Despite COVID-19, 2020 was a year of economic resilience for the Lehigh Valley, report says
By Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com
Despite the devastating effects of the COVID-19 crisis, the Lehigh Valley saw 41 major expansion or new development projects last year.
The projects created or retained more than 6,000 jobs, according to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation’s annual report for 2020.
“The solid and diverse base of the Lehigh Valley economy, built over the past decades, is getting us through,” LVEDC President & CEO Don Cunningham wrote in the report introduction.
The full 36-page report was released digitally Tuesday during the organization’s virtual annual meeting. It’s available at the LVEDC website.
Entities that undertook projects include Allegiant Air, Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hecktown Oaks and OraSure Technologies.
The report details the economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and how the region’s businesses responded to it. Unemployment reached a historic high of 16.6% in the Lehigh Valley in April, according to the report. By the end of the year, that rate dropped to 6.5%.
The LVEDC assisted regional businesses with emergency financing applications, according to the report. The report says the region is well-poised to benefit from the e-commerce boom brought about by the pandemic.
The report highlights the region’s record-high gross domestic product of $43.3 billion in 2019. It says the Lehigh Valley is again ranked among the Top 5 regions in the northeast in terms of economic development projects completed.
For the last three consecutive years, LVEDC Annual Report has won an International Economic Development Council Excellence in Economic Development award for Best Annual Report.
