BLAKELY - Before taking the stage to begin the official part of the evening, Greater Carbondale Chamber of Commerce board President Joe Kapalko explained his vision for business, community and education to blend.
As part of the organization's eighth annual Celebrating Progress dinner, Mr. Kapalko and other chamber leaders greeted about 200 people at Fiorelli's in Peckville as they shared messages of how the area supports local business through community development.
A key to this, Mr. Kapalko said, is workforce education, which pairs local school districts with businesses to help better prepare future employees for local jobs.
"The thing we don't have is employees who can work at some of the local jobs," he said. "We're unified in our effort in workforce education."
Mr. Kapalko and Laure E. Carolo, executive director of the chamber, mingled before the dinner with business and community leaders. With both leaders taking their positions in January, they said they had plenty of energy to help the area reach its potential. The Greater Carbondale community includes more than 300 businesses in Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wayne counties.
Local education and workforce development leaders spoke to the crowd, as did state Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, and state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-121, Wilkes-Barre.
Joe Grabin, a project developer for Linde Corp., a company that specializes in Marcellus Shale utility pipeline construction, attended Thursday's dinner and said local leaders understand the value of supporting local businesses.
"Carbondale has given us an opportunity to grow our business in this area," he said.
Contact the writer: rward@timesshamrock.com, @rwardTT on Twitter