Jeff Barber has served as president of Lehigh Financial Group for 25 years. A commercial mortgage broker based in Allentown, he specializes in structuring debt solutions for small- and mid-sized businesses and real estate investors, managing the lending process from underwriting through closing.

Barber works with a broad network of lenders to secure competitive and flexible financing, often on acquisitions that might not otherwise close. The outcome, he says, is local: new ownership, new jobs, and long-term reinvestment in the communities where his clients operate.

His approach centers on clarity. Most clients come to him with more questions than answers, and Barber takes pride in walking them through their options and structuring transactions so they arrive at the closing table with confidence.

Helping people, he says, is the core of the business — the reason he still enjoys the work after a quarter century.

Eric Bartosz is founder and CEO of BAR40 Fractional Solutions in Center Valley, delivering fractional chief strategy and chief revenue officer services to small and mid-sized businesses over a 10-year career. Bartosz leads client engagements in revenue expansion and organizational performance, anchored by his SHRM-accredited Performance EQ training — built on his bestselling book “BAR40: Achieving Personal Excellence.”

He also teaches in DeSales University’s MBA program and Muhlenberg College’s master’s in organizational leadership.

“The most rewarding part is seeing Performance EQ produce measurable change in how individuals and organizations lead, communicate, and perform,” Bartosz said.

As AI absorbs analytical work, he sees emotional intelligence as the defining leadership differentiator.

“Organizations pairing AI investment with deliberate investment in EQ are positioning themselves for success,” he said.

Bruce Eames runs BP Eames Consulting, a one-person practice in Center Valley advising small businesses on entrepreneurial strategy and nonprofit organizations on fund development.

A retired executive, he draws on a career in marketing, sales and business management that ran across multiple industries and included mergers and acquisitions, distribution channel development and profit-and-loss management at an international scale.

The nonprofit side of his work focuses on fund development aimed at helping community organizations sustain and grow.

Daniel Foglia is the founder and owner of HolyCity HR in Pennsburg, where he has helped owner-led businesses and nonprofits build HR infrastructure for 15 years.

Foglia provides executive-level HR strategy, employee relations guidance, compliance support and scalable systems — including onboarding, handbooks and leadership development — giving smaller organizations access to resources typically reserved for larger companies. He built what he describes as the only HR shared service model offering small businesses high-level support at a predictable monthly cost.

In the Lehigh Valley, he works directly with nonprofits and small businesses lacking internal HR, delivering practical training that makes people management more accessible.

“Your business becomes my business — when you operate as a partner, you build trust and create stronger, more stable organizations,” Foglia said.

Kristi Gage-Linderman leads Gage Talent & Business Solutions as CEO, a woman-owned and family-owned recruiting firm now in its third generation of ownership. Based in West Reading, she drives growth while evolving the firm’s legacy for today’s workforce — setting the company vision, supporting a high-performing team, and partnering with clients to align talent with business goals.

Under her leadership, Gage has expanded beyond traditional staffing into recruitment advisory and flexible, fractional support services. The shift gives clients tailored hiring solutions, real-time market insight, and scalable recruiting strategies that match today’s rapidly changing workforce demands.

Her leadership centers on what she calls human-first connection — a belief that when the right people are aligned with the right opportunities, businesses thrive and individuals grow alongside them.

Prioritizing relationships, integrity, and forward-thinking strategy, Gage-Linderman focuses on building sustainable organizations that are powered by people and positioned for long-term success.

Garrity runs the family-business consulting firm he started in Bethlehem in 2003, a niche practice that advises family-owned companies with revenues between $5 million and $100 million on growth, leadership development and ownership transition.

More than two decades in, he works directly with owners and their executive teams through strategic planning, next-generation talent development and succession.

Most clients sit within a 100-mile radius of the Lehigh Valley.

In a LVB profile, he describes services built around planning, talent and ownership transition, adding that the work demands passion and the right people.

Tina I. Hamilton built myHR Partner from the ground up into a 44-person HR outsourcing firm now in its 32nd year. As CEO and visionary, she sets the direction, momentum, and culture of the Bethlehem-based company, developing strong leaders and driving smart growth while keeping a close eye on the work environment her team operates in.

