Robert J. Cox BARRY ISETT & ASSOCIATES, INC. Smart Growth
Almost everywhere, people seem to say that ‘Smart Growth’ should put new developments anywhere but in ‘their’ backyard, and new traffic anywhere but on ‘their’ streets – or so it often seems. The LVPC has been looking at the impacts of buildings and traffic from newly built or proposed developments, and recommends strategies and actions for reducing congestion. Their website has a link for the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study – implemented to proactively address issues tied to congestion management and Smart Growth, and to assist with State and Federal funding of priorities. The Transportation Study has been recently merged with their Comprehensive Plan for the region – which addresses preservation of farm- land, natural features, redevelopment of old industrial sites, more park and recreation facilities, and transportation systems. Compounding the problems, in 2018 Pennsylvania passed a new law allowing tractor trailer access to a significant amount of local roads. Designed to bring Pennsylvania’s truck related laws more in line with National requirements, it poses new challenges to agencies trying to keep heavy truck traffic confined to the more highly traveled State Routes or corridors. What can we do? How can we help? If you truly care about our quality of life, including our wonderfully vibrant economy, don’t just show up at a public hearing and complain – that’s too late. Get involved, join something, start at a committee level and be active, then run for local offices – be a part of the solution. You will enjoy the ride much more.
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Mary Lisicky, Morgan Stanley Public Policy Committee Chair Vice Chair, The Chamber As we begin the new year, the Public Policy Committee will continue to take proactive measures to ensure the government considers the interests of our business and community members, on both the state and federal levels.
Our committee will keep you informed of relevant issues through various forms of communication. Be on the lookout for our emails and social media posts on The Chamber’s various platforms. Also, we recently started a quarterly e-news- letter which you will be receiving later this month.As we continue toward our goal of better communicating with our membership, we encourage you to also get involved. We love hearing from our members. If you have suggestions on how you prefer to receive communication to learn about the happenings of our subcommittees (Employer Regulatory, Energy & Environment, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Tax & Regulatory and Transportation) – write to us! Email: MichelleY@ LehighValleyChamber.org and share your input! Cheers to a happy new year! Laurie G. Hackett, Air Products Chair, Nonprofit & Business Partners Council It’s 2020! And it is the year of collaboration! The nonprofit and business partners council had a fantastic fall and we look forward to working with you all from across the chamber region as we move into the new year. We are proud of the work of the council as we look for opportunities to celebrate collaboration because we know how much can be accomplished when those of us with similar missions come together.
Last month was especially exciting when we gathered with health and human services leaders from across the valley. We know there are issues and opportunities that matter most to them, And our initial meeting was fantastic! There is such energy and optimism in bringing together this incredible group of health and human services organizations. Under the leadership of Catharine Kessack from VAST and Tim Mulligan from communities in schools....great things are going to happen over the next year through the strength and power of this committee! We look forward to bringing nonprofits and business together again on March 18 and April 30. Mark your calendars! Frank Heston, Riverview Bank Chair, Chamber In 2019 we were fortunate to spend time with volunteers throughout the Lehigh Valley. You can see in these photos that we partnered with folks in Easton to light trees in center square, and the borough of Hellertown added seating for passers-by along the main street. In the heart of the Christmas City, new pole wraps and holiday decorations adorn the entire downtown. This might just seem lucky, but it is because of our relationships, hard work and support from so many wonderful Chamber member businesses and individuals. Support from Air Products, Bennett Automotive, Blue Mountain Resort, Capital BlueCross, Concannon Miller, Easton Coach, QNB, Alvin H. Butz, First Commonwealth FCU, Lesavoy Butz Seitz, New Tripoli Bank, ViaMedia, Vision Accomplished, John Yurconic Agency, the Lehigh Valley Building Trades and many more. These great partners have contributed volunteers and real money to put into your community. They keep us moving forward each year supporting new ideas and projects to keep our business districts thriving and our neighborhoods looking inviting all year long.
