Is present.

We've got one agenda item and then a number of uh conversational items.

So we'll start with uh Bill Eight.

Uh Bill Eight, uh, and then it's part two general legislation, chapter 40 noise, section 41 definitions, revising the definition definition of zoning classifications, and section 406 sound levels by uh receiving land use, revising table one, receiving land use to be consistent with the zoning classifications.

This is a simply a housekeeping issue.

We didn't change parameters of the noise ordinance.

We simply changed the terms in the noise ordinance to match the zoning code.

So when the classification of zoning changed, instead of calling it industrial zone or an educational zone or an agricultural zone or whatever, we just made all the terms match from the old code to the new noise ordinance, but to the new code.

So it's um basically a wash, it's just that when the public looks at a code, we want the the corresponding sections of the code to match the zoning code.

It's my understanding that there is plans to amend the zoning code and to look at the zoning code or the noise code, I'm sorry, in the future, but for right now, we're just trying to get compliance and getting the the titles to match.

So it's a housekeeping issue.

Okay, great.

Um, any questions from the committee?

Anyone else?

Um, any questions from members of the public?

All right.

Uh so is there a oh yeah, I'll make a motion to move it forward favorably to full council.

Okay.

I'll second.

And all in favor?

Aye.

So this will move forward to full council.

All right.

The next um I've got an update on the Allentown Works program.

Um whoever wants to take that.

Trevor's going to take the lead on um giving you an update on our um Allentown works.

We are um pleased with our progress so far.

Trevor's gonna go over the individual components and what we're doing with each of the components.

And if anyone on council, because we do have several new council members wants um an in-depth go through the whole program from beginning to end, we're happy to do that one on one or in a team, however, you'd like to do it.

But today it'll be an overview of Allentown Works.

Okay, all right, uh Trevor, whenever you're ready.

Yeah, thank you, Vicky, and thank you, y'all.

Um quick summary on the like progress to date uh so far that Vicky mentioned.

So, like a few significant milestones of the program so far.

Call it's a five-year program.

We've just completed year one as of uh a month ago, or in January.

So our few key milestones are we've completed our uh strategy development project.

So that was the first uh five hundred thousand dollar grant that came from the EDA to plan out what exactly will we be getting done with this uh Allentown Works program.

And so the key deliver there were two main deliverables from that.

The first was we've now developed 15 uh comprehensive work plans with implementation partners that will be uh supported out through the Allentad Economic Development Corporation.

Uh each of those 15 partners will be fully executed under contract uh by March 19th.

So we're doing these in three batches.

So we've completed the first batch uh at January's ADC board meeting, broke.

We will complete the second batch uh tomorrow during ADC's February board meeting, and then the final batch will be completed in March, by which point we'll have all of our implementation partners under contract and can begin work on Allentown Works.

Uh the second key deliverable was the uh successfully piloting a community engagement model.

Uh if you've heard us previously talk about the Allentown Works Power Cohort, uh we've completed the first group of that.

It's 10 10 residents uh you live and or work within our Allentown Works neighborhoods.

So uh if you're not familiar, we're saying uh Bringham Park, Center City and the first six board thing 17th Street down to the Lehigh River.

Uh that group has been very heavily engaged with the planning of the Allentown Works program design, and now we're transitioning them into being uh recruiters into the program.

So, how can we find the residents who are persistently unemployed or out of the workforce and help place them into the program when we get things when we get things rolling?

So that's just key summary of the progress that we've completed in 2025.

So now what's what's on store, what's in store for 26 and beyond.

So could we pause for any questions?

Oh, yeah, sure, sure, sure.

He's jumping.

Okay.

I don't have any ticks to you want to all right.

No, go ahead.

Yeah.

We can go we can go in, and then I can go through each of the specific components.

Yeah, and it's just because I know you you you live and work in this, but I'm I'm trying to come up with the case.

Wrap your head around that.

Yeah, so for the 15, starting back to where we're with the 15 work plans.

Can you what is what does that look like?

Like what is that?

Can you maybe we need to go back to the component areas of a recompete?

Yes that turned into Allentown works that got us to where we are.

Yeah, so that was just a preface, and like I'll spend some time working through each of these.

So Alentown Works or the Recompete program is their 20 million dollar award that the city had received in 2024.

And so we're we're saying it's 20 million dollars, but in reality it's eight set eight individual grants.

So we're calling those our component projects.

Each grant then has each project, excuse me, has specific work plans associated with it.

And so of those eight projects, we have 15 specific scopes of work with partners.

I can go through those eight projects and then in some detail to say like partner XYZ is going to be doing this.

If you have other questions before I go into those components.

Each of the navigators, however, will be based within the neighborhood.

So we have identified and we are executing shared space agreements with Casa Guadalupe, uh, St.

Luke's Sicker Heart, uh, the Allentown Transportation Center.

So they will be based in Lanta's uh space, uh resurrected life once their new facility is open on 9th and Charter, and then uh community bike works uh eventually out in uh Franklin Park.

