Lehigh Valley is a place of makers and dreamers and innovators, and Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) will highlight that at a special reception this fall, shining a spotlight on some of the region’s most iconic products and companies in its newest venue. 
“Lehigh Valley: Making Products & Making Places” will be held Nov. 11 at Archer Music Hall in downtown Allentown and will feature the products and leadership of Crayola, Martin Guitar, Mack Trucks, Lutron, and Olympus Corporation of the Americas. The cocktail party event will take place on multiple floors of the new Live Nation-operated performing arts facility built by the City Center Group, the developer driving Allentown’s $1 billion downtown transformation.
The event is part of LVEDC’s annual Fall Signature Series and will feature extensive product displays, music performances, and discussions with company leaders talking about how they make the products and places recognized around the world.
“The Lehigh Valley has been making products and special places for its residents, visitors, and the world for more than 250 years,” LVEDC President & CEO Don Cunningham said. “We thought we’d create a fun opportunity to understand how and why that has occurred and to focus on the innovation and transformation that’s taken place in our companies and communities.”
To register, click here.
The interactive event will feature special giveaways and surprises and the opportunity to network and learn about global leaders that have long called the Lehigh Valley home in Allentown’s brand-new Archer Music Hall, a two-level, 30,000 square feet entertainment venue located in the middle of the city’s downtown revival.
Highmark Blue Shield is the presenting sponsor, and City Center Group is the venue sponsor.
Making Products & Making Places will also amplify the region’s national Made in Lehigh Valley branding campaign, which highlights and promotes the products, institutions, and communities of the region.
“Companies based in Lehigh Valley make products and deliver innovations known around the world,” Cunningham said. “We’re home to companies that make the world’s leading crayons, iconic guitars, and heavy-duty trucks, along with the innovators of the dimmer switch and Olympus, once famous for cameras but now a global medical technology leader.”
The Lehigh Valley is one of America’s fastest growing mid-size markets in both population and economy, a rare region with a population under one million people where manufacturing is the largest part of its economy and its authentic urban centers of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton are a growing destination for young professionals and retiring seniors. With manufacturing continuing to play an outsized role, the $56 billion economy is supporting growing career opportunities and is among the nation’s top mid-sized markets for economic development.
The Lehigh Valley is one of the Top 15% manufacturing markets in the U.S. based on Gross Domestic Product. More than 700 manufacturers collectively produce an output of $9 billion, representing 16% of Lehigh Valley’s GDP. Nationally, manufacturing is 12% of GDP.
A hotspot for population growth in the Northeast, more amenities like Archer Music Hall have landed in the Lehigh Valley, making it an attractive place to live and work.
In addition to Highmark Blue Shield and City Center Group, Crayola and Freshpet are Platinum sponsors; Klunk & Millan Advertising is the Cocktail Sponsor; Alvernia University, B. Braun, J.G. Petrucci Company, Inc., Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health, and St. Luke's University Health Network are Gold Sponsors; and Archer Music Hall, BMI Mergers & Acquisitions, Boyle Construction, BSI Corporate Benefits, Comcast, Julabo USA, Lutron, Marshall Industrial Technologies, NJM, Olympus Corporation of the Americas, OraSure Technologies, Inc., QNB Bank, SERVPRO Team Davis, and TWG Security are Silver Sponsors.
For more sponsorship opportunities, please contact Annie Hollands Lanscek, LVEDC Marketing Administrator, at alanscek@lehighvalley.org.