Hamilton’s leadership blends strategy, heart, and enough humor to scale the business without losing its soul. The proudest chapter of her career has been building the firm around the people doing the work — a true Best Places to Work culture where employees are heard, cared for, and supported.

The approach has yielded measurable results: myHR Partner has been named an Inc. Best Place to Work four times, and Hamilton credits the engaged workforce for fueling the company’s sustained growth.

She believes in creating an environment where employees feel safe to be themselves — one built on trust, authenticity, and regular reminders that they matter.

Susan Larkin, chief operating officer of Allied Personnel Services, oversees operations, client strategy, and talent solutions across the Lehigh Valley’s largest independently owned staffing company. Based in Allentown, she brings more than 30 years at Allied and five nationally recognized HR and staffing certifications to an unmatched view of the local labor market.

Over her 30-year tenure, Larkin has led the company’s growth into the region’s premier staffing resource and one of its largest employers. Her leadership has driven sustained growth in revenue and client retention while creating career opportunities for thousands of Lehigh Valley residents — a career and a community success story intertwined.

Her role bridges day-to-day operations with long-horizon strategy. She works with regional employers to build stronger, more flexible workforces while keeping Allied’s own culture anchored in the relationships that have made it a fixture in the local business community.

Larkin’s career and Allied’s trajectory have grown together — each strengthening the other.

Dr. Andrea Grannum Mosley is the CEO and owner of MosAL Consulting LLC in Bethlehem, a workforce development firm she founded within the past year.

An Army veteran, Grannum Mosley designs workforce strategies, advises employers on retention and onboarding, supports veteran hiring and connects businesses to Work Opportunity Tax Credit pathways. Within her first nine months, she became the first subgrantee to secure and support a High School Seniors Only Job Fair, linking students to employers and career pathways, while presenting at PWDA, the Workforce Board Women of Influence platform and the NASWA Veterans Conference.

In the Lehigh Valley, she works to expand access to sustainable employment and economic mobility for employers, students and veterans.

“I believe leadership means creating pathways, removing barriers, and helping people see what is possible,” Grannum Mosley said.

Cathy Rychalsky is executive director of Workforce Board Lehigh Valley in Allentown, where she has overseen the region’s workforce development system for 10 years. Rychalsky administers programs funded through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, ensuring investments help Lehigh Valley residents prepare for in-demand careers while giving local businesses a voice in how funds are directed.

Her most significant accomplishment began in Lancaster County, where she launched SkillUp Lancaster — an initiative so effective that Pennsylvania purchased statewide access, expanding it into SkillUp Pennsylvania, a free platform offering more than 7,000 online courses to any resident at any time.

“What drives my work is the belief that our system is the system that can change people’s lives,” Rychalsky said. “This type of work is not only rewarding, it is life changing even on this side of the table.”

Brett Smith is director of the Lehigh University Small Business Development Center in Bethlehem, where he has supported entrepreneurs across the region for 12 years. Smith oversees the SBDC’s strategic direction and manages more than $3 million in federal, state and local funding, providing no-cost, confidential consulting to small businesses in Lehigh, Northampton and Bucks counties.

A $2 million grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Historically Disadvantaged Business Assistance program is expanding the center’s regional presence.

Smith also serves on the Pennsylvania Advisory Council on Inclusive Procurement and leads the Lehigh Valley Meet the Buyers Expo, connecting small businesses with government and corporate procurement opportunities.

“I work to align partners across business, government, and economic development around the needs of our business community,” he said.

Angelo Valletta’s 42 years in economic development reached a milestone when he secured a $4.8 million federal appropriation — supported by Sen. David McCormick — to expand Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s laboratory innovation space by approximately 50%.

As president and CEO of the Bethlehem-based organization, Valletta provides strategic leadership across entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, workforce development and regional competitiveness, working alongside entrepreneurs, investors, higher education institutions and public-sector stakeholders to strengthen the region’s innovation ecosystem.

The expanded lab will increase capacity for early-stage technology companies, prototyping and university-industry partnerships.

A published author, Valletta outlined his approach in The 7R’s of Leadership and Life — a servant leadership philosophy rooted in empowering people, fostering collaboration and building cultures where innovation and execution thrive.