So then those navigators will be based, and we will be branding those each of those locations Allentown Work Hubs where residents who who are requesting services through Allentown Works can engage with those navigators and other uh partner staff at those at those sites.

So that's gonna be a big lift in getting folks connected with the program.

Uh secondly, we will be working with the Century Promise to hire uh career coaches.

So once you are recruited into the program and you are on a sector specific uh career path, there will be a coach to make sure that you can complete the path and then see uh gain employment beyond.

So then that coach will be committed to staying with that program participant for up to nine months post-employment.

So it's not a just get them, get them plugged into a job and see you later.

It's like we are making sure that this is a program that works and we're gonna and they will be uh positioned to support them through that process.

So then going on to our second project, which is where we before we go to the second project.

Within that first project, we also have additional funding on the side to address the issues that come up that could compromise their ability to attend or their ability to travel, they get a flat tire and they can't get to the job or they can't get to training.

We can help with that.

They have a child care glitch, that's a whole other component, but we can address those glitches along the way.

Um, if they need training money to get they have to have tools to get into a trade, we can help with that.

So built into those navigators will also be access to a way that oh, I can't do this because of X while the navigator can work with us to resolve the X and try to make sure that this can happen.

And that's that's a great point.

I think that's what's going to distinguish these navigators from your traditional career coach, um, thinking that these navigators are empowered with that emergency flex fund to just remove barriers right away.

It's less can you complete this paperwork and I'll get back to you in like two to six weeks.

It's like, no, if you need help on your flat tire today, I'll get I'll make sure that that's addressed.

Um so then so take the questions on this first one first, and then we'll keep going.

This will kind of maybe apply to like every component afterwards.

I'm assuming that this also takes into consideration any sort of potential language barriers or having a lot of there is there's a budget reserved to support uh ESL uh ESL programming if it's just straight, like uh supporting the literacy center, uh for example, continue to deliver that services, and then we're also going to be piloting uh applied like ESL for like set uh sector specific uh paths.

We can even use funding if we had to for professional interpreters on the job to help with the training, whatever that glitch may be, we're gonna try to work around that.

Yep.

Thank you.

Yeah, and so then to that second project is where we start like rolling out these uh new new paths.

We have a lot of great partners locally and regionally who are offering like uh great career programming.

So it's more like how can we get people to those programs and stay in them and complete them?

But where there where there is need, we are introducing new programs.

So the perfect example of that is with LCTI, so Lee Career and Technical Institute.

Uh up in Stexville, they are they are committed to uh partner with L TriC at the Donnelly Center to relocate some of their courses downtown to make it easy, easy access for residents within our neighborhoods.

And so that is going to look like a new advanced manufacturing course, excuse me, a basic, a first basic manufacturing course and then later an advanced manufacturing course, both based at the Donnelly Center.

And so the idea there being how can we get residents connected with the like pre-rex, if you would, in uh manufacturing and trades education so that they can then leave to go into existing pathways that require uh that uh course being taken.

So, like it we're uh uh raising the floor, if you would, for uh participants to succeed in existing pathways.

So, take for example IBEW's apprenticeship programs, getting this class through LCTI is gonna like leapfrog our program participants to succeed in those courses.

So then through this as well, we are going to be having money reserved to provide for tuition support or all of those other like supplies or material needs that Vicky had just mentioned.

Um just real quick, um, through the program, have has there been an assessment or uh identification of the key available jobs now?

I I see you see you're talking about a lot of manufacturing there is, but like I guess what I'm trying to figure is like where where are we with that?

Because there's obviously a pretty significant.

So I think we are looking to like the program is definitely prioritizing uh manufacturing and healthcare jobs, but the goal of the program is just how can we get people gainfully employed in whatever uh path they are looking for.

And so that's where we this program is like at its at its core, a like barrier removal.

Like, how are we removing burdens from our residents for them to succeed in whatever job they choose?

Where's we're positioning like the quickest pathway to a good job is through manufacturing or healthcare.

But if if your child care support will help you land a career in a different sector, like we're here to help make that happen.

We also have some data from um the workforce board about who the employers are that are going to them and what they're looking for.

Because through career link, that's exactly what the workforce board was doing was matching people to what the leading employers were looking for.

So we have their data behind us, and then we've had stakeholder meetings leading to our application that identified what industries we had locally who were having trouble recruiting.

Um, we know that the utilities are having trouble with skilled workforce in the labor force.

We know that our healthcare institutions are having trouble retaining um staff or attracting staff.

Um, UCEF with the Century Promise has made inroads with a lot of the leading employers in our geography to say, what are you looking for?

And was taking primarily high school kids into a track to explore those careers.

So we're piggybacking on that for the adults as well.

But I think also what Trevor's kind of leading to when we talk about health care, we recognize daycare.

I'm sorry, we recognize that daycare workers are some of the most underpaid people you can find around.

So we are working in a daycare component, not just to help people with their daycare, but to help daycares become viable places of employment, and he's gonna talk about that when we talk about the daycare.

So there we're trying to address underpaid factions of the workforce who could be paid more if they could access state reimbursement.

