Annual Report-2014

Eric Linde, Leeward Construction, Inc. Amy Luyster, The Scranton PlanScott Lynett, Times-Shamrock CommunicationsLawrence Malski, PA Northeast Regional Railroad AuthorityLeslie Memlo-Collins, Scranton Tomorrow Lawrence Newman, The Diamond City PartnershipW. Kevin O’Donnell, CAN DO, Inc.Gerry O’Donnell, Gr Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce Kenneth Okrepkie, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of NEPATeri Ooms, The Institute for Public Policy & Economic DevelopmentMichael J. Pacyna, PNC BankPaul Page, First Columbia Bank & Trust Co.Stephen Phillips, BIDA, BIP & Spirit, Inc.Andy Reilly, Luzerne County Office of Community Development Conrad W. Schintz, Geisinger Health SystemsWilliam Scranton III, Scranton Family OfficeWilliam E. Sordoni, Sordoni Construction Services, Inc.Marijo Thompson, Governor’s Action Team, NE Regional OfficeWico van Genderen Gr. Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & IndustryMary Beth Wood, Wayne Economic Development CorporationStephen Yokimishyn, Governor’s Action Team, NE Regional OfficeLisa Hall Zielinski, The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center

InvestorsBlue Cross of NEPABorton-LawsonEarth ConservancyFirst National Community BankForest City IndustriesHinerfeld Commercial Real Estate The Honesdale National BankKane Is Able, Inc.Mericle Commercial Real Estate ServicesMichael Baxter & AssociatesMohegan Sun at Pocono DownsNational Penn BankPennstar BankPNC BankQEI Construction GroupReilly & AssociatesWayne Bank

Board of DirectorsLinda Aebili, City of ScrantonPhil Amend, OneSource Staffing SolutionsThomas Amico, First National Bank of PennsylvaniaMichael J. Baxter, Michael Baxter & Associates Commercial Real EstateRichard Beasley, PPL Electric Utilities Michelle Bisbing, Monroe County Industrial Development AuthorityMark Boris, Borton-LawsonJeffrey Box, Northeastern Pennsylvania AllianceDonald Brominski, PPL Electric UtilitiesPaul Canevari, PPL Electric UtilitiesJohn Carmody, Wayne BankAnna Cervenak, ConsultantJohn Cognetti, Hinerfeld Commercial Real EstateBruce Davis, UGI Utilities, Inc.Rosemary Dessoye, Gr. Pittston Chamber of CommerceRobert Durkin, Gr. Scranton Chamber of CommerceEric Esoda, Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource CenterJames Hilsher,Mericle Commercial Real estate ServicesGeorge Kelly, Lackawanna County Dept. of Economic DevelopmentKen Krogulski, Berkshire Asset Management, Inc.Charles Leonard, Monroe County Industrial Development AuthorityJoseph Lettiere, CAN DO, Inc.

Founding PartnersBIDA, BIP & Spirit, Inc.CAN DO, Inc.Governor’s Action Team, Northeast Regional OfficeGovernor’s Northeast Pennsylvania Regional OfficeGr. Pittston Chamber of CommerceGr. Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & IndustryLackawanna County CommissionersLuzerne County Office of Community DevelopmentMonroe County Industrial Development AuthorityNortheastern Pennsylvania AlliancePPL Electric UtilitiesThe Scranton PlanUGI Penn Natural Gas, Inc.UGI Utilities, IncWayne Economic Development Corporation

