News and information about CAN DO for the community, investors, volunteers and board members.
The CAN DO Student Action Committee is seeking donations for an annual drive that sends items to military service members stationed overseas.
Committee members kicked off the 11th annual “Operation: CAN DO” campaign earlier this month when they sent letters to area schools and businesses requesting goods or monetary donations. The students will use the items to create care packages to send to servicemen and servicewomen with ties to the Hazleton area who will be stationed abroad for the holidays.
CAN DO, the economic development organization serving Greater Hazleton and beyond, recently held an orientation session for new members to its Board of Directors for the 2016 fiscal year.
More than 20 members attended the luncheon, information session and tour of some of CAN DO’s facilities. CAN DO President and CEO W. Kevin O’Donnell welcomed the new members and gave a detailed history of CAN DO’s founding, how it assisted Hazleton in rebounding from the loss of the coal industry and what helped it grow into the multifaceted economic development organization that it is today.
CAN DO, Inc., the economic development organization serving Greater Hazleton and beyond, announced updated interest rate options for Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) products and loans for the 2015 third quarter.
PIDA provides funding up to 50 percent of project costs for eligible businesses that commit to creating and retaining full-time jobs. PIDA loan applications can only be packaged, underwritten and submitted by Certified Economic Development Organizations such as CAN DO, which is authorized to provide these services in the Greater Hazleton and Luzerne County areas.
The new rates are in effect for loan applications received through September 30, 2015.
Joseph Lettiere has been promoted to the position of vice president of CAN DO, Inc., Greater Hazleton’s economic development organization, announced CAN DO President W. Kevin O’Donnell.
Lettiere, who first joined CAN DO in 2000 as an economic development specialist, quickly earned the title of marketing director and then vice president of marketing, before most recently being named vice president of CAN DO.
Cargill’s Hazleton facility in CAN DO’s Humboldt Industrial Park recently made global history with a recycling initiative that will impact the environment for a lifetime.
Although the company has locations in 71 countries, the Hazleton plant became Cargill’s first one to take its operations 100 percent landfill-free after a three-year journey.
HawkMtn Labs, Inc. has been serving Eastern Pennsylvania through its environmental testing laboratory services for the past 30 years. When the business was seeking funding for equipment and building improvements, it approached CAN DO to utilize the company's services as an Area Loan Organization and Certified Economic Development Organization.
CAN DO utilized its connections with the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance, as well as Luzerne County, to obtain five loans the company will use to improve and expand its operations. Jim Kelshaw, CAN DO's Director of Economic Development and Entrepreneurship, endeavored on behalf of HawkMtn Labs President and CEO Jeffrey Gittleman to obtain nearly $600,000 in loans, in addition to the money CAN DO was able to provide the company.
CAN DO, the economic development organization serving Greater Hazleton and beyond, announced updated interest rate options for Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) loans for the 2015 second quarter.
PIDA provides low-interest loans and lines of credit for eligible businesses that commit to creating and retaining full-time jobs and for the development of industrial parks and multi-tenant facilities. Loan applications are packaged and underwritten by certified economic development organizations that partner with PIDA to administer the program.
Related articles:
Hydrodynamics gets loans
Susquehanna Brewing
DHD Realty and GT Fabrication
The new rates will be in effect for loan applications received through June 30, 2015.
Working to help small businesses grow, the CAN DO economic development corporation recently assisted a Hazle Township plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractor to secure low-interest loans for purchasing an industrial building to house its operations.
Hydrodynamics was founded in 1994 as a home-based plumbing contractor and operated in Weston, outside Hazle Township, for several years before moving into a garage in Hazleton where it was housed until its recent move into a 5,500 square-foot building in the Milnesville section of Hazle Township.
When founder David Popiak needed help securing funding for the purchase of the new building, he turned to the CAN DO finance department, which assisted him in securing a $56,250 low-interest loan from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. CAN DO then teamed up with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance (NEPA Alliance) to secure an additional $56,250 in low-interest funding through the Economic Development Administration.
Hundreds of children and adults enjoyed a festive kickoff to the holiday season during the 22nd annual CAN DO Community Christmas on Wednesday evening.
CAN DO Community Christmas “Come Celebrate the Arts” featured music from several school groups performing at Christ Lutheran Church in downtown Hazleton. The theme of this year’s event was “Nutcracker Ballet.”
CAN DO Community Christmas is coordinated by CAN DO’s Student Action Committee, made up of local high school students who plan and assist with special community projects throughout the year. Committee members Samantha Hartz of Weatherly Area High School and Haylee Kirschner of MMI Preparatory School served as this year’s co-chairs for CAN DO Community Christmas.