Absolutely.

So before we get to that child care piece, I want to hit on this third component on re-entry.

So we are partnering with Muhlenberg and the Lee County Prison or the Leah County Jail to advance Mueller's re uh inside out program.

So working within the inside out program, we are like supercharging their capacity, which to date that program has been largely volunteer hours by Millenberg faculty and staff.

This grant is going to allow them to staff a full-time program director and then engage in more uh more partnerships.

So to date Mullenberg has worked with the Lee County jail, and that is about that is that is their partner.

So with higher with heightened capacity, they will be able to engage different uh different nonprofits within and will because I know Jess was talking about maybe a year or so ago being able to actually offer like college credits to the inside yes, is that gonna pay for this?

So with higher with heightened capacity, they will be able to engage different uh different nonprofits within and will because I know Jess was talking about maybe a year or so ago being able to actually offer like college credits to the inside is that gonna pay for this that's yes.

So this this is going to cover uh tuition reimbursement, it's gonna cover the cost of offering those credits for the course, and then on top, something and another another thing we'll be adding new to this program is that graduate transition stipend.

And so for the inside students upon uh upon reentry, they will be and upon re-entry and successful completion of a semester of this inside out course will then be given a stipend to cover uh just basic necessities upon reentry.

So thinking like documentation, renewing a license, transportation, things of that sort of food, things like that.

All right, cool.

Thank you.

So then that that is that is the core of project three.

And so, as Vicky's mentioning, the like X factor of Alentine Works is truly like our child care component.

And so this is like it's a two two-piece strategy.

One investing directly into these uh daycares or the child care centers or and providers within the city, and the second is how can we get money, the most money most quickly to like working families, and so through the capacity of child care providers, we are going to be working with resurrected life, the community community services for children and the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, and how can we get money to support money and technical assistance to our home-based home base providers and our center-based providers to increase their Keystone Star rating.

So that's when Vicky mentioned state reimbursement.

They're like we had done an analysis uh ourselves, and then we had done the analysis to validate the data with the reinvestment fund this past year to confirm that there is about $50,000 a year left on the table by about 70% of our home-based providers within the city of Allentown.

And so if we could even flip 30 of those, 30 of those providers to go from zero star rating to four star rating within the city, that's about uh a hundred, no, it's about 1.5 million dollars of state reimbursement that is being brought into Allentown that is not currently being not currently being collected.

And so when Vicky mentions our daycare workers who are some of our lowest paid within the city, that can be money that goes directly into staff wages, that can go money into uh offsetting costs for families, it can go into facility upgrades at these centers, it can go into a whole host of things, and the end goal being the more money into our providers, the more quality and higher availability of care for families within the city of Allentown.

And so that's that's a long-term goal with our child care piece, understanding that there's such an acute need now is where that money directly to families comes in.

So we're working with community services for children to offer an expanded subsidy product to help uh match essentially the existing subsidies that go out through them and expand their reach into the city.

So that's that's a lot.

And so I feel like if we want to take time for any questions on that specifically, or I can keep going.

Yeah, go ahead.

I mean, it does it does sound so my like my only just jumping in looking at it from high level concern is that there are like 40 paths that you're pursuing, it seems like right now.

So and I think that's that's exactly the uh that's exactly the point of this program.

It's like we are piloting uh it's across eight projects, and there's 40, like so that's actually a great number that you just pulled up.

There's 40 discrete tasks within the Allentown Works program.

And so that's partly why we need to contract with 15 implementation partners to make sure that that each that gets done uh on schedule and to scale within the neighborhood because traditionally, just if we were to roll out with this program just one or two career pathways, that's not gonna work.

And it's what's been done before, and it hasn't moved the needle.

So we're throwing like we're we're supercharging the neighborhood with these 40 tasks to show like this is what this is what it takes to mean meaningfully employ residents in our neighborhood.

The application for this grant was extremely specific.

And they're looking for pilots in critical key engagement areas.

So the pilots that they're looking for is where can we create success by attacking a problem that traditionally we haven't had the funding or the partnerships to attack?

So it's very much the the way it started was this grassroots come together.

Um the room was full of partners saying this is a major barrier, this is a major barrier, this is a major barrier, and then those partners agreed to write those components of the grants in partnership with Trevor.

So they actually the daycare section was written by daycare providers with Trevor.

The transportation section is written by the transportation providers with Trevor, with the understanding that those providers would serve in the steering capacity or in one of these contract roles to pull this off and make this happen because the city couldn't possibly do this alone.

AEDC came up and said we can we can steer a multitude of ships simultaneously and brought on staff to augment that so that we have a key individual contact person assigned to each of these initiatives that we're moving, and then we cooperatively not only strategize, but Trevor spends a lot of his time with the other recompete grant awardees on the phone to say what's working in this geography, what's working in this geography, can we tweak ours?

That was extremely successful, or that doesn't belong here, we don't have subways, so that's not our transportation plan.

But the EDA is convening all of these people together to be this think tank on attacking that particular problem.

It's a huge undertaking going in a million different directions.

