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With years of work in economic development under his belt, Allentown’s new mayor, Matt Tuerk, knows there’s a lot more to the job than being the city’s cheerleader if he wants to attract business and investment to the area.
He began his career in economic development with the Allentown Economic Development Corp. in 2008.
When he started, all was rosy in the economy, but it didn’t last.
“We were riding high and there was a lot of enthusiasm for investment in Allentown. That was the start of the global financial crisis,” he said. “That’s where I cut my teeth in economic development.”
Luring investors and businesses into the city became difficult as money was harder to come by, he said, but the AEDC kept plugging away at attracting businesses, especially light manufacturing. That has helped bring Allentown to the point it’s at today.
Besides his job working with manufacturing startups, Tuerk also helped set up the first coworking space in the Lehigh Valley at the Allentown Bridgeworks Enterprise Center.
Then in 2013, he moved on to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.
“We were working with startups in the Lehigh Valley and to better conceptualize the Lehigh Valley to investors to put in a regional effort that recognized the entire region as a place to invest,” he said.
While working with the AEDC and later the LVEDC, Tuerk said, he was traveling to other communities and learning about their economic development efforts.
He saw that those who succeeded had leadership that was engaged in improving the quality of life in their region and who partnered well with other organizations.
“What differentiates successful communities from less successful ones is the engagement of the leadership. The mayor is the lead ambassador for the city to ensure that businesses are interested in a community and know where they fit in,” Tuerk said.
That’s where he said a mayor needs to do more than just talk up a city. That person needs to make sure the community is the kind of place businesses want to invest in and move to.
“We have to invest in our underlying assets,” he said. “If we don’t have a strong workforce, a supportive business environment and a safe, clean community, there’s nothing a mayor can do to attract investment. We have to make sure that we’re a good place to invest in.”
So, as he begins his work as mayor, he said his goal is to focus not just on business development but on public safety, education and workforce training and transportation access so people can get to work.
“That’s something other parts of the country sometimes seem to forget. Being the mayor, it’s not just about cheerleading,” he said.
For now, he said, there is no single part of the city on which he wants to concentrate his efforts. He noted that Allentown is a city of neighborhoods, and each has its own unique needs.
The Hamilton Street corridor, for example, has a booming residential scene right now with apartment buildings being constructed to replace many of the aging buildings that had been underused.
He said the Hamilton Street area needs to concentrate on attracting the right kind of restaurants, retail, and office jobs to accommodate the people moving downtown, so they’ll have places to work, shop and eat and will want to stay.
The Nineteenth Street Theater District is also a place for small business development. He said neighbors there want complementary businesses to shop and dine.
On the Southside there is a great deal of development going on right now, especially along South Fourth Street. He said the city needs to keep an eye on smart development in the area and make sure traffic and safety are maintained.
The East Side of Allentown is of particular interest, the mayor said. With the demolition of the Allentown State Hospital there is an open parcel of 195 acres of land available for development – almost unheard of in an urban area like Allentown.
He said the city and other partners are working to make sure the land is used in a way that will create jobs and lure other economic development to that part of the city.
Of course, an important part of that is making sure there is proper access to the property, which is along Hanover Avenue. If people are going to work there, Tuerk said, they need to be able to get there safely and easily.
He called the waterfront area along the Lehigh River another up-and-coming spot in the city, pointing to the work that Jaindl Properties has already begun.
The city is also looking to encourage light manufacturing, not only at the Bridgeworks but at smaller industrial facilities that are scattered across the city, he added.
Overall, Tuerk said, Allentown is in a great place for economic growth.
“We see demand across the city. There’s continued entrepreneurial development,” he said.
