Pennsylvania legislators spent three days in the Lehigh Valley, exploring the region’s economic and cultural assets to gather information in preparation for the state’s celebration in 2026 of the 250th anniversary of America's founding. 
The House Tourism & Economic & Recreational Development Committee visited the region the week of Nov. 18. The committee’s visit included a hearing at Hotel Bethlehem, where leaders in business, tourism, the arts, and government testified.
Among those providing testimony was Karianne Gelinas, Vice President of Regional Partnerships and Talent Strategies at Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC). Here is what she told the committee.
Hello, my name is Karianne Gelinas. I am the Vice President of Regional Partnerships and Talent Strategies at the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC).
LVEDC is a coalition, a coalition of the willing, as Don Cunningham our President and CEO quips. We are a public-private partnership formed to market the economic assets of the Lehigh Valley and to create partnerships to support the recruitment, growth and retention of employers and the creation of jobs for people of all skills and education levels. We believe that a diverse Lehigh Valley economy provides economic growth and opportunity for everyone.
The Lehigh Valley is home to almost 700,000 people and accessible to a workforce of 1.7 million people within an hour’s drive. We have a deep talent pool here, too. Each year, our high schools graduate over 7,000 students and our 11 colleges and universities graduate over 10,000 students. We are one of the fastest growing regions in the commonwealth, especially among young workers, and among the fastest-growing regions in all of the Northeast. With growth, we are evolving and becoming more diverse where everyone can find a place to belong from idyllic rural farms to vibrant urban cores and everything in between.
More than 15,000 businesses of all sizes and sectors, from global leaders to startups call the Lehigh Valley home. We boast an annual GDP of over $50 billion, larger than the GDP of two states, Vermont and Wyoming. Manufacturing is not dead in the Lehigh Valley, but rather it is the engine of our economy. We’re the birthplace of the transistor, which was originally manufactured here in Allentown at Bell Labs. From those early transistors, semiconductors and microchips were born that enable the operation of products you use every day like your phone and your car. We are home to iconic brands like Martin Guitar and Crayola that bring art to life and to Mack Trucks and Portland Cement that buttress and build communities. We’re also cultivating and growing innovators like OraSure, which engineered the first at-home HIV test and Shift4 Payments, which designs end-to-end commerce solutions and whose funder spends his free time in space.
The Lehigh Valley is a special place. It’s a place big enough to offer people a myriad of opportunities and small enough for folks to really make a difference.
Lehigh Valley has it all: Room to grow. Space to play. Meaningful work to do. A place to belong.
(Top photo by The Creative Solutions Department LLC)