Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce

Kathleen Benyo, PhD, has been selected as the recipient of the 2013 Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Athena Award, sponsored by Berger Family Dealerships.

Kathleen holds a BS and MS from Bloomsburg University, and Administrative Certficate from the University of Scranton and a PhD from Walden University.  Mrs. Benyo began her educational career as an elementary teacher and curriculum coordinator at the Weatherly School District where she coordinated and directed the K-12 curriculum committee. In 1986 she became the first female ever elementary principal and first ever female principal in Nesquehoning and Lansford. In 1990, Kathleen became the first ever female principal in the Slatington School District. From 1998-2000 she became the first ever female principal in the Weatherly Area School District.  During 2000-2002, Kathleen was the Associate Professor and Head of the Education Department in Bethlehem where she instructed adult students on the art and science of teaching children. In between her educatioal career, Kathleen was a medical office supervisor and chief financial officer.

Community Reading Day, coordinated locally by the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce with support from Penn State Hazleton, was another great success with representation from over fifty area businesses and 70+ individual readers, including one pooch.  The volunteers read to 1700 first and second grade students in the Hazleton Area School District, parochial school system, and Head Start program. After reading the book, Absolutely Not, it was then presented to the teacher to include in their classroom library.  In addition to the Greater Hazleton Chamber, additional event partners are the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber, the Greater Carbondale Area Chamber, the Greater Pittston Chamber, the South Valley Chamber, and the Wayne County Chamber.  Together, these regional groups organized this annual event as part of their ongoing efforts to encourage business/education partnerships.  

According to Linda Mantush, marketing assistant for the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, “The Community Reading Day program is designed to promote literacy and to strengthen the partnership between business and education.”

For more information on Community Reading Day, contact the Chamber at (570) 455-1509 or email; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Residents served by PPL now have the opportunity to lock in a low fixed price of 6.35 cents per kilowatt-hour for electric generation until June 2016 through ChamberChoice and FirstEnergy Solutions.  This is a savings over PPL’s current average residential rate of 7.24 cents per kWh, and the estimated rate of 8.24 cents per kWh starting June 1, 2013.

“We are very pleased to be able to now offer a residential program to the entire Greater Hazleton community.  Although offers have been made available to Chamber members and their employees in the past, this is the first time a residential offer has been extended to the entire community and to date, we have seen a tremendous response,” said Donna Palermo, President of the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, which participates in ChamberChoice.  “This is the lowest fixed price currently available to PPL customers, which means this offer provides both savings and the budget certainty that comes with locking in a fixed price.”

Officials from the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce announced that over 90 groups, consisting of well over 2,000 people volunteered during PennDOT’s "Great Pennsylvania Cleanup” campaign, which took place throughout Greater Hazleton on Saturday, April 20th.  Chamber VP of Marketing and area event coordinator, Leann Fallabel states, “Once again, the Greater Hazleton community came out in force to help rid the area of litter and debris, and we thank them for their volunteer efforts.  Our hope is that it provides an example for others to follow, and more importantly, to serve as a reminder to those people who abuse our environment by throwing litter on our area roadways, playgrounds and greenspaces to refrain from those unfavorable habits.”  

The Chamber has been coordinating the local campaign for thirty-one years, and it has become the largest single day clean up effort in the region.  More than 100 tons of trash and debris are removed from area roadsides each year.

POWER! Hazleton invites all progressive-thinking young professionals, whether you are in business, education, the arts, a stay-at-home mom.....really anyone who wants to get involved in their community....to their regular bi-monthly social event.

Hear what Hazleton POWER! has going on and see what projects and events you can get involved with. They include an annual Downtown Cleanup, a series of Graffiti Paint Outs, a series of Movies at the Markle, Downtown Green Space Initiative, a Downtown Mural and a Mural/Street Art Documentary Event.

Our guest speaker for the evening is Neal DeAngelo, III from DBI Services. Neal with provide us with an update on the DeAngelo/Hayden 20 million dollar investment in downtown Hazleton and review what this project will entail.