I don't I don't have anything.

No, go ahead.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Sorry.

Um, sorry.

So when it comes, you know, we've we've spoken about this Keystone Stars, you know, reimbursements.

Is there a way to hold folks accountable?

So, like for instance, if if we're helping them improve their stars, the last thing I want to see is for them to not pay their workers more and to not give their customers a better deal and then just end up making more money taken taken home.

Yeah, you know, is there a way to say, hey, we're helping with this, but we need to see X and Y.

So I think that's something that we're gonna be discussing right now, and I think on the condition to receive grant support to lift your Keystone Star meeting, you will have to become an in-network provider.

And so Okay, what we will work on with in coordination with CSC resurrected and the community foundation is to understand like what does in network require of these providers.

So I think if as that conversation develops, like we're certainly open to uh and the Keystone Stars program holds its recipients accountable.

You don't get that reimbursement unless you're continuing to meet their qualifications in all the different categories they put in.

So, for example, our inspection reports within a family daycare get forwarded to the Keystone Stars program, and that's how they check off that you have interconnected smoke alarms and exit signs, and you know, you're not uh rodent latent and those kind of things.

So they have a system of checks and balances to kind of regulate who gets those reimbursements, but it's been incredibly difficult for a family-based daycare to get those reimbursements.

Like you have to have an outlay of cash to put in your interconnected smoke detectors and to put up your exit signs.

You have to have somebody train you in the curriculum that they want you to teach.

I doubt that a lot of these folks will go through that whole process unless they're planning on continuing to utilize that process enough to get the money because it's not gonna be easy.

And part of what we're gonna do is handhold them through getting the interconnected smoke detectors, making the changes to the physical property.

I can't imagine that they would go through all of that and jeopardize their reimbursement.

Um, what they pay their workers is something that we're gonna have to use the network for.

But a lot of the other guidance is actually labor and industry regulations, actual early childhood um uh uh benchmarks, those kinds of things.

So hopefully, with guidance, they can add staff and add reimbursement and add quality to the daycare.

That's our hope.

And I honestly think that's what got us this grant, and I think it's what all eyes are on because we're one of few communities that has a child care coalition.

In actuality, community services for children has had a program to help family-based daycares overcome hurdles in the past, but it wasn't well received, and I think a lot of it wasn't row received because there wasn't any funding to help them overcome the hurdle.

So, this is the first time we're trying to match the funding to the initiative to the family-based daycare in a way that we can overcome the language barriers and in a way that we can help them to truly change their physical plant plus the way they operate.

Yeah, sorry, I just have one thought here.

Um, I think that's all great.

And I I guess you you like you mentioned some of them are like infrastructure upgrades to locations, and then we have the staff that are gonna be behind that, and you know, to Jeremy's point, it sounds like you know, inherently part of this grant is that it's a pilot program, you're building a whole bunch of pilot programs.

How much each of these components should or or will be allocated?

It was predetermined by the original application, but we do have some flexibility to reapproach if we find that something is knocking it out of the park and something's struggling.

Trevor does stay in constant communication with the EDA, and they've been agreeable, they understand that we may need to pivot or something may need an extra arm.

But what is interesting is that we have had a large philanthropic organization come to us to offer us that extra supplemental funding, and now we have a second one that's expressing some interest.

So I think there's such momentum behind this that we now have some players saying, you hit a bump, let us know, we'll see if we can help.

So that's a first.

It's a first in anything I've dealt with.

So we're hoping that that momentum will continue, will continue to build.

But I do think they will they will not fund housing.

It's the one thing that EDA through our Allentown Works program will not fund.

But that is something that we're gonna try to get around with philanthropic dollars if we hit some housing snacks.

Thank you.

Um the question I have is um thinking about advanced manufacturing.

Um so I mean, I know sometimes when you hear manufacturing, you immediately think like warehouses.

But from my understanding, it's like very um, I guess more like technical robotics, AI type of thing, right?

So my question would be how many of those jobs exist right now, and do we have data to show how many Allentown residents currently hold those jobs, and will they even hire our people?

Because some barriers you can't overcome, and I'm gonna read between the lines, or some barriers you just depending on who's hiring, there's nothing you can so what we do have data on is how many how many residents are holding jobs in either uh the building trades or in manufacturing, not including warehousing and logistics that's intentionally been like that's not a priority path for us.

Uh we're housing logistics uh to your point.

Uh what we need to still collect data on is what are like the count of jobs that are currently available in those fields, and that's where we can coordinate with our regional partners, like either it'd be the workforce board LI Valley or L V E DC to collect that data, but we do have a good handle on what is the current status of employment in these fields within the city, and so that is going we are working to finalize a dashboard with the Leonard Parker Pool Institute for Health, uh, in which this type of data and this like granularity of data would be publicly available.

So once that is up and posted, like we'll be happy to uh share that with the okay.

And our EDA, our partners in other cities.

Um there's a relationship part of this that comes with these components, and that is building the relationship with the um hiring personnel within those corporations so that they understand that the applicants coming to them don't get buried in the indeed pile, but that they're coming out of a comprehensive supportive approach, and they've made a commitment to take this training, and they've succeeded in this training.

