

But city officials hope to attract young professionals, singles and couples, and others with comfortable incomes who would help Allentown regain a vibrant downtown. Recent ideas for new housing suggest that some developers are convinced they can profit from Allentown. For them, it's just a matter of time.

By Romy Varghese of The Morning Call

Copyright (c) 2004, The Morning Call

This article originally appeared at: mcall.com - Developers show new faith in Allentown

Make it ahead at the meal bar

May 19, 2004 - In a recent Morning Call article, Tom Nagle, NET member, raves about a local business that will be part of NET event on June 8.

Make it ahead at the meal bar

At Plate Escapes, you can create a dozen dinners at once.

Tom Nagle, a time-starved Bethlehem businessman, had made up his mind to hire a personal chef until he heard about Plate Escapes.

Jessica Bors, a mother of three who also operates a home-based business, was on the verge of starting a moms' cooking co-op when she discovered Plate Escapes.

Plate Escapes is an innovative way to bring order to mealtime chaos. The Emmaus-based business enables its customers to assemble 12 family-sized entrees in two hours, without needing a personal chef or culinary co-op.

The menu, containing 14 selections, includes sophisticated entrees such as Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Wild Mushroom Risotto, Roasted Vegetable Lasagna and Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms. It also contains new takes on classics, including Sundried Tomato Meat Loaf, Sesame Pork Fajitas and Chicken Osso Bucco. An ample number of kid-pleasers, such as Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas; Baked Rigatoni with Sausage and Beef; Cheese and Broccoli Calzones, and Spaghetti Pie also get added to the mix.

Discovering Plate Escapes, tucked in the East Penn Plaza at 1301 Chestnut St., has created the same kind of joy as finding a great wine that dances across the tongue or sitting down to a prime cut of perfectly grilled beef.

Angel Weinstein of Allentown, participating in a two-hour culinary session, layers cooked pasta, ricotta cheese and tomato sauce in a 9-by-13-inch disposable pan for take-home and remarks, ''I can't believe this. I've made six family-sized entrees in an hour and I'm having fun ... And I didn't have to shop for ingredients, do any chopping or any precooking. I'm not even going to have to do clean-up. I think I'm in heaven.''

No one has to be as sharp as Emeril or as quick and crafty as the Iron Chef to succeed at Plate Escapes. In fact, customers need not know how to cook. The only prerequisites are the ability to read and follow simple directions to assemble various dishes, freeze them, and then bake them later.

''Our aim,'' says Chef Jamie McKeon, who owns the business with Mike and Marisol Sosnowski, ''is to make the process of preparing food fun rather than a chore.

''The process is simple. You come to our kitchen and assemble meals from top-quality ingredients that we have prepared. Then take them home and freeze them until they're needed.''

So how much does this culinary luxury cost? Bors observes, ''It's no more per meal than I'd spend buying pizza for my family.'' Assembling 12 entrees in two hours costs $180. It's also possible to make six entrees in one hour for $99. A few bonuses are thrown in, too, such as socializing with other cooks, sipping a little wine, listening to music and taking frequent breaks to sample foods being developed by McKeon and staff.

Nagle, 32, a cooking enthusiast who owns only the most expensive pots and pans and the finest knives he can buy, resorts to entrees he has prepared at Plate Escapes as often as three or four times a week. ''I work out, so the last thing I want to do is blow the benefits by eating junk when I don't have time to cook,'' he says.

He adds, ''If my girlfriend and I go out to dinner, I'll spend $50 or more. I signed up for Plate Escapes as soon as it opened because it's worth it in time savings alone.''

Bors pours on the praise, too. ''Plate Escapes has revolutionized the way my family eats,'' she says. The Alburtis resident, who cooks for her husband, Frank, and three children, adds, ''At 5 p.m., I used to look at the clock and panic.

''What are we going to eat?

''Do I have to run to the store?

''But I don't worry about any of that any more. I just pull out one of the entrees I've made at Plate Escapes and put it into the oven. Instead of going out to do last-minute shopping or food preparation, I can read a story to my 21/2-year old daughter or help my 9- and 10-year-old sons with their homework.''

Some of the others who have discovered the joys of whisking through meal preparations at Plate Escapes are married couples, a father and daughter team, an attorney and his mother, two teens, two sisters and a woman who made a raft of meals and froze them for delivery to her elderly mother in another state. One businessman even funded a private session for employees as a team-building exercise.

