The Region’s Forward-Thinking Economic Growth Event
On Tuesday, March 12th Focus Central PA, a nonprofit regional marketing alliance with the mission to attract investment that cultivates economic growth in Central PA, hosted guests for a rail served industrial tour that included a unique ride on a North Shore Railroad refurbished passenger dining train and an exclusive tour of choice employer SEKISUI KYDEX in Bloomsburg, PA. Following the tour a networking reception was held at DRIVE for over 100 Forum attendees and highlighted Zartman Construction’s crane truck capabilities. On Wednesday, March 13th over 250 professionals engaged in smart industrial development convened on the campus of Commonwealth University – Bloomsburg to learn, network, and connect on development opportunities.
Industrial Development Forum 2024 Presentations
Keynote: Ken Shotts, ABB: Big Data and Decision Making
Track 1 Presentation: Sharing the Full Story
Track 2 Presentations: The Real Deal on State and Federal Incentive Programs
Track 3 Presentations: Analyzing Industrial Sites
Track 4 Presentation: Infrastructure Planning
IDF 2024 Emcee
Jeff Reber
Commissioner
County of Union Pennsylvania
Panelist – Creating Conditions to Encourage Investment in Central PA
Mandy Book
Deputy Secretary of Business Financing
Pennsylvania DCED
Track Panelist: The Real Deal on State & Federal Incentive Programs
Jennifer Leinbach
Executive Director
Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority (BFTDA)
Track 3 Presenter: Analyzing Industrial Sites for Development with Limited Inventory
Paul DeAngelo
Senior Principal/Office Manager
Skelly and Loy, Inc – A Terracon Company
Panelist – Central PA Industrial Leader Panel: Talent, Tech & Sustainability
David Krentzman
Co-President
Joe Krentzman & Son, Inc.
IDF 2024 Welcome Speaker
Bashar W. Hanna, Ph.D.
President
Commonwealth University
Bloomsburg
Panelist - Creating Conditions to Encourage Investment in Central PA
Jennifer Wakeman, CEcD
Executive Director
DRIVE
Track Panelist: The Real Deal on State & Federal Incentive Programs
Bob Morgan
State Director
Pennsylvania USDA Rural Development
Track 4 Presenter: Infrastructure Planning: Capacity, Reliability and Sustainability
Mike Jeitner
Principal
Bohler
Panelist – Central PA Industrial Leader Panel: Talent, Tech & Sustainability
Lisa Hoover
General Manager
Asbury Carbons – DBA Anthracite Industries, Inc.
Panelist: Creating Conditions to Encourage Investment
Shawn McLaughlin
Director, Planning and Economic Development
County of Union, Pennsylvania
Track Panelist: The Real Deal on State & Federal Incentive Programs
Scott Deitrich
Deputy Director for Operations
Pennsylvania Governor’s Action Team
Track 4 Presenter: Infrastructure Planning: Capacity, Reliability and Sustainability
Matt Nunn
Co-Founder and President
Ethos Development, LLC
Panelist – Central PA Industrial Leader Panel: Talent, Tech & Sustainability
Jerry Rucker
Director of Operations
First Quality – Lewistown
Keynote: Big Data and Decision Making in Industrial Development
Kenneth Shotts
Vice President of Distribution & Inventory
ABB
Track Presenter: Economic Impact 2024: Sharing the Full Story
Lauren Barr
Energy & Regulatory Practice Lead
The Bravo Group
Track 3 Presenter: Analyzing Industrial Sites for Development with Limited Inventory
Angela Price
Owner & CEO
Juniper Environmental LLC
Moderator – Central PA Industrial Leader Panel: Talent, Tech & Sustainability
Brent Vernon
Executive Director
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Governor’s Action Team (GAT)
Moderator – Creating Conditions to Encourage Investment in Central PA
Kim Wheeler
Executive Director
SEDA – Council of Governments (SEDA-COG)
Panelist – Central PA Industrial Leader Panel: Talent, Tech & Sustainability
Steve Kratz
President
Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council (PCIC)
Track 3 Presenter: Analyzing Industrial Sites for Development with Limited Inventory
Richard Drzewiecki, MAI, CPE
President & Founder
Appraisal & Marketing Associates
Panelist – Central PA Industrial Leader Panel: Talent, Tech & Sustainability
Sean Stabler
Vice President of Operations & Innovation
SEKISUI KYDEX
The Region’s Forward-Thinking Economic Growth Event
Focus Central PA is a nonprofit regional marketing alliance with the mission to attract investment that cultivates economic growth in Central PA. Focus has been hosting Industrial Development Forums (IDF) since 2017 to bring together likeminded professionals to connect on smart economic growth and investment. IDF 2024 has an incredible line up of guests, speakers and networking events. A reception will be held Tuesday, March 12th at 6pm to celebrate innovation in economic growth and IDF 2024 will kick off at 8:30am on Wednesday, March 13th on the beautiful campus of Commonwealth University Bloomsburg. IDF will be attended by hundreds of professionals including planners, investors, builders, community leaders, resources partners, manufacturing leaders and more, that have an interest in investing in and supporting smart economic growth in Central PA.
Who Should Attend? Planners, investors, builders, brokers, community leaders, manufacturing leaders, economic development leaders, and resource partners to network, collaborate and innovate to advance smart economic growth in Central Pennsylvania!
Event Testimonials
AWESOME event today- Well done!!
WOW! What an event! Accept our compliments and appreciation, your passion and love for what you do is seen and felt.
I very much appreciated the Industrial Development Forum today and found it valuable! Thank you for all the time and effort that you put into organizing this! Congrats and thank you again!
During a time of significant economic disruption, the Industrial Development Forum provided a valuable venue to collaborate, get updated information and understanding of future projects and make connections to support regional growth
Glad we could be a part of the event, the attendee list was impressive!
Kudos to your efforts in putting on the Central PA IDF event! Thoroughly enjoyed it and it was well attended. Looking forward to see the fruit it bears!
Being in the business of construction it is very important that we stay up to date with what developments are happening, where they are happenings and who is pushing them forward. At the Industrial Development Forum we can learn from economists, learn from developers, we can learn what the trends are and where we need to be to be most successful.
A very informative event, we really enjoyed learning more about the Central Pennsylvania region.
Thank you for such great hospitality at the FOCUS Development Forum! I really enjoyed learning more about Central Pennsylvania and the development opportunities that there are within the region. It was excellent meeting you in person as well as countless other folks who taught me so much about economic development and the logistical supply chain. The presentations at yesterday’s forum were unbelievable and gave me such an education of RE aspects that I was not yet familiar with.
A great event to learn, understand the economic forecast, learn about technology, workforce strategies and finance strategies and what companies are prioritizing to make investment decisions.
Thanks for all your hard work at the event. It was a good networking opportunity.
A very worthwhile and informative event!
The forum was one of the best professional development programs I’ve been to in a long time. Truly. And I spoke with several colleagues afterwards that attended that felt the same. Every topic and speaker was relevant, timely, and engaging. I left with pages of notes.
A wonderful in person networking opportunity focused on economic growth opportunities in the region.
A wonderful crowd and diverse group! Our company leadership was able to make connections and in person introductions to make essential partners in the region and learn about the opportunities and challenges in economic projects.