So they're not somebody who's just expressing an interest to learn on the job.

There's somebody who's actually overcome their hurdles, gone through all their steps, and made this difference.

We're hearing that in the manufacturing realm and in some of the more um uh complicated job sites, that they are literally taking the barriers down in their own because they're desperate for a trained workforce.

They're just not getting a trained workforce.

So we think we'll have a leg up in some of that negotiation to say, okay, this person may have an arrest in their past.

But this person has done A, B, C, D, E, F, G in this program and is now fully trained to step into your workforce and make a difference, and they have a coach attached to them for the first nine months after employment, who's gonna make sure that they're not not showing up because they have a flat tire or not showing up because the bus didn't come today.

And you know, give them that nine months to give them a shot.

Some will, maybe some won't, but at least some will.

And that's our hope.

And then if word gets out that we've had a successful first round of placements, we're hoping others will come forward saying, hey, if this worked for them, maybe it'll work for us.

And we're looking, we'd be looking at getting folks to be hired directly through the company, because like I see when I'm reading this article about advanced manufacturing, I see Crayola.

Um, I've worked for Crayola.

I don't know if I if there's different divisions, but I was not I would through a temp agency.

Um most of these places, I imagine have temp agencies, and that's how most Allentown people might get in there.

And I think that's something we're all we will be working on this starting this year, like a pretty robust employer engagement strategy.

So how can we get those companies directly connected?

Uh like employers directly connected with like the programs that were where we're all right I think I just had to get closer to it.

I'm sorry.

Uh so we will like that's on top of our mind, and so that's something we're we're going to get working on this year.

Uh if I could the next three projects, it's super quick to go through.

Okay, yeah, sorry.

Um, because I know like just for us to keep moving.

Uh six project, that's our transportation project.

This the long and short of this one is we are going to be working with Atlanta and the Leonard Park and Pool Institute to do a uh rider demand assessment.

And so what we will be doing within the next nine months is collect, like essentially doing a bus stop audit on all of these stops and routes that go through our Allentown Works neighborhoods, assess and so literally that's data assessment, but it's also like doing like intercepts at these bus route at the bus stops themselves to get qualitative data from actual riders to see where where is the bus not taking you to where you need to be, and then Lanta is has committed to take that data and then use Allen Townworks money to pilot new routes within the city.

So that's super exciting to come from project six.

Um so we'll be have oh, and then in the meantime, all bus fares for the length of the program will be subsidized through Allen Townworks funding.

So any program participant will not be paying to use Atlanta bus for the length of uh length of the pilot.

Um the seventh project is our urban science project with the Allentown Economic Development Corporation, and so that is we will be acquiring properties within within and around the Allentownworks neighborhoods, and so acquiring uh vacant industrial former industrial property to rehab and then restore those into productive manufacturing uses.

And so then the once that site is rehabbed and restored, it'll then serve as a location, a suitable location for then AADC to transition out tenants and their incubator program to start taking setting up shop locally and then hiring locally as well.

And so we have the data to support that move showing that a small manufacturer within that a small manufacturer that moves into a facility like this has a 4x multiplier on the employment around it.

So think of all the businesses that that small manufacturer will support within the local economy.

So for every say 10 employees that we could place in that manufacturer itself, we'll then create an additional 40 uh in the surrounding economy.

So that's like a huge multiplier for us to meet our goals.

Um and then quick plug, because a big component of this as well was adopting uh working on zone Allentown, which you all have adopted uh last during last session.

Uh and so through Zone Allentown, we were able to restore the manufacturing uses within the city of Allentown, but then in fact double the city's capacity to allow for low impact and artisan manufacturing.

So now one in every three properties within the city of Allentown has the capacity to support a small-scale manufacturer, uh, which is phenomenal.

So if you can think if you can match that 4x multiplier to now a third of the city's land use opportunities is an incredible boost of potential for employment within the city.

Uh and then my last point on the project is in health care.

So we had spent a lot on the front talking about the impact, like the priority of manufacturing.

We're also working with our health care network, our health networks, primarily St.

Luke's and L VHN slash Jefferson, uh to work on their work work on their pathways, and like we have to recognize that our health networks are our largest employers within the region, and so they offer the quickest pathway to uh like good paying, good paying jobs locally.

So, like a stat I will leave you with is 90% of the jobs available to residents within our sacred heart uh Jordan Heights neighborhoods are based at St.

Luke's.

Like they are the largest like employing institution within that part of the city, and frankly, the majority of the city.

And so if we can work with them to open up more pathways to local residents, is going to be huge in lifting lifting households above the poverty line and back into uh employment.

So that's the gist of our eight projects.

Like Vicky, if you had any other points before we I just want to touch on the healthcare piece.

Right now, if you apply at a network and you don't have EPIC training, you face the hurdle that each hospital network is sharing staff back and forth.

In other words, I'm trained and I know Epic and I'm an ultrasound tech at LVHN.

