{"id":106576,"date":"2021-05-05T22:06:02","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T02:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=106576"},"modified":"2021-05-05T22:20:23","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T02:20:23","slug":"second-gentleman-douglas-emhoff-visits-allentown-incubator-aedcs-bridgeworks-enterprise-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=106576","title":{"rendered":"Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff visits Allentown Incubator, AEDC\u2019s Bridgeworks Enterprise Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Featured Image: Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff touring the Bridgeworks Enterprise Center.(photo provided by the Allentown Economic Development Corp)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Husband of Vice President Kamala Harris meets with local manufacturers and business owners<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Allentown, Pa. \u2014 May 5, 2021\u2014 On Wednesday, May 5th<\/sup>, 2021, the\u00a0Allentown Economic Development Corporation<\/a>\u00a0(AEDC) hosted the Second Gentleman, Douglas Emhoff, to tour the Bridgeworks Enterprise Center. The visit was the first appearance by Emhoff as part of the \u201cGetting America Back on Track\u201d tour in support of President Biden\u2019s $4 trillion infrastructure plan. Emhoff was joined by Congresswoman Susan Wild and Natalie Cofield, Assistant Administrator for the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Women\u2019s Business Ownership. The group toured the manufacturing facility, met with incubation clients LightLab International and The Colony Meadery, and held a roundtable discussion with small business owners.<\/p>\n

The building tour was led by AEDC Executive Director, R. Scott Unger, who discussed the impact of the Bridgeworks Enterprise Center, AEDC\u2019s small business incubation program, and the organization\u2019s mission to support urban manufacturing.\u00a0 \u201cWe are delighted to host Second Gentlemen Emhoff at AEDC\u2019s Bridgeworks Enterprise Center,\u201d said Unger. \u201cIt is a great opportunity to highlight the significant impact our manufacturing entrepreneurs make in terms of job creation and innovation in Allentown and the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Second Gentleman Emhoff first visited\u00a0LightLab International Allentown LLC<\/a>, where he spoke to owners Michael Grather and Tracey Silvert about the company\u2019s photometry and testing. Grather and Silvert toured the group through the suite while reviewing their testing equipment and procedures.\u00a0\u00a0Emhoff\u2019s second visit was with\u00a0The Colony Meadery<\/a>, a manufacturer of honey-based alcoholic beverages. The Meadery has been a client of AEDC\u2019s Bridgeworks incubation program since 2013. Co-owners Greg Heller-LaBelle and Mike Manning walked the government officials through the Meadery\u2019s tasting room and into their adjoining manufacturing space. Heller-LaBelle and Manning explained mead manufacturing techniques and the fermentation process.<\/p>\n

The visit concluded with a roundtable discussion on the impact of the American Rescue Plan\u2019s relief efforts on local businesses. The event, held in the Bridgeworks coworking space, featured six local small business owners who joined the conversation led by the three government officials.\u00a0 The participants included Dr. Kyle Flanigan of US Specialty Formulations, Emilio and Melissa Oma of Las Brasas Restaurant, Emma Ville of A Storybook Party and Rebecca Migdal and Andy Laties of Book and Puppet.<\/p>\n

Bridgeworks Incubation Program Manager David Dunn worked closely with Flanigan of US Specialty Formulations in securing financing for his company through AEDC\u2019s Urban Made program. Dunn stated, \u201cIt\u2019s tremendous to see our loan recipient and friend, Dr. Kyle Flannigan, as a part of the roundtable discussion. The event\u00a0was an opportunity for the Biden Administration to put boots on the ground and talk to small businesses face to face about the issues affecting their recovery from the COVID pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the session, Second Gentleman Emhoff conducted brief interviews with media and posed for photos before departing the Bridgeworks facility. \u201cIn our roles at AEDC, we talk every day about the impactful work done by our local manufacturers,\u201d said Erin Hudson, Marketing and Communications Specialist. \u201cToday, we had the honor of sharing that directly with the White House Administration. It was a pleasure to host Mr. Emhoff and his team here at Bridgeworks.\u201d<\/p>\n

About Allentown Economic Development Corporation<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Allentown Economic Development Corporation<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0is an independent nonprofit organization, founded in 1979,\u00a0whose mission is to make Allentown the best place to start and grow a manufacturing business.\u00a0AEDC is committed to advancing the economic vitality of Allentown and the Lehigh Valley through its three core initiatives; Bridgeworks Enterprise Center, Urban Made, and Urban Sites, programs focused on assisting manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and businesses to grow, receive the support they need, and find a home in Allentown.\u00a0More information can be found at\u00a0http:\/\/allentownedc.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Bridgeworks Enterprise Center\u00a0<\/strong>was founded in the refurbished Mack Trucks Plant 4A in 1989. Over its 30-year existence, the Center has helped launch more than 65 companies in Allentown and helped create over 625 jobs. Today, the Center is home to AEDC\u2019s offices and 11 manufacturers including Amorphic Tech Ltd., ColdEdge Technologies, The Colony Meadery, County Seat Spirits, HiJinx Brewing Company, JH Plastics, LightLab International Allentown, MTS Design and Manufacture, Polymer Contours, TRuCapSol, and Binah Winery. In addition to manufacturing suites, the Center offers coworking space and Flex office space of various sizes. Flex offices are available to clients within and outside the incubation program.<\/p>\n

Information Provided By:
\nErin M. Hudson
\nMarketing & Communications Specialist
\nAllentown Economic Development Corp.
\nhttps:\/\/allentownedc.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Featured Image: Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff touring the Bridgeworks Enterprise Center.(photo provided by the Allentown Economic Development Corp) Husband of Vice President Kamala Harris meets with local manufacturers and business … Continue reading Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff visits Allentown Incubator, AEDC\u2019s Bridgeworks Enterprise Center<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5716,69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-allentown","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Douglas-Emhoff.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/106577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}