Al Thompson, owner of AC Thompson Insurance, Allentown, adds, ''I love the amount of clean-up I have to do when I'm cooking at Plate Escapes. It amounts to donning a new pair of rubber gloves at each assembly station and then pulling them off and throwing them away before moving on to the next station to make another entree.''

Because he's making meals for two, rather than four or six, he reaps added benefits. ''While most people walk out with 12 meals after a two-hour session, I get 24 because I split them in half. And when I'm making them, I customize them. I don't like mushrooms or cheese. If I'm making an entree to share with my girlfriend, I'll leave them off my half but add them to hers since she likes them.''

Each of Plate Escapes' 12 assembly stations is stocked with the ingredients and tools to make the entree recipe posted at the station. Making Roasted Vegetable Lasagna? It's no problem when Chef Jamie already has cooked the pasta noodles, prepared the Ricotta cheese mixture and roasted the mushrooms, peppers, zucchini and summer squash. All of the ingredients are placed in the work table according to a diagram posted with the recipe. That way, not even novice cooks will confuse rosemary with oregano or chopped garlic with chopped onions.

Soiled mixing bowls and utensils disappear the minute a customer stops using them. The Plate Escapes staff collect and wash them during the sessions so there's no clutter at the assembly tables.

When customers complete each of their entrees, they carry it to a finishing table where they seal the foods with lids or zip-lock the plastic bags and then use preprinted stickers listing the name of the entree and the directions for cooking it.

Although James Costelloe usually does his family's Plate Escape sessions with the help of his 13-year-old daughter, Mary, this night he's late. Mary has been joined by her sister, Cara, 17, and the two teens work together to create their family's meals. As they put the finishing touches on Chicken Parmigiano, she asks, ''Do we have to use Parmesan cheese on the Chicken Parmigiano? I don't like it.''

As the girls finish, Costelloe says, ''Cooking here is relaxing, but it's also relaxing to be at work or home and know there are ready-to-cook meals in the freezer.''

Weinstein, pinching the edges of the fifth of six calzones, listens to Costelloe and adds, ''This is so simple my husband could do it ... In fact, men should be encouraged to do it!''

Want to sample the Plate Escapes experience and get a free meal? Call Plate Escapes and make a reservation to attend their 15-minute mini sessions, take a tour of the kitchen and then assemble a two-person meal for free.

For more information about Plate Escapes, all 610-966-8108.

No time to assemble the ingredients to create a meal? The Plate Escapes staff will assemble the meals for an additional $30.

No time to assemble the entrees or pick them up? That'll be $50 extra.

Currently, cooking sessions are 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Saturdays they're offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. More sessions will be added as demand for them grows.

To make a reservation, call 610-966-8108 from 3-8 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays or from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. It's also possible to sign up for sessions online at www.plateescapes.com

By Diane Stoneback of The Morning Call

Copyright (c) 2004, The Morning Call

This article originally appeared at: mcall.com - Make it ahead at the meal bar

Getting the word out

May 10, 2004 - The Morning Call printed the following article in the Business Section regarding a local business operated by NET's board member, Tom Stine.

Getting the word out

Softwaremaker ISM sees growth ahead under new chief executive officer.

Information Systems Manager has made few changes since it began operating in 1987.

The Bethlehem softwaremaker is focused on one main product family, its Perfman software, which helps information technology managers measure the performance and capacity of computer equipment. The number of personnel has remained fairly constant around 50.

The company remains private, with most of its stock in the hands of its co-founders, James Van Artsdalen and Bill Shelden. Many of the people who joined ISM in its infancy remain there. It has eschewed publicity and has toiled away here largely unknown.

But in December, ISM named Thomas Stine chief executive officer, replacing Van Artsdalen, who had been CEO since its founding. With Stine's arrival, the company is in for changes, mostly in how it markets its product.

''This was a company of engineers, not salespeople,'' Stine said in an interview earlier this month. ''As a result, they had great products but not much market savvy.''

Stine joined ISM following stints as director of worldwide sales at softwaremaker Adobe Systems and as national sales manager at Aldus. The company remains close-mouthed about many things, so all Stine would say about future endeavors is that he is looking at ways to stimulate ISM's growth.