Here’s wishing you a shiny and new 2020. Olga Negrón, HGSK Lawyers Chair, Hispanic Chamber Feliz Año Nuevo from your Hispanic Chamber familia! Starting a new year is a great opportunity to re-evaluate, re-purpose and get back on track. Each Chamber and Council started the fiscal year in July with a strategic planning session, taking a closer look at the work each group is doing to accomplish our mission. Starting a New Year falls in the middle of our fiscal, and I think it’s a perfect timing to keep us on track. The Hispanic Chamber worked diligently during our first half of our fiscal year to accomplish our goals. We partnered with PA Latino Convention, which host- ed over 800 Latino leaders from across the commonwealth uniting forces, energy and much power. We partnered with the Hispanic Center and helped them raised money to purchase turkeys for families in need and built new connections creating awareness of the valuable work the center does. We ended the year with our Holiday Fiesta Celebration in connection with the other business and diversity councils. THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS!
Considering the diversity that we have in the Lehigh Valley, it makes lots of sense that instead of looking at differences we become stronger when we build partnerships and learn from one another. The Chamber is a great conduit to strengthen our Lehigh Valley economic power if we encourage support- ing each other and working together. We are starting our New Year with another new partnership with the Community Action Development Corporation Bethlehem, who helps individuals start businesses across the Lehigh Valley. During the remaining of our fiscal year, we are planning more partnerships as we move around the Lehigh Valley showing individuals the great advantages of becoming members of the Chamber familia! Stay on track and continue looking at your strategic plan and Felíz Año Nuevo! Article written by Kim Capers Capital Blue Cross As successful business people we often step into the new year with a lot of energy, strategies and our calendars jam-packed with meetings, resolutions, events, projects and more! We have a clean slate with lofty goals to increase our production, tasks and self-worth.
However a healthy work, life balance is the key to our success! Overwork, and the accompanying stress and exhaustion can make you less productive, disorganized and emotionally depleted. It can also lead to all sorts of health problems, from anxiety and depression to insomnia and heart disease. Professional self-care habits like taking intermittent breaks, stepping out for lunch or taking a stroll around the block, setting professional boundaries, and healthy checkups, ensures that you stay sharp, motivated and healthy. Here are a few healthy tips that anyone can get into: 1. Go for a run or light jog 2. Meditate or deep breathing for five minutes 3. Take a break when needed 4. Choose who you spend time with. 5. Laugh heartily 6. Eat green daily 7. Avoid emotional eating 8. Start a journal 9. Learn to say no. 10. Stop overthinking 11.Get Annual Checkups that include blood pressure checks, biometrics and cholesterol screenings! 12. Talk to a health coach or personal trainer to maintain balance and standards in your life! Cheers! Article written by: Dr. Kamran Afshar Chamber Chief Economist, The Chamber's Finance Committee Cars are one of the biggest ticket items consumers purchases. And historically car sales have been highly correlated with the Consumer Sentiment Index and economic cycles in the US. With the exception of the large cities, public transportation in the rest of the country leaves a lot to be desired for. Outside the major cities, our transportation infrastructure is heavily dependent on private car ownership, making it more of a necessity.
