Greater Hazleton has proven on numerous occasions that it possesses an abundance of available employees who are highly skilled at a variety of business and industry positions and are dedicated to effectively doing their jobs every day.
This was evident again earlier this year when internet services company Web.com chose to re-shore 74 jobs from the Philippines to its facility in the CAN DO Corporate Center in Drums, increasing the company’s workforce to nearly 350 employees.
Governor Tom Wolf conducted a press conference at the Drums facility to officially announce the completion of the re-shoring efforts. Wolf spoke highly of the many positive attributes companies will find in Greater Hazleton.
Wolf said, “Other than the natural beauty, the attraction for this area is the good people who live here, the good skills they have and the real opportunities for companies like this to find real talent. I think there is a lot of quality of life here. You have high-tech companies like this with objective criteria looking all over the world and they said they want to be in Drums.”
The economic development and financial resources that are available to businesses from a local, regional and statewide level is another element that makes locating jobs in Greater Hazleton an attractive solution for businesses. Officials from CAN DO, Inc., the Governor’s Action Team and Pennsylvania CareerLink Luzerne County collaborated to provide assistance to Web.com to help locate the re-shored jobs in Drums. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided financial incentives, including tax credits, and on-the-job training funds. The CareerLink staff helped Web.com conduct several job fairs to place qualified employees in the positions.
The Department of Community and Economic Development put together its own package that included Job Creation Tax Credits, a Pennsylvania First Program grant and WEDnetPA funding for employee training.
Web.com operates in CAN DO’s business park out of a 39,429 square-foot building with room for expansion. The CAN DO Corporate Center is located just off of Interstate 80 and minutes from the junction with Interstate 81. The Corporate Center is an ideal location for businesses offering a state-of-the-art telecommunications system, a fiber-optic network and available dedicated Internet. CAN DO received the prestigious Arthur D. Little Organization Environmental Excellence in Economic Development Award for our “Terrarium Concept” design of the Corporate Center setting a new standard for environmentally conscious development in the region.