''I'm trying to come up with sustainable and consistent revenue streams,'' said Stine.

He would not provide details about the company's financial status.

ISM's software provides performance modeling and capacity planning for servers and other computer network equipment. The software allows information technology professionals to optimize a company's computing assets.

It is a field of expertise that most information technology managers do not have because capacity planning is difficult to understand and predict.

Companies face special information technology challenges when they merge with other firms or open offices. Information technology managers and personnel need help examining server performance history, for example, to determine how much equipment is needed in the new office. Perfman provides those services by demonstrating the performance and storage capacity of computer equipment and modeling future performance. That helps companies buy only the computer equipment they need.

''There are a million variables, and you need a window into the complexities,'' Stine said of capacity planning. ''That's what we sell.''

The company's Perfman software product family has changed with the evolving world of information management. The first generation of Perfman software was designed exclusively for the mainframe computer. Now, the company sells Perfman for mainframes, personal computers and beyond.

Before the company was founded, large corporations might employ as many as seven people dedicated to capacity management. Yet it was not unusual for those information technology professionals to spend days trying to resolve a problem, without much success. Van Artsdalen, who had worked at IBM and Bethlehem Steel, thought there was an easier way.

He impressed Ben Franklin Technology Partners, whose Northeastern Branch at Lehigh University gave the fledging company seed money.

''At the time, there weren't that many technology companies here,'' said Mark Lang, former director of Ben Franklin. ''Here's a guy coming out of the local IBM branch. You had an opportunity for a company spinning off of a big corporation which the Lehigh Valley did not see that much then.''

In a rare interview, Van Artsdalen said ISM was one of the first companies to use the personal computer to manage large information systems. Other computer capacity management systems were on the market when the company launched, but Perfman was the only one to simplify the process.

''At the time, the tools that would allow you to fully understand the problem were so complex you practically had to have a Ph.D. in mathematics to understand what the tools were telling you,'' Van Artsdalen said in a telephone interview last week. ''The previous tools would give you answers in days. We would give you answers in minutes.''

A company's information technology department works internally to help other employees use computer equipment to get the job done. Most companies expect their computer infrastructure to work as reliably as their telephone system or the elevator. The company's servers, for example, might be expected to be operational 99 percent of the time. Perfman helps clients foresee problems in order to fulfill the internal service level agreements. The software also provides a log to prove service levels were maintained as promised.

BMW, Siemens and Lockheed Martin are some of ISM's clients. In the Lehigh Valley, PPL Corp., Rodale and Air Products and Chemicals use Perfman.

Van Artsdalen said the computer industry has seen ''everything from minor changes to total overhauls.'' The company attributes its success through changing times to focusing on customer needs rather than financial success.

''In 1996, the conventional wisdom was the mainframe was dead,'' said Van Artsdalen, who remains the company's chairman. ''We thought we might die as well, so we looked again at what the customer needed.''

Ben Franklin will give Van Artsdalen its entrepreneurial achievement award Tuesday at its annual ixchange event.

Ben Franklin's Bob Thomson said Van Artsdalen is being honored ''in recognition of his success with Information Systems Manager, even in an economic environment that has been difficult for IT companies.''

The next frontier for ISM, Van Artsdalen said, is to not only identify problems but automatically fix them.

''Back in the 1980s, giving people access to information quickly was a great step forward,'' Van Artsdalen said. ''Today, people need more than graphics. They need answers, and they need automation in the fix.''

By Jeanne Bonner of The Morning Call

Copyright (c) 2004, The Morning Call

This article originally appeared at: mcall.com - Getting the word out

Plugging the Brain Drain

April 4, 2004 - The Morning Call printed the following Opinion Column written by NET's President, Matt Sommerfield.

Plugging the Brain Drain

Organization of young professionals encourages networking, promotes assets of Lehigh Valley.

The headlines scream that something must be done to keep young people from moving out of Pennsylvania.

But there is an effort to keep them here. Right here in the Lehigh Valley, hundreds of 20- and 30-somethings are banding together to discover all the assets of our region and to begin forging professional and social connections.

The Network of Young Professionals has been working hard to promote the Lehigh Valley and stem the brain drain. This not-for-profit, volunteer organization seeks to connect the people, places and experiences unique to the Lehigh Valley. The NET provides the means and structure for its members to do what interests them from promoting local philanthropies to providing professional development. Most importantly, the NET enables young professionals to take advantage of the untapped potential in the Lehigh Valley.