17 million cars and light trucks were sold in the US in the 12 months end- ing in October 2019, a shade higher than its average level in the boom years of 2004-2006, however, close to half-a-million fewer sales com- pared to 2015-16 period. Car & light truck sales ran at around 16 to 17 million units annually be- fore the great recession. And while there are more cars being sold now, because our population has increased by more than 28 million since then, on the per capita basis we are still not back to the peak car buying period when the number of cars sold per year exceeded 6 per every 100 Americans. Now that number has dropped to 5. During the dark days of the Great Recession, car sales dropped by al- most 50%. We significantly reduced buying new cars and discovered to our surprise, that our old cars may not have been as obsolete as we thought! During the recession the cash-for- clunker program was introduced to prevent the demise of the US car industry. The sheer size of the buy back, not only stop the decline in car sales, but it spiked sales vol- ume sky high. The effectiveness of the program became obvious after it ended, when the car market not only didn’t drop back to where it was before the program, it grew rapidly, and in a year’s time car sales were 30% higher than before the program started. The cash-for- clunker program worked and pull back the car industry from the brink of disaster, which is exactly what the program was designed to do. Businesses always adjust their method of operation after each re- cession, when they have to do with a lot less, they learn new methods and the longer and the harder a re- cession the larger the changes after the recession. Buying cars historically was highly correlated with the Consumer Sentiment Index which is now higher than what it was be- fore the Great Recession. Despite of that it appears that consumers also learned from the long and hard re- cession, at least in their approach to buying cars. On a per capita basis, we are now buying 15% fewer cars than we did before the recession. Cars are one of the biggest ticket items consumers purchases. And historically car sales have been highly correlated with the Consumer Sentiment Index and economic cycles in the US. With the exception of the large cities, public transportation in the rest of the country leaves a lot to be desired for. Outside the major cities, our transportation infrastructure is heavily dependent on private car ownership, making it more of a necessity. 17 million cars and light trucks were sold in the US in the 12 months end- ing in October 2019, a shade higher than its average level in the boom years of 2004-2006, however, close to half-a-million fewer sales compared to 2015-16 period. Car & light truck sales ran at around 16 to 17 million units annually before the great recession. And while there are more cars being sold now, because our population has increased by more than 28 million since then, on the per capita basis we are still not back to the peak car buying period when the number of cars sold per year exceeded 6 per every 100 Americans. Now that number has dropped to 5. During the dark days of the Great Recession, car sales dropped by almost 50%. We significantly reduced buying new cars and discovered to our surprise, that our old cars may not have been as obsolete as we thought! During the recession the cash-for-clunker program was introduced to prevent the demise of the US car industry. The sheer size of the buy back, not only stop the decline in car sales, but it spiked sales volume sky high. The effectiveness of the program became obvious after it ended, when the car market not only didn’t drop back to where it was before the program, it grew rapidly, and in a year’s time car sales were 30% higher than before the program started. The cash-for-clunker program worked and pull back the car industry from the brink of disaster, which is exactly what the program was designed to do. Businesses always adjust their method of operation after each recession, when they have to do with a lot less, they learn new methods and the longer and the harder a recession the larger the changes after the recession. Buying cars historically was highly correlated with the Consumer Sentiment Index which is now higher than what it was before the Great Recession. Despite of that it appears that consumers also learned from the long and hard recession, at least in their approach to buying cars. On a per capita basis, we are now buying 15% fewer cars than we did before the recession. Article written by: Jennifer Glose A.J. and Sean Wiesner were born with technology and telecommunications in their blood.
The brothers, native to Catasauqua, were drawn to the industry by having a father who endured a long, successful career with the biggest telecommunications company at the time, and who also made sure there was a computer in the house since the 1980s. At five years old the Wiesner boys could already do basic coding on a TRS80 system and by 12 years old they were wiring telephones. As adults, the brothers continued their love for technology and went to work for their father when he opened his own telecommunications company, AT&D. And after nearly 15 years of hon- ing and cultivating their technician skills at AT&D, in 2011 the company dissolved and the siblings decided to join forces with their longtime friend and fellow technology guru, Mark Schlosser, to create T3 Technologies LLC, a fully integrated technology solutions provider. The Wiesner duo, along with Schloss- er, came up with the name T3 to denote themselves as the company’s founding three technicians, licensed electricians with 40 years of combined experience in communications. “I tell everyone that we are technicians cubed,” said A.J. Wiesner, 45. Today, the company has coined the catch phrase “tomorrow’s