CAN DO Vice President Joseph Lettiere was named board chairman for Penn’s Northeast, a regional economic development marketing organization that works to assist businesses in locating throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania including Luzerne, Lackawanna, Monroe, Wayne and Schuylkill counties.

The goal of Penn’s Northeast is to attract quality employers to Northeastern PA. The organization’s mission is to enhance the region’s economy through new investments, job creation and increasing the amount of potential business opportunities for regional businesses through targeted business recruitment and unique lead generation activities. Penn’s Northeast does this in part by promoting the region’s assets to regional, national and international businesses.

Lettiere said he is looking forward to working with Penn’s Northeast President/CEO John L Augustine III to take the organization to a new level.

“Our focus is on making Penn’s Northeast fresh and innovative and leveraging our assets to inform the real estate community that we are a premier marketing arm for the Northeast PA region,” Lettiere said.

Penn's Northeast serves as the region’s single point of contact for businesses looking to expand in or relocate to the area. It is a partnership that includes economic development organizations, private business leaders, local utility companies, governments and chambers of commerce that join forces to promote the assets for companies in locating their operations in Northeastern Pennsylvania and work to create and retain quality jobs in the region.

Augustine said that the organization has recently undergone a leadership change and is focused on becoming a well-known name both locally and outside of Northeastern PA.

“Since March of this year, we have begun a new direction with a renewed focus on external marketing designed to attract quality employers to Northeastern PA. It is our goal to make sure Penn’s Northeast is more well known both locally and externally,” Augustine said. “We have begun a process of engaging key local stakeholders in order to build a strong base. We will then utilize these resources to be the region’s main economic development marketing organization and the most valuable business recruitment resource. This is achieved by focusing on specific target markets such as food, plastics, ecommerce distribution and advanced manufacturing, as well as unique lead generation, marketing activities and superior project management with a deal-closing mindset.”

Augustine added that “Penn’s Northeast is thrilled to have Joe Lettiere serve as our chairman. He brings years of economic development expertise to the table and will be an invaluable resource as we rebuild and grow our organization.”