If I apply to move to St.

Luke's, I'll probably get a sign on bonus because I already know EPIC.

So I move.

And then I stay there a year or two years, and then I have advanced EPIC training or I have a specialty, and then I bid back at the LBHN.

So we have a lot of people going back and forth between this network, improving their status, which is a good thing, but it makes the entry into those healthcare professions difficult.

So one of the things that we could do is pre-train folks in Epic so that they would have a shot at getting their foot in the door.

As well as the hospitals have made a commitment to Century Promise with Yusuf and his and the kids that he's working with to be able to offer them employment when they can when they end the program.

Our hospitals have sat at the table with us since the inception of this and helped us to write the healthcare component.

So they're certainly open that anybody who completes this program would have an advanced track in the door.

And then once they're in the door, they offer tuition reimbursement and they offer support to anyone who wants to go from being an ultrasound tech to becoming a nurse or going from God, they could go to med school if they wanted to.

So though they're willing to support advancement once the individual has established themselves within their network.

So it's our hope that this will open the door again to get out of the online application in it indeed and to have a faster track to get your foot in the door, which may look like an entry-level job today, but usually has healthcare benefits, it's always on a bus route, is usually a reliable responsible employer, and that although you may be starting out as an entry-level whatever, you'll have the opportunity to advance if you're willing to put in the time in the work.

So that is that's the eight projects the gist of Allentown Works.

And so, as I mentioned at the onset, we are working closely with AADC to make sure all of these contracts are going to be executed by the by the middle of March.

And so by that point, we expect uh work to begin on each of these scopes.

And this is the initial round of our startup partnerships with our partners.

It doesn't mean that these are our only partners.

It doesn't mean that these are this is our path etched in stone.

We may have to pivot.

We may realize we have to, God forbid, buy a fleet of vans and drive them ourselves, or we may have to locate an agency willing to be the van transportation, or we may have to get you know a bike share program up, whatever it is that comes along the way, if it's in those categories, we can approach EDA to say we need to expand.

So we don't want community-based organizations to think if they have a great idea or if they've identified a need, that there isn't any opportunity for us to pivot or to address that need.

We're we're flexible at this point, but the whole first year has been in assessment, engagement, educating partners, having that power cohort come together to say what is the need, who wants to work, and then hopefully by the second quarter of this year, we'll be able to start recruitment.

That's that's the hope.

Any questions or go ahead?

Yeah, so just looking back on that, um, for the property one.

I noticed this when we were in the budget for the 2026 one, that there was three million dollars allocated for property acquisition.

What like what does that look like?

Who who is owning that property and so that's it's to accelerate AADC's existing urban sites program, so that is their uh development reserves account that they can then use to acquire and rehab those properties.

And so the properties that an organization like the Allentown Economic Development are going after our properties that the private sector or private developer wouldn't even think of touching.

And so it's if if it's not for an organization like AADC, that will just continue to be property that remains vacant and blighted within within our neighborhoods.

So you're saying it's basically the three million is going to AEDC.

So the three million is to AEDC to acquire that property, and then they can either sell it or lease it upon once it is ready to uh accept and house a manufacturer.

So think an example of AADC's largest urban sites project is the uh former Allentown Metal Works site.

So that is that is much larger capacity in scale than a three million dollar project with like could support, but that would be like their like shining example of a successful urban sites project.

But this would also address Ms.

Gurlock's previous concerns that when we sell a property or when we create a walk to work, that how do residents have a leg up to getting those jobs?

This is part and parcel of that.

AEDC as a primary partner to this wants to make sure that the people in our Allentown Works program get gameplay gamefully employed.

That's our that's our plan.

So if somebody is in their incubator right now and is learning about our Allentown works program and now wants to expand, AEDC can turn around and say, okay, we've got this property.

Are you interested in moving out if we buy and rehab this property?

Are you willing to move in there?

And are you willing to take some of the folks that have completed our manufacturing class?

I can't imagine that a person starting to expand their business wouldn't be thrilled to have a trained, already endorsed, already vetted workforce versus I'm gonna go expand and I have to do a hell I have to do a career fair and I have to take 50 million resumes and I have to go through all of them and determine who could possibly have qualifications or test them out or whatever.

This is kind of the easiest way someone can transition into expanding their business out of their incubator.

They also have a waiting list for their incubator, so it may be that there's some company coming in saying we need some help to get bigger, and AEDC can say, well, part of what we can do is help to subsidize this building renovation so that you can get bigger here, and I don't want to say skip the incubator, but get the services of the incubator not physically in that plant.

But the idea of people being able to walk to work is the focus of the grant.

So, yes, on that.

So will the businesses that are participating in the incubator and potentially move into these new spaces owned by AEDC or whoever they sell it to, will they have an incentive to hire Allentown residents?

Because if it's an incubator and if they're only having five employees, they're gonna employ their people, their friends, their family, like the they're they're not, you know, it's just reality.

I think that's absolutely something.

And so the key to us, like it's money that we are receiving from EDA that we are then going to grant to ADC, and through that granting process, we can condition that there's an incentive to like hire within within the program.

