To: All media
For Immediate Release: June 16, 2006
For additional information, please contact Precision Design at 570-455-3533

CAN DO, Inc., the non-profit economic development organization that has brought thousands of jobs and millions of dollars to Greater Hazleton since it was founded in 1956, is turning 50 years old.

The occasion was marked with style at an anniversary dinner celebration Friday that featured vintage automobiles, live 1950s music, as well as multimedia presentations that recalled the events of the past 50 years.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Community and Economic Development Dennis Yablonsky presented a proclamation from Governor Edward Rendell, who was unable to attend.

CAN DO founder Dr. Edgar L. Dessen was honored with a special presentation of a bronze bust in his likeness that will be on permanent display in CAN DO’s downtown office building. Current CAN DO President W. Kevin O’Donnell, as well as former CAN DO executive director Joseph Yenchko, were also honored for their service to the organization.

The gala celebration was sponsored by many area businesses, most notably the major donors of PPL Electric Utilities and Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services.

Founded in 1956 by Dr. Dessen, CAN DO has been instrumental in the revitalization and economic growth of Greater Hazleton. CAN DO has helped create nearly 20,000 new jobs in Greater Hazleton by locating hundreds of companies throughout its three industrial parks and its business park.

“Since the very beginning, CAN DO’s mission has been to create quality job opportunities for Greater Hazleton,” said CAN DO Chairman Robert J. Moisey. “While the names and faces have changed over the years, the organization is still dedicated to that goal. That’s an impressive testament to the vision Dr. Dessen showed in forming CAN DO.”

CAN DO President W. Kevin O’Donnell said the secret of the organization’s success really belongs to its many volunteers and contributors.

“CAN DO would not be what it is today without the hard work and support of our volunteers and contributors. Valmont Industrial Park was purchased with money donated by the people of Greater Hazleton in CAN DO’s ‘Mile of Dimes’ campaign. Over the years, there have been more fund drives, and throughout them all, Greater Hazleton showed its support of our mission,” O’Donnell said.

Dr. Dessen, reflecting on CAN DO’s accomplishments, said, “Looking back on the past 50 years, I’m very proud of the many staff, volunteers and donors who have helped continue the CAN DO legacy. I’m likewise humbled that we are all gathered here today to celebrate 50 years of CAN DO.”

The origin of the CAN DO name embodies Dessen’s never-say-die spirit in founding the organization. At a meeting with local businessmen, Dessen proposed a fund drive to raise money for the purchase of land to begin Hazleton’s first industrial park. In light of previous unsuccessful fund drives, one local banker told Dessen, “You can’t do it.” The statement rang in Dessen’s mind the rest of the day. Dessen decided to name the fledgling economic development group “CAN DO” in defiance of the banker’s remarks.

Dessen recalled, “Only after several days of thinking were we able to assign a meaning to the acronym. Community Area New Development Organization.”

The idea to create an economic development organization was a direct response to the dying anthracite coal mining industry that had been the backbone of the region’s economy for 150 years. During the 1930s and 40s, oil, gas and electricity were replacing anthracite as the nation’s preferred energy source. This, coupled with the advent of less labor-intensive strip mining, brought about the demise of King Coal, which had been the area’s largest industry.

With unemployment at an all-time high, Dessen, a local radiologist and president of the Chamber of Commerce, recognized the need for a new economic model that would ensure that the people of Greater Hazleton no longer had to rely on one industry to support the economy.

Several public and private fund drives were held to raise the capital needed to purchase lands that would become CAN DO’s industrial parks. Beginning with Valmont Industrial Park in 1957 and continuing through the development of Humboldt Industrial Park today, CAN DO has championed the rebirth of Greater Hazleton’s economy. Such well-known companies like Simmons, OfficeMax, General Mills, Hershey, Stroehmann Bakeries, Hilton Reservations Worldwide and Network Solutions have made CAN DO parks their choice for manufacturing and distribution facilities.

The future of CAN DO and Greater Hazleton continues to look bright as global companies such as Archer Daniels Midland and Coca-Cola North America plan to build new facilities in Humboldt Industrial Park North, an annex to the original Humboldt Park.

In addition to PPL Electric Utilities and Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services, other sponsors included: Legacy Bank; Hazleton Site Contractors; Schumacher Engineering, Inc.; Slusser Brothers; UGI; First Liberty Bank & Trust; ARC Electric; Quandel Construction Services; Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald, LLP; Clough Harbour & Associates, LLP; Pachence & Joyce; Vercusky Painting; Hazleton Plumbing, Heating an Supply Co.; Parente Randolph; T.E.A.M Supply, Inc.; Harrell Automatic Sprinkler Co., Inc.; Nause Landscaping Inc.; JTB Surveying and Engineering; Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania; Walko’s Landscaping and Nursery, Inc.; Hayden Electric; Precision Design; Hazle Builders, Inc.; KNBT Bank; Masonry Preservation Services, Inc.; PNC Bank; High Mountain Hardware, Inc.; and Keystone Control.

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