technology, today”, to follow the T3 theme. “We are an all-in-one technology services provider,” Wiesner continued. PERSISTANCE PAYS It was a Friday when A.J. Wiesner found himself without a job, after AT&D dis- solved. That weekend he and his brother and Schlosser sat together in A.J.’s home and made calls from the database of customers they had built while at AT&D. By that Monday the three men were forming T3 Technologies LLC, using A.J Wiesner’s laundry room as an office and his garage for storage. “I don’t remember sleeping for the first year,” said Sean Wiesner, 44. “It was exciting, chaotic and a flurry of activity.” This went on for nearly six years, until the company’s customer base grew big enough that an official space for T3 Technologies was imminent. And in 2018, T3 Technologies began operating out of its current 3,000 square-foot home on Nor Bath Boulevard in Northampton, which is double the space that the company was using previously. “It was time for us to move out and expand and grow,” A.J. Wiesner said. Today the company has 10 employees and nine company vehicles and is blazing a trail as the Lehigh Valley’s provider of choice for low voltage wiring, telephony services, video surveillance, building security and information technology services. “We have a lot of customers that are loyal to us,” said Joseph Facchiano, business partner relations for T3 Technologies. PERSONALIZED SERVICES According to both A.J. Wiesner and Facchiano, T3 Technologies serve a niche with small local banks and credit unions, as well as small health care practices of all kinds. T3 also works with smaller nonprofits that are in need of protecting their donor base.“I feel that we offer a personalized touch,” A.J. Wiesner said. “We hold their hand.” Services offered by T3 include end- point management, server management, network management, information security, disaster recovery, phone systems, structured cabling and video surveil- lance.T3’s customers are those that are big enough to have the need for information technology services but too small to hire an information technology company. “We are very customer-oriented,” said Stephanie Marx, office manager at T3 and the company’s first employee. “We really strive to make our customers 100 percent happy, no matter how big or small.” GIVING BACK A.J. Wiesner said he remembers when the Allentown Rescue Mission reached out in need for a lead sponsor for one of its biggest fundraisers. Wiesner jumped at the chance for T3 Technologies to help. “We like the work of the Allentown member helps. Rescue Mission and are proud to support “It provides an avenue for us to give them.” back to the community,” Facchiano said. According to Facchiano, T3 gives back to the community in various ways, A MESSAGE TO START-UPS including allowing its employees to give When asked to give advice to others back.wanting to start a business, and take- The company gives Facchiano time aways from their journey as entrepre- off to volunteer for Community Partners neurs, the Wiesner brothers were quick for Kids, to promote child cyber safety. to share. Facchiano appears on Life Lessons on “Don’t give up. Don’t surrender. Keep the sunrise edition of WFMZ Channel digging,” A.J. Wiesner said. “It might 69 News, on the first Monday of every seem hard, but it’s worth it.” month, to talk about how to keep chil- Sean Wiesner added to his brother’s dren safe while using the internet. comments. “We do a lot as a company,” he said. “Create a systems-based approach Facchiano serves on the boards of the for creating a business,” he said. “It is Northampton Area Chamber of Com- extremely important.” merce and the Greater Lehigh Valley One might think it to be hard to own a Chamber’s Veterans & Military Council. business with a sibling and a close friend, Tony Jimenez, a U.S. Army veteran, but A.J. Wiesner gave his thoughts on is Facchiano’s teammate in the business why it works. partner relations department for T3. “It’s fantastic!” he said. “I have two Jimenez and Facchiano can be found people that I can trust. At the end of the in the community at many networking day I have two people that have my back events where they continue to build rela- and that know that I have theirs.” tionships with potential clients. When Jimenez started at T3 he was an installer, which Facchiano says gives customers the best of both worlds. “Tony not only knows the features of the product, but he knows how we go about installing it,” Facchiano said. A LEVEL OF TRUST As a member of the Greater Lehigh Val- ley Chamber of Commerce, the benefits are endless for T3 Technologies, accord- ing to Facchiano. “We have a lot of access to a lot of good people and good customers,” he said.To coincide with the company’s ef- forts to pay it forward, being a chamber Every year T3 Technologies LLC holds a customer appreciation night at Coca Cola Park to join clients for a Lehigh Valley IronPigs baseball game. L to R with IronPigs mascot are T3 owners A.J. Wiesner, Sean Wiesner and Mark Schlosser. Written by guest blogger Coleen O'Hanlon, CNC Foundational Health If you have given up animal products, chances are you have been asked the age old question, “Where do you get your protein?” Most people believe that consumption of animal products, such as meat, milk, and cheese is the only way to get adequate amounts of protein in a healthy diet. However, it is not only a myth that those eating a plant-based diet struggle to eat enough protein, but it has been shown that most Americans eat almost double the amount of protein they need. Even worse, studies have demonstrated that large consumption of animal protein may lead to chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. According to web MD: The average protein requirement for men is 56 grams a day and the average protein requirement for women is 46 grams a day.
