Howard Lieberman, of the Whitehall Township Industrial & Commercial Development Authority, attended a recent North Catasauqua Borough Council meeting to describe his organization's work in the region.

The authority's purpose is to provide resources for starting and growing businesses. Despite its name, the authority is licensed under the commonwealth and can assist businesses beyond Whitehall Township, anywhere in the state.

"We are looking for economic things we can do to promote job creation," Lieberman said at the Sept. 24 meeting. "There is no membership. This is a handshake, saying we'd like to work together."

Although the authority does not assist businesses with zoning and planning, they offer professional advice and guidance on accessing state and federal funding and bond financing for projects that would lead to job growth and employment in industrial, commercial and technology fields. Among the successful strategies is getting small municipalities to work together when applying for funding.

He pointed to Whitehall Township's Lehigh Valley Dairy property and Catasauqua's FL Smidth property, recently purchased by the Borough of Catasauqua, as examples of development projects the authority might assist with. Coplay and Catasauqua recently joined with Whitehall Township to jointly apply for a City Revitalization Investment Zone status so that tax incentives could be offered to businesses for property development in the area.

Councilman William McGinley commented that additional business development in the area could put a heavy burden on the roads and bridges in the region. He indicated North Catasauqua will have a problem in this area even without any additional business development.

He said when the Hokendauqua Bridge is completed and the Coplay-Northampton Bridge is shut down for reconstruction, the detouring of traffic will bring heavy road usage into North Catasauqua.

"I don't think the state is aware of our situation," he said. "Funding for properties is great, but we need funding for our infrastructure."

Laura Long, director of the Whitehall Area Chamber of Commerce (WACC), also attended the meeting to extend an invitation to the borough to join her organization, which draws members from beyond Whitehall Township. She invited council members and borough administration, residents and business owners in North Catasauqua to visit the WACC office on MacArthur Boulevard.

She said the benefits include promotion of events on the WACC website, access to group health insurance and networking with other business owners and community leaders, and invited borough representatives to bring ideas to the chamber with regard to services the borough might find beneficial.