It starts in 1956, when Greater Hazleton's leaders had a serious problem on their hands.

The local mining-based economy was failing as soldiers returned home after World War II to find they didn't have jobs any more. Hard anthracite coal was being replaced by petroleum as the nation's fuel of choice, and mine operators started feeling the pinch.

The decline was fast and steep. The mines employed more than 13,500 men in 1927, but by 1950, that number plummeted to 6,000.

The crushing blow came in 1955, when Hurricane Diane swept up the Atlantic seaboard and dumped several feet of water onto Greater Hazleton. Diane killed most of the area's coal industry by flooding the deep mines. More than half of the remaining coal workers were laid off.

Unemployment skyrocketed, reaching almost 23 percent - and staying there. The local economy had relied on coal for decades; there were no other major employers in Greater Hazleton at the time.

A group of local civic and business leaders couldn't sit back and watch the area fail. They worked with the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, which had already begun attempts to get one new, large industry into the area.

The group, led by respected physician Dr. Edgar L. Dessen, had a common vision to counteract the decline of the sagging local economy.

Calling itself the Community Area New Development Organization, this group coordinated programs to attract new and diverse industries through economic development initiatives. The fledgling development agency decided they needed land they could market to industries.

First, CAN DO volunteers led the Dime-A-Week campaign, which asked workers to contribute $5.20 a year. Another effort asked residents to show their support by taping dimes along Broad Street - Hazleton's main thoroughfare - in the Mile of Dimes campaign. The third project placed lunch pails in businesses around Hazleton to collect loose change.

This combined effort raised $14,000, which was enough to purchase 500 acres of land west of Hazleton - land which would become the Valmont Industrial Park.

Now that CAN DO had land, they needed buildings. A second community fund drive spearheaded by Dessen - CAN DO's first president - sought $500,000 for the creation of "shell" buildings - pre-built facilities ready for industrial clients. Volunteers sold $100 bonds to workers through payroll deduction plans while merchants and businesses contributed cash.

Many thought CAN DO would never be able to raise a half-million dollars in financially strapped Greater Hazleton. But within four weeks, volunteers sold $540,000 in bonds and collected another $200,000 in contributions. The campaign was a complete success.

The United States government recognized the fund-raising effort in a publication: "By this demonstration of civic conscience, men and women fortunate enough to be employed helped create jobs for the less fortunate in Hazleton.''

With available land and money in the bank, CAN DO started work on speculative industrial shell buildings. A regional commission helped out by building roads from Route 93 (known as Route 29 at the time) to the two development sites.

The hard work paid off in 1957, when General Foam Corp. announced it was moving into Valmont Industrial Park. The company, which makes a variety of hard and soft foam rubber products, created 100 new jobs.

Other businesses soon followed, snatching up parcels of land (the VIP has about 900 acres of land today) and building plants or moving into shell buildings. These firms created thousands of new jobs that generated millions of dollars in payroll. As Greater Hazleton got back to work, commercial firms and real estate developers soon followed. Soon, the wheel of progress started turning, as development led to improvements in the quality of life, which attracted more industries, which created more jobs and income, which attracted more commercial development, and so on.

As the interstate highway system spread across America, CAN DO successfully fought to bring major roadways near Greater Hazleton. Local exits on Interstate 81, which passes one mile west of Valmont on a north-south line from Canada to the Deep South, first opened in 1965, ten years before the entire route through Pennsylvania was complete. Greater Hazleton's exits on Interstate 80, which winds from New York City west to San Francisco, Calif., also opened in 1965, five years before the highway was completely finished in the commonwealth.

Greater Hazleton is known as "The Crossroads of the East" because the junction of I-80 and I-81 lies just six miles north of Valmont. Also, Interstate 80 links Greater Hazleton to the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which passes about 20 miles east of downtown Hazleton.

CAN DO developed more parcels inside Valmont, then built the infrastructure to service those sites, thanks to community fund drives in 1959 and 1964. Together, these drives raised more than $2.2 million for economic development.

