US Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) visited with local business and nonprofit leaders Friday at the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The small group meeting was arranged to discuss economic issues and ideas for growth in Lebanon County. Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce president & CEO Karen Groh moderated the conversation. The visit came after Sen. Casey’s stop in York earlier in the day. Sen. Casey also made a stop in Lancaster.
Groh noted that it was a positive meeting. “As we often hear, most of Pennsylvania is also experiencing workforce development issues so this was a common thread in his meetings in other areas,” she said. Topics included the talent gap between job applicants and employer needs, the cost of healthcare to employers, and investment in infrastructure.
Besides Sen. Casey, other elected officials in attendance included Lebanon County Commissioners Bill Ames and Jo Ellen Litz were in attendance, as well as Lebanon City Mayor Sherry Capello.
The business and nonprofit community was represented by:
- Sam Primak, PA Careerlink
- Warren Wohlfahrt, Millet Plastics
- Susan Eberly, Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corporation
- Julie Cheyney, Lebanon County Planning
- Jen Kuzo, Visit Lebanon Valley
- Amy Kopecky, Business Improvement District
- Frank Dixon, Francis Dixon Foundation
- Kenny Montijo, United Way of Lebanon County
- Jessica Stankovich, Vice President, Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce
The meeting was also attended by Sandra Garcia, South Central Regional Manager and Latino Affairs Advisor for Sen. Casey.
The Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce is located at 604 Cumberland Street, Lebanon, PA, 17042. (Full disclosure: LebTown is a member of the Chamber.)
LebTown has reached out to some other people who were in attendance and we will update this post with more information if/when we hear back.
Update 9:30am: Commissioner Ames shared his thoughts on the meeting. “I thought overall the interaction was good,” he said in a phone conversation this morning. “Folks from the community asked a lot of good questions and had a lot of good concerns.” Of the healthcare conversation, Com. Ames said that although he and Sen. Casey differ on particular tenets, they agreed in approaching the problem incrementally, as opposed to pursuing the more radical options discussed on either side of the aisle.
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