And then also, will there be an incentive, not even an incentive, a requirement that if there is some sort of job fare um that there is at least one job fare that is initially advertised to just the community, the surrounding community or folks that have gone through the program and then you know have a wider job there so that the first opportunity is for Allentown.

I mean, I can commit to you that to you right away.

Like the people, the people that will be hired through this program are exclusively Allentown residents.

Like we're not advertising or offering support to people who live outside of the outside of the city.

So like any I can commit that to squarely.

Any advertisement for jobs available or support to find jobs available through Allentown Works will be exclusive to Allentown.

More so the company.

So organization gets in, they get in this incubator space, they're happy, they've got you know, they're three top staff hired, they've got two more staff.

Um you know, like, is there a way to make sure that when they're seeking those two more staff positions?

Because most of the time they're gonna bring their own people.

So I think that's to Vicky's point, like and the point that we're saying, like we can condition that expect like the expectation will be made on condition of receiving money from us for this program.

This whole program is going to be contingent upon, and this is where we're gonna need your help.

You know, a lot of people in the city, you've worked with a lot of people in the city.

We're prepared to take every staff person in the city that works in DCED and other departments in the city who encounter our residents on a routine basis and have them equipped with how to enroll.

So that if we go out on an inspection and someone says, well, you know, I might be evicted, I didn't pay my rent this month, I lost my job.

We can help them enroll.

This whole program only succeeds if our Allentown residents want to participate and agree to participate.

So that's where I can hold the employers to hiring these folks if we've actually trained and gotten them job ready.

But obviously, if an employer is ready to move out into a neighborhood and we don't have anybody trained, we can't hold them to don't don't succeed in the neighborhood, don't you know, generate revenue, don't run your business here, because we don't have anybody ready for you.

We we have to get these folks to engage, and we have to get these folks to complete the training because the only way the employers are gonna deal with us in a credible fashion is if we can prove that we actually have the workforce they need and that we've actually prepared them for the work.

And we may find that we have interested businesses that we don't have people trained to work in, and then we're gonna encourage them to use Century Promise or to use our partners within this and still try to help them recruit because we want our Allentonians to get a job, but ideally, we can hold up our end of the bargain with our citizens as well.

Any other questions, Christian?

Yeah, uh Mr.

Pungo.

So um you mentioned the five-year kind of time horizon.

I'm curious, are there any priorities between these?

Like, like you said, we need to have the workforce prepared.

So is there like component three is contingent on four and one getting started, or is is everything kind of going all at once, or is there any priority in making sure that something is established first?

Yeah, so I think the there is a cadence that will have all the eight of these projects operating on the same timeline, but for each of these to succeed first, like it's component one.

So getting the resource navigation team staffed first, will then unlock every other piece to work.

So if the idea like, and I think just logically, if we think through this, if all of our wrap our wraparounds can be great, but if there is no program participants who wrap around, like it's all for not.

So like we're going to have our partners stand up the wraparound services to be ready once we have our resource navigation team hired um to make these point, hopefully by Q2 of this year.

The other piece is that it sounds three million dollars sounds like a lot of money for an urban sites development, but as some of you know very well, it's not a lot of money, especially when you're dealing with blighted properties, some of which who have environmental concerns or hazardous materials or anything that you can encounter in a construction job.

So, you know, we're not gonna see manufacturing sites pop up all over the city with this grant.

Um, I'll be thrilled if we get two or three of them because it's a it's a very costly proposition, but it also attacks the blight issue that we have with Welcome Home.

It addresses uh we're hoping to get larger sites rather than tiny sites, so it could change the face of a neighborhood if in fact we can attract one of these sites and turn it into something positive.

Okay, anyone else from the day's um I'll just quickly add, I think the component that interests me is the certificate slash training.

I can tell you that employers get inundated with resumes and applications of folks who are not qualified who don't have or applying for jobs that are nowhere near their qualification.

So I think having this certificate slash training, I think actually gives our residents more of a fighting chance because it almost weeds it it um it gives those employers um actually a better batch of prospects.

So you might be giving them 10 prospects and all 10 of them are ready to go, where indeed it's giving them a thousand, and there's maybe 50 that are ready to go, but they have to weed through the other 950.

So I I I like the fast track concept.

I like um as an employer, I think um most will like that.

So I think that's a really interesting component.

So anyone else, Mr.

Bender?

Yeah, I'm just being sensitive of time.

Um, I guess what I would say is uh I will have a lot of questions still that I've written a lot of notes on this one.

Um I think with a program such like this, it would be helpful to have some sort of routine or frequent presentation for updates because I think it it's it both helps I would say the council here as well as it uh provides the public a lot of um publicity if you will to what the status is.

Um I do want to give some space if there's any public comment, but I I do I do think that that would be helpful if we could have some sort of quarterly or something like that update.

I think that would be great.

Yeah, and I think to just add to the dashboard I shared earlier, the idea is to have like a publicly accessible up-to-date dashboard on projects, each of those projects status, uh, and that would be hosted on the Leonard Parker Pool Institute's website.

