Hazleton area community leaders banded together to get through the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and now must pave the way for job growth and creation in the region, state Sen. John Yudichak, I-14, Swoyersville, said Thursday.
Yudichak addressed business and community leaders at a virtual Red Carpet Breakfast hosted by the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce.
Chamber President Mary Malone welcomed the senator to what may be the last “fully virtual” breakfast, as the area shifts back toward in-person events and meetings in the wake of the pandemic.
The chamber will capitalize upon the warmer weather and outdoor venues in the coming months, hoping to be “fully back” in September with the latest guidance in place, Malone said.
Chamber members, along with Yudichak, paused to remember the late Dan Guydish, one of the chamber’s own community leaders who was an inspiration, mentor and friend to many.
“I share the grief of the chamber family,” the senator said before beginning his remarks.
Greater Hazleton’s response stood out during the pandemic, as its leaders came together to combat the surge in what became the epicenter for COVID-19 in Luzerne County, Yudichak said.
“Few communities did it better than the Greater Hazleton community,” he said, saying it was a demonstration of community and cooperation in forming a COVID task force, saving lives.
“There is no other way to say it or see it. The Greater Hazleton task force saved thousands of lives. Folks did not know the best practices. There was no handbook. We had to come together.”
Essential businesses remained open with thousands of workers under the same roof as the pandemic unfolded a year ago, but resources from state and federal agencies were few.
The regional partnership harnessed its own resources, using code enforcement officers to do on-site checks of businesses and ensuring workers’ needs were met with some 140 inspections in 30 days, Yudichak said.
Likewise, the Northeast Nursing Home SOS Program found funding through regional agencies and got personal protective equipment to facilities that needed those supplies, he said.
The community also brought together resources to reach the Hispanic community with messages to stop the spread of the virus and find health care in Spanish, which Yudichak said the state failed to do.
According to Yudichak, going forward, the Hazleton community must now prepare for the explosion of job growth the area is poised to experience with the success of Hazleton Creek Properties and other ventures.
With that, he added that the community must now look to investing in infrastructure — roads, bridges, sewers, water and workforce development — to prepare for the boom of some 30,000 jobs.
Pennsylvania must also work to attract computer data centers, such as Microsoft, Google and Facebook, as states such as Virginia have done bringing more than 40,000 jobs paying upwards of $126,000 a year, he said.
“These are the jobs we need to go after,” Yudichak said.
Pivoting from the pandemic means helping small businesses open and get the resources they need, including some $3.4 million in COVID recovery funds, which 66 businesses in the Hazleton area received, he said.
Yudichak said he supports colleague Sen. Lisa Baker, R-20, Lehman Twp., in re-instating job search requirements for those receiving unemployment benefits to get workers into jobs that are currently available.
The senator also expressed concern about the tolling of bridges of Interstate 80 in the region, as a solution to the loss of revenues with the gas tax. A better funding source must be found, he said, noting the tolling proposal is counterproductive.
“We need to look to the federal government, which has done a transportation funding plan in 30 years,” Yudichak said. “You can’t take 30 years off.”
Finally, he pointed out that the state’s voters this week decided to end the governor’s emergency declaration power, favoring the collaboration of all governing partners and communities moving forward.
“We need to collaborate as community leaders,” Yudichak said, referring to the Hazleton area’s example at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. “We need to get beyond the pandemic.”
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May 22, 2021 at 08:00AM
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Hazleton area poised for job growth, creation, Yudichak says - Standard Speaker
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