The NET's success has not gone unnoticed. Commonwealth officials recognize the importance of grass roots organizations like the NET, funding outreach activities and programs like Interns, which exposed out-of-town interns at local companies to fun, worthwhile activities. The Ben Franklin Technology Partners has backed the group from its inception. Elected officials like Sen. Charles Dent and Reps. Jennifer Mann and Pat Browne have lent support and guidance.

As a result, more than 600 people have expressed interest. An Entrepreneur's Evening last fall drew more than 60 aspiring businesspeople. A home-buyer's seminar had more than 30 attendees. And the NET's First Thursday events bring dozens of people to downtown Allentown every month.

But what will keep these young professionals here and active? Simple: job opportunities. In a 2003 survey, only one-sixth of members said they expected to spend their entire career in the Lehigh Valley. However, 39 percent were undecided. That's key, for it underscores the potential to keep these young professionals around. And, considering that more than 80 percent believe the region is a great place to raise a family, a real opportunity exists to get them to settle here.

According to a 2003 Brookings Institution study, Pennsylvania needs to invest more tax dollars in education and training with an eye toward luring companies that offer good paying tech jobs. The study notes that a higher percentage of 25- to 34-year-olds left Pennsylvania than in all but eight states. This is inconsistent with the desire to attract technology companies.

It might sound like a chicken-and-egg scenario: if you have the jobs, people will come and stay, but people won't stay unless you have the jobs. However, many young professionals will be patient because they are optimistic about the region's future. They see the ability to tap the enormous resources already available.

They know the economic vitality of the region is more important than which bands are at a downtown club; that open space for hiking and biking trumps a Starbucks on every corner, and that, in the long term, raising a family is more desirable than packing up a U-Haul.

We young professionals want to stay. We urge elected officials and business leaders to encourage sustainable economic development -- ideally, technology-oriented businesses. We will even wait around awhile, but not forever. Don't just do it for us. Do it for the future of this area and the entire commonwealth.

Matthew Sommerfield is a founding member and president of the Network of Young Professionals, a Lehigh Valley organization that seeks to promote regional economic vitality through professional and social networking.

Copyright (c) 2004, The Morning Call

This article originally appeared at: mcall.com - Plugging the Brain Drain

NET member attends State YP Meeting

Februrary 20, 2004 - Paul Narsavage attended a meeting at State College hosted by the Team Pennsylvania Foundation. The meeting was a discussion on the need and feesibility of having a young professional association at the state level. This unpresicedented meeting sparked a lot of great ideas and ended with a unanimous decision by those in attendance to move forward with the development of a YP support organization at the state level. A summary of the discussion can be found here.

NET members interviewed by NPR

November 1, 2003 - Exciting news! Some NET members were recently interviewed by NPR's All Things Considered reporter Michelle Norris. This is for a piece they are doing about the public perception of voters in the LV about the upcoming presidential election. You can listen to the archived story at NPR.org.

NET Participates in statewide IMPACT Conference

October 12, 2003 - Each year, young professional groups from around the state gather to discuss ways to serve their memberships better. This year the conference was held in Philadelphia, and was attended by NET Secretary, Paul Narsavage. Governor Ed Rendell was a featured speaker, along with other local young professionals.

Entrepreneur's Evening Draws Record crowds

September 16, 2003 - Over 60 NET members attended the Entrepreneur's Evening at the Radisson Hotel (Hotel Bethlehem) in Bethlehem. An expert panel of local financiers, entrepreneurs, and advisors discussed the issues and difficulties of starting a business and finding financing. Feedback was very positive, and similar events are being considered.

Interns 2003 Program a Success!

August 1, 2003 - For the second straight year, the NET has provided a first hand taste of the valley to interns placed at local companies. The program provides the interns with a summer of social and professional development activities, with the goal of introducing them to local NET members, and the Lehigh Valley. This year over XX interns participated, and 7 events were held, including mini-golf, canoeing, and an outing to Dorney Park.

NET Releases Results of Member Survey

June 5, 2003 - The Lehigh Valley Network of Young Professionals has completed its first comprehensive member survey. Questions covered all aspects of living and working in the Lehigh Valley, as well as basic member demographics. The report is available for download (pdf format).