It is certainly not difficult to find protein-packed plant foods. All plants, be it legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, or fruits, have some protein, but if you are concerned with your protein intake, there are certainly plenty of powerhouse plant-based protein sources. Some great options include hemp seeds, spinach, broccoli, tofu and other soy products, asparagus, lentils, chickpeas, nuts, whole grains, beans, quinoa, avocados, peas, and sesame seeds. A word of caution - any soy products you eat should always be organic and non-GMO. I logged a standard American diet and a plant based diet on cronometer.com and these are my results: SAD diet consisted of: breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 slices bacon and 2 slices whole wheat toast with butter, lunch: white roll, 1 slice American cheese, 3 slices turkey, slice of tomato, lettuce and 1 tsp mayo, dinner: 6 oz steak, baked potato with sour cream and peas, snack: bag of Doritos single serve. Plant based diet consisted of breakfast smoothie: Sunwarrior vanilla protein powder, spinach, banana and blueberry, lunch: tossed salad with romaine, tomato, cucumber, peppers, chickpeas and pumpkin seeds with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, dinner: stir-fry with brown rice, frozen mixed veggie of corn, lima beans, peas, green beans and carrots cooked with vegetable broth and soy sauce and tofu, snack: 3 celery stalks with 2 tablespoon almond butter. Results: SAD diet - Protein 111 grams, Fat 87.8 grams, Calories: 1,788.2, Fiber 16.6 Plant based - Protein 92.4 grams, Fat 49.5, Calories: 1,677.9, Fiber 45.9 As you can see, these 2 menus easily met daily protein needs, actually more protein than you need in a day. More importantly, look at the fiber results 16.6 vs 45.9. The plant based diet wins every time. Fiber: Only plant foods contain fiber, meat and diary do not. On average, we only get about 15 grams of fiber per day. The minimum daily requirement is 31, so we get less than half of the minimum. Soluble fiber such as oatmeal, peas, nuts, chia and apples helps bile acids to get exceed in the stool which can lower cholesterol levels. It also helps excrete excess hormones such as estrogen. Insoluble fiber found largely in leafy greens and vegetables skins add bulk to the stool and ensure regular bowl movements. The benefits of fiber are: increases transit time, minimizes exposure to toxins, removes heavy metals, removes excess hormones from the body, slows absorption of glucose, controls rate of digestion, satiety - keeps you full, increases weight loss and lowers risk of colon cancer. Eating a plant based diet you can easily meet your daily fiber requirement. PHYTOCHEMICALS: Plants contain thousands of antioxidants that contribute to our good health by providing the vitamins and minerals we need to consume on a daily basis. One of these phytochemicals is the carotenoids, which include about forty different varieties that we consume. Most of us have heard of beta-carotene from carrots and sweet potatoes, but there are others such as alpha carotene, lutein, lycopene, canthoxanthin and zeaxanthin. Diets poor in fruit and vegetables deprive us of these vital nutrients. Eating a plant based diet fortifies the body's antioxidant defenses against free radicals. EAT THOSE FRUITS AND VEGGIES: Your diet should consist of seven to ten servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day - as much in raw form as possible. 1 cup is considered a serving size. How am I going to eat this much you ask? Smoothies are my favorite way to get those fruits and veggies in. You can load up your blender with spinach, kale, pineapple, mango, strawberries, anything you like. Make enough for 2 servings so you can drink one when you make it and take the other one with you for a snack. You can add coconut water, plant milk or plain filtered water and enjoy. A large salad loaded with veggies, nuts, seeds, avocado and beans will keep you full all afternoon while a quick stir-fry with veggies and tofu with rice for dinner will keep you fully satisfied. B12 This is the one supplement everyone should take but especially when eating plant based. B12 is made from the soil plants are grown in and the bacteria in our gut. With today's processing and washing of our produce, we don't receive B12 in our diet. We are told we need to eat animal products to obtain B12 but in reality the animals are given B12 shots because they are not eating grass to obtain natural B12. A lot of food is fortified with B12 but it is just easier to take a B12 supplement. A typical dose is at lease 25 micrograms a day. SAVINGS FOR YOUR WALLET Eating plant based