news & events

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - A festive retail destination – filled with hand-crafted nutcrackers, Christmas tree ornaments, retired reindeer bells and other yuletide cheer – is coming soon to the Christmas City. Dear Santa, a business offering unique Christmas gifts and decor along with family-friendly, Christmas-themed activities, is expected to open by mid-April at 458 Main St. in downtown Bethlehem. Ryan Kneller Dear Santa, a business offering unique Christmas gifts and decor along with family-friendly, Christmas-themed activities, is expected to open by mid-April at 458 Main St. in downtown Bethlehem, owner Tom Dubreuil said. For the past five years, Dubreuil has been...

A young Justin Leusner would walk around places like Hershey Park and the Wells Fargo Center just like any other kid, looking to enjoy what was around him. People would often recognize him from the YouTube videos he started making at 10 years old, some of which had hundreds of thousands of views. “Are you ‘You’re Fired?’,” they’d ask, referring to his first YouTube channel. By the time he was in high school, Leusner had already built a brand on YouTube, and that’s led the now-Penn State junior to make big-time strides with his company, TDAY Sports. Leusner created the social media...

Entrepreneurial ecosystems are complex systems and no one solution will work for everyone. We hope this playbook will spark new ideas and approaches for supporting entrepreneurs in rural areas and in areas where business resources are scarce, and encourage others to share their experiments, successes, and missteps. https://invent.psu.edu/playbook/  

During the November 15 LaunchBox Ladies event nearly sixty supporters of entrepreneurs gathered to discuss Social Entrepreneurship. Dr Tina Q. Richardson described the concepts as a powerful force driving positive change in communities around the globe. At its essence, social entrepreneurship merges business acumen with a profound commitment to addressing societal challenges.  Catherine Bailey, LaunchBox Ladies Chair, provided thought provoking questions to Karen Smith, Chief Executive Officer of The Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley and Diane Elliot, Founder and Executive Director of Catalyst4.  Karen Smith shared that when creating relationships ask "How can we do something together?" and Diane Elliott, a self...

A cutting-edge health monitoring device took home the top prize in the 5th Annual Start Up Lehigh Valley pitch competition held on Wednesday, October 25 at Factory LLC in Bethlehem. The pitch competition is a Shark Tank-style event for local entrepreneurs designed to showcase innovation happening in the community and support the next generation of local business leaders.  Laura McHugh, vice president, marketing and communications, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, and Bo Koltnow, anchor/reporter at 69-WFMZ, hosted the event. Sixty entries were received and narrowed down to seven finalists—one from California—whose businesses included health care, equine care, food/beverage,...