The Malvern Institute on Bridge Street hosted Catasauqua Main Street’s quarterly meeting Sept. 27.

Main Streets President Kimberly Brubaker updated the group on the latest activities at Catasauqua’s Iron Works site.

“The borough issued an $11 million bond to build a new municipal building with consolidated emergency services,” she said. “Work is ongoing. The ground is being stabilized and foundation work is expected to start on Oct. 3.”

The goal, according to Brubaker, is to have the building under roof before bad weather sets in. Interior finishes can be completed and opening can be planned for late spring of 2017.

Main Streets member Candace Winkler is looking to digitize information for local businesses.

“We should have the information available, so we can promote local businesses and owners,” she said.

Charles Eckhart, who offers music and voice lessons at his store on Pine Street, was leaning toward phone-oriented marketing.

“In my business, I see more clients relying on Facebook and phone searches than websites,” he said. “My analytics show they rarely look at the website anymore. They are looking for comments from their friends.”

Eckhart and Winkler offered to help borough business owners set up Facebook pages.

“It’s relatively easy and doesn’t take much time, but it is important,” Winkler said.

Brett Butler with Brosky Insurance added that testimonials are critical.

“Sometimes