is less expensive than buying animal products. To show the difference in cost, I went on Wegmans website and this is what I found: ground beef - $5.39 lb, chicken breast - $5.19 lb, whole chicken - $3.49 lb and bacon $7.29 lb compare that to plant based foods: tofu - $2.89 lb, dry lentils - $2.09 lb, dry black beans - $1.59 lb. A savings that adds up with every shopping trip. QUICK SWAPS Use lentils in place of chopped meat for a yummy bolognese, beans in place of chopped meat for veggie burgers, tofu in place of chicken in things like stir fry and sesame chicken. There are also good non-gmo meat alternatives on the market which make the transition easier. Change the way you look at meals, instead of meat being the center of the plate, veggies and starch like sweet potatoes and squash should be the main focus. Things like vegetable chili, soups and stews are so satisfying. Experiment in the kitchen, look up plant based recipes online and have fun with the process. Get your kids involved in preparation and cooking meals. Make it a family endeavor - your result will be good health and feeling good. ANIMAL AGRICULTURE In the United States, more than 9 billion livestock are maintained to supply the animal protein consumed each year. This livestock population on average outweighs the US human population by about 5 times. Some livestock, such as poultry and hogs, consume only grains, whereas dairy cattle, beef cattle, and lambs consume both grains and forage. At present, the US livestock population consumes more than 7 times as much grain as is consumed directly by the entire American population. The amount of grains fed to US livestock is sufficient to feed about 840 million people who follow a plant-based diet. According to Thom Hartmann in The Prophet’s Way, it takes 16 pounds of grain/soy and 5,214 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of edible beef (the same amount of water one American uses on showers in a year, on average). Tomatoes, for comparison, only need 23 gallons of water per edible pound. You can produce 30,000 pounds of carrot on an acre of farmland, but only 250 pounds of beef. It takes 78 calories of fossil fuel to produce 1 calorie of protein from beef, while only 2 calories of fuel to produce a calorie from soybeans. Meat production strongly contributes to global warming. TOP TIPS TO THRIVE Eat only plant-based foods and opt for organic when you can. Include at least 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Aim for at least 35 grams of fiber per day. Minimize processed food, especially those containing refined carbohydrates. Rely on whole foods such as nuts, seeds and avocados for sufficient essential fatty acids. Include raw foods and sprouts daily. Flavor foods with spices and herbs and make water your beverage of choice and include green tea and fresh vegetable juice. In conclusion, eating a plant based diet provides you with the necessary nutrients needed to thrive, is better on your wallet and better for the environment. Engaging Empathy through Empathic Listening- “Seeking First To Understand, Then To Be Understood”10/7/2019 Article written by Gary Miller Co-chair of events, Ambassadors Council Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Empathy is not to be confused with sympathy which can be described as a form of judgement.
There are four basic types of communication, reading, writing, speaking and listening. Of these, listening can be the most vital to effectively communicate and often receives the least training throughout our lives. Dr. Stephen Covey in his best-selling book “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People” suggests that the key to interpersonal relations is to “seek first to understand, then to be understood”. This is at the heart of empathic listening. Empathic listening gets inside another person’s frame of reference, to understand their paradigm and how they feel. Empathic listening is far more than registering, reflecting or even understanding the words that are said. Communications experts summarize that only 10 percent of our communication is represented by the words we say, 30 percent by our sounds and 6 percent by our body language. Empathic listening requires an individual to listen with their ears, their eyes and their heart. Through this practice you engage empathy by listening for feeling, for meaning and for behavior. When empathy is displayed through our empathic listening actions with another person we make a deposit in their emotional bank account and give them psychological air. It is at this time that we can focus on influencing or problem solving. |
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