Uh so once that is up and running, like we are happy to share that.

So it's like we can certainly have quarterly presentations and updates, but if like on a day-to-day basis, if you want to check the status of the project, that should be up within this year.

Thank you.

I would just like to acknowledge the fact that Trevor has his heart and soul.

Um, he put it into writing this grant application, which got us the Solard, but he has been tirelessly dedicated to making sure that um this comes to fruition.

And we're just eternally grateful that we have him, and I wanted him to do the presentation to you today because I think he deserves the acknowledgement of trying to pull together a monumental task.

And so far it's moving.

Okay, yeah, definitely.

Thank you.

And um, I will open it up uh to the public uh since more folks have come in specifically.

We're still in CED community and economic development, and the topic that we're talking about is um Allentown works.

So if you have any questions or comments on that, please come up.

And so it's all official, say your name and address.

1643 West.

Press the There's a green button at the bottom.

Yeah.

Blake Henry, 1642 West Turner Street.

Vicky, as you were saying earlier, like if we're running into people, um, you know, they've been evicted or whatever it might be.

If I were to give them some information, how like how long are the trainings that they would need to go through before they can start applying for those jobs or whatever?

We don't know yet.

Um we're working with the workforce board and a number of other partners to determine some of the tracks that we'll have and some of the requirements that will go with those tracks.

We can tell you that it's going to be a different amount of time based on the entry level of the individual.

Um some people might be a fit to an IBEW apprenticeship in the trades, but some people may need basic math, English as a second language.

So it there's not going to be a fit answer, but there's gonna be a navigator that's gonna be able to sit down and discuss that with the individual who's interested.

And then on those lines, like thinking through, because I know you'd mentioned like the partnership with L Tri C and having those uh courses on site.

Is that like an ongoing um you can start at any time, or is it within a semester, a quarter, that kind of thing, just thinking through like because I know the number is a big number, right?

We're trying to get people employed too.

So just thinking about if we have four more years or whatever it is, you know.

Yes, I think the idea with those is they should be offered at least twice during the year, and then we can see about scaling it up to three to four times.

And I think it's gonna be based on demand.

I mean, I'm hoping we can pack a class, and if we do, I'm hoping they'll add another one.

But again, if we get one here and we get one here and we get one here, that's not gonna be all that cost effective.

So that's where we may have to do some pre-work with folks to hold on to them until we can get them into a chat.

School or online and see if we can help them learn online until we can actually get them in a classroom.

Awesome.

That's it.

Thank you.

Okay, anyone else from the public on this specific topic?

Okay.

Uh we have five more minutes.

I don't know if there's anything you wanted to update real quickly within that five minutes on any topic.

CED related to having five minutes.

And that's five.

Um basically I just want to touch base a little bit on the zoning code.

Um, the zoning code is well received, but it's a challenge, and it's a challenge for the staff and for the public right now because we're in a learning, we're in a learning mode.

Um basically, we have some applications that have come in under the old code, and we have to honor that, and then we have other applications that are coming in under the new code, and we have to honor that.

So it's confusing for the staff, they're getting they're getting a handle on it.

There's a lot of public questioning back and forth about what am I now?

I encourage everybody to use that interactive zone Allentown map.

Um, but we are tabulating a list of changes and amendments to the zoning code, and we're hoping to bring them to you soon of things that we have identified that um either were missed or things that could be tweaked to make it work more efficiently.

Um and I know that we did recently, I believe, um, execute the contract to get Zone Allentown into e-codes, which will make it much easier for folks to be able to go in and look up the code.

Um, that's normally done by council, but we're doing it through a council DCED relationship contract now.

So it took a little while to get through the approval process, but it should be in e-codes soon.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

We're targeting the first set of amendments um like April-ish.

Um those ones at that developer.

Okay.

It would be that plus some others.

Okay.

Um so that first comprehensive set um will be coming forward.

And actually, there'll be one more that will be coming even quicker around data centers.

Um it's something that wasn't specifically addressed in the overall zoning code, but we want to make sure we have some regulations in there around data centers.

Well, we've got two minutes, but now that you bring up data centers, because I'm glad to hear you bring that up because um, I mean, it shows that we're you know keeping up with things.

But is there a way to somehow prevent that, even if it it wouldn't probably happen?

I I do think that our data center ordinance that we're working on, and we're taking our time and bringing it to you because we want to bring we want to pool all of our partners, uh all of these cities that have implemented one and found snags and all of the cities that are are talking about one.

Um our planning department is close to having a draft that laws taking a look at.

Um I don't think that we've specifically addressed the issue you're talking about, but we have in our in our building codes, we have issues about communal living and and things like that that I think help us to make sure that we're not moving in a direction of huge communal living.

Um, however, I don't know how local law gets superseded by any other law.

So I think we can certainly have another conversation about that, but what we're we'll be bringing to you is data center specific.

That's good though.

Um any anyone else?

Okay, then uh this meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.

And we have one minute until the regular meeting.

Thank you.