The success of the Valmont Industrial Park led CAN DO to consider developing other areas. Planning for another park west of downtown Hazleton began in 1968, and CAN DO purchased the land in 1970.

The Humboldt Industrial Park opened two years later. Located along Route 924 a few miles south of Hazleton, this 1,100-acre parcel was designed to be an industrial park from the start, with its own water source and sewer system. Humboldt is not only less than a mile from an exit on Interstate 81, but it's also rail-served.

In 1987, two demanding clients didn't like either the Valmont or Humboldt parks, so CAN DO took them to a 200-acre tract of land it owned near McAdoo, a few miles south of downtown Hazleton on Route 309. This land belonged to CAN DO since the '60s, but hadn't been developed. Once these clients expressed an interest in the site, the economic development agency obtained a $1.5 million grant from the state to develop infrastructure in the park.

Opened in 1989, the McAdoo Industrial Park fills the need for a highly economical location for those not interested in a high-tech, high-profile site. Featuring very attractive land costs, the park is one-half mile from Route 309 just south of Hazleton. The opening of the Southwest Beltway, which links Route 309 and Interstate 81, increased access to the McAdoo park.

Recognizing there was a shortage of white-collar jobs in the area, CAN DO began an effort to establish a business park by purchasing a 1,000-acre tract of land in Butler Township in the early 1990s.

This park, the CAN DO Corporate Center, is geared toward white collar, back office, and light assembly operations. An ultra-modern business park, the Corporate Center features a unique environmentally sensitive design known as the Terrarium Concept, which preserves the natural ecological beauty of its surroundings. Developed by a CAN DO planning team of local community and business leaders, this seemingly simple strategy was original enough to earn CAN DO the 1993 Environmental Excellence in Economic Development award from the Arthur D. Little organization, a highly respected international management and technology consulting firm.

Completed in late 1995, the CAN DO Corporate Center is strategically located adjacent to Interstate 80, minutes from Interstate 81, and features such modern amenities as a dual power supply to each site, the latest communications technology, recreation areas and a conservation preserve.

By the mid-1990s, CAN DO recognized the need to expand the Humboldt Industrial Park and, in early 1996, started work on a western section. About 300 acres of rail-served industrial property attracted attention from developers from the start, but Humboldt West (as it came to be called) flourished after much of it was declared a Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) in 1998.

Under the KOZ program, select companies that moved into a site would be exempt from all state, county, municipal and school district taxes through 2011. Soon, international companies such as OfficeMax, the office supply superstore, and Haworth, the world's second largest furniture manufacturer, built massive distribution centers which would serve millions of customers along the eastern seaboard. Excel Corporation, a subsidiary of Cargill, the #1 Forbes Fortune 500 Private Company, broke ground on a state-of-the-art meat processing facility in spring 2001.

With the success of Humboldt West, CAN DO turned its attention elsewhere. Officials began design and development of Humboldt North, a 400-acre, 21-parcel, rail-served site across Route 924 from the original Humboldt park. This site received a $709,000 grant from the state to help convert some mine-scarred lands into productive industrial lots. Work on Humboldt North is now largely complete and the park is ready for occupancy.

CAN DO officials also started work on Humboldt East. This 200-acre, all-KOZ section is nearly complete and is attracting interest from site selection consultants and developers.

CAN DO has racked up some amazing numbers: more than 20,000 jobs created since the beginning, 270 development projects, almost $1.5 billion in private investment, more than $5 million in taxes generated for local municipalities and school districts, and more than $275 million in annual payroll.

The partnership between CAN DO and the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce remains, stronger than ever. Both groups collaborate on projects of mutual concern, and work closely with local municipal governments to improve the quality of life for everyone in the region.

A unique group of community volunteers and dedicated staff, CAN DO stands as a pillar of economic development excellence whose impact on the history of a moderate Northeastern Pennsylvania community and the lives of its residents is extraordinary. The awards have been hung, the recognition of national magazines and television networks tucked away for posterity, and the accolades and praise of industry experts modestly accepted.

Now, with one foot braced on its past accomplishments, CAN DO is poised to leap with its ambitious vision well into the 21st century… and beyond!