StaffRon Maloney- President

Bridgette Nealon - Marketing ManagerBob Burke- Economic Development Manager

Eric Linde, Leeward Construction, Inc. Amy Luyster, The Scranton PlanScott Lynett, Times-Shamrock CommunicationsLawrence Malski, PA Northeast Regional Railroad AuthorityLeslie Memlo-Collins, Scranton Tomorrow Lawrence Newman, The Diamond City PartnershipW. Kevin O’Donnell, CAN DO, Inc.Gerry O’Donnell, Gr Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce Kenneth Okrepkie, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of NEPATeri Ooms, The Institute for Public Policy & Economic DevelopmentMichael J. Pacyna, PNC BankPaul Page, First Columbia Bank & Trust Co.Stephen Phillips, BIDA, BIP & Spirit, Inc.Andy Reilly, Luzerne County Office of Community Development Conrad W. Schintz, Geisinger Health SystemsWilliam Scranton III, Scranton Family OfficeWilliam E. Sordoni, Sordoni Construction Services, Inc.Marijo Thompson, Governor’s Action Team, NE Regional OfficeWico van Genderen Gr. Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & IndustryMary Beth Wood, Wayne Economic Development CorporationStephen Yokimishyn, Governor’s Action Team, NE Regional OfficeLisa Hall Zielinski, The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center

A Message From the Board ChairmainWe only need to look at economic indicators or talk to business owners and folks on the street to know our region is lagging behind the rest of the Commonwealth. It was also clear there was a need to rethink and retool our regional economic development efforts, further enhance regional thinking and collaborations and increase Penn’s Northeast’s effectiveness. Two years ago I accepted this Chairmanship out of a love for the region and a desire to contribute to its progress. To this end, we embarked on a number of transformative efforts:

• We expanded and augmented an already dedicated and talented Board with at-large members from the business community and other leaders of complementary organizations.

• Created a number of working committees: Strategic Planning, Finance, Governance and Technology, Marketing, Human Resources, and, most recently an initiative specific one.

• We undertook a strategic planning process, refined our mission, and refocused our vision.

• After conducting a national search we hired Ron Maloney as our new president seven months ago. Ron is a native of Pennsylvania with 15-years of national regional economic development expertise, and international experience. He immediately set out to retool the organization, implement new processes and integrate new talent and skills into the staff of the organization. As you get to know Ron you will experience his “swing for the fences” mentality, passion for economic development and desire for enhanced regional efficiency and partnering capabilities.

• We laid the ground work for individuals, organizations and businesses in the region to become more active partners and investors in Penn’s Northeast by developing a comprehensive regional strategy that will move the economy forward.

I am convinced that with the partnerships in Penn’s Northeast, the region will reach its economic potential and make our region a better place. For those who are not already investors, we invite you to join us, so we can seize present opportunities as well as others which are on the horizon.Call us today.

Recent SuccessAs in all endeavors, successful economic development recruitment results from teamwork between the private sector, government entities, educational institutions, workforce development and economic development organizations. No project exemplifies this more than the Greiner Packaging International’s decision to lease 113,871 square feet in a 223,387 square foot industrial building constructed by Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services on speculation in 2013. The Industrial building is located at 225 Enterprise Way in CenterPoint Commerce & Trade Park West, Pittston Township. The company expects to create more than 100 full-time jobs at the facility within three years.

Greiner Packaging International is one of the leading companies in the European packaging industry.

New Vision Statement:In three years Penn’s Northeast will be the region’s indispensable economic development marketing

organization and most valuable business recruitment resource. This will be achieved by focusing on targeted unique lead generation and marketing activities and superior project management with a deal closing mindset,

which will result in half a billion dollars ($500,000,000) of investments in the region by June 30, 2017.

New Mission Statement:Penn’s Northeast’s mission is to enhance the region’s economy through new investment, job creation and

increasing the amount of potential business opportunities for regional businesses through targeted business recruitment and unique lead generation activities. We do this in part by promoting the region’s geographic location, demographic characteristics, interstate highway and railway connectivity to east coast and pacific

ports, access to shale natural gas resources and operational cost advantages over surrounding states, in conjunction with the enormity of their respective industrial and consumer markets to regional, national and

international businesses. It is through superior project management with a deal closing mindset and seamless collaboration with partners, that success is achieved.

Core Values:Integrity

InnovationCollaboration

Superior Customer ServiceProfessional Excellence

Financial Summary

Membership

Income

57%

32%

2%Grant

Revenue-PPL

Reserve Funds

1%Interest

Income/Other

Investor Support

8%Marketing

76%

24%

Operations

Sources of Funds Uses of Funds

Penn’s Northeast Regional Leadership Exchange – Fall 2014, or Spring of 2015

This multi-day mission to a southern state is for interested public, private, community and academic leaders interested examining two highly effective

public private partnerships (P3s) plus economic & workforce development best practices in two cities, which have not only successfully protected major military installations, but, more importantly, grown the industrial and technological base

around each.

Those interested should contact Bridgette Nealon at 570-883-0504 x 2 to express interest in participating.

Upcomming Events

Selectors Guild Forum, Denver, Colorado

We represented northeast Pennsylvania, along with our colleagues from the Scranton Plan, at the third annual forum of the most prestigious gathering of national and international site selection consultants. The forum

focused on the latest trends and deciding factors in the site selection process - specifically, the rise in the importance of metros and regions in the United States.

AUSA Hot Topic: Sustainment Critical for Force 2025, Washington, DC

We attended in order to gain a better understanding of the strategic needs and concerns facing the US Army’s network of depots and arsenal out to 2025. We gained great insight from the Army’s

perspective of the need for communities and economic development organizations to interact with the Army Materials Command in proactive strategic manner versus tactically when there is a potential issue affecting

a depot.

FAA Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft (COE - UAS) Public Meeting,

Washington, DCIn preparation for a regional effort to compete for the FAA’s future $400 millon plus investment opportunity

called an Integrated Control Facility, we attended this public meeting in order to better understand the criteria for decision making process the FAA uses.

Tradeshows and Conferences

Transition to Unique Lead GenerationOver the years Penn’s Northeast became a processor of leads rather than a generator of leads. By becoming just another layer in the referral process far too removed fromexecutive decision makers, Penn’s Northeast became irrelevant. Now our focus is on dealing with executive decision makers, internal team members tasked to execute projects and third party professional services providers i.e. site location consultants, tax & audit firms, etc. We use a pretty simple process now that we have the right tools to identify companies to target, gauge their interest, track our interaction and deliver value-added proposals for assisting them to reach their goals and objectives.This process results in what we call unique leads. With these unique leads, we know more than just project

specs. We know who the company is, what their goals and objectives are, and how we can assist them. Only a limited amount of public and private partners in our multi-county partnership will receive these leads. This gives these parnters a greater opportunity to convert leads into projects and close the deal versus going aganist the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Our goal is to completely reverse the ratio of reactive leads received and leads generated.Of course, we will continue to process the leads we receive and continually add value beyond the what is requested.

m

Reactive

100%

Governor’sAction Team

39%

23%7%

17%

14%

PA OIBD

PREP

Penn’s Northeast Unique

Consultant/Broker

Defense and SecurityWe believe the defense and security

industry is one of the strongest target industries for Northeastern Pennsylvania. Between 2000 and 2010, 661 companies located in our five counties were part of sophisticated defense contractor network. These

661 companies successfully fulfilled over 10,900 contracts collectively valued at $5.5 billion. Not only do these businesses succeed greatly in our region,

but they are also a tremendous asset to our economy.

BioScience Penn’s Northeast targets specific aspects of bioscience for our region. We work to bring

businesses and companies focused on three areas:Direct Patient Care via Telecommunications

Medical Equipment Manufacturing and LogisticsPharmaceutical Manufacturing

Target Industries

July 1-Nov 30 ,13

Types of Leads

Sources of Leads

17%

83%

veReacti

Natural GasWith The Marcellus Shale formation, the largest natural gas formation mere miles away, Penn’s Northeast is a premiere location for businesses

looking to tap into natural gas. Not only does our region sit right near natural gas development sites, it

also houses the main metro area closest to the drilling locations. Just sixty miles away lies the region’s only

international airport & access to thousands of miles of railways and interstates.

Food and Beverage Manufacturing One of the strongest industries in Northeastern

Pennsylvania is the food and beverage manufacturing industry. This industry alone employees over 12,000

local residents, and this number steadily grows every year. It’s easy to operate a food and beverage

manufacturing facility in Penn’s Northeast with our prominent location, our abundant water supply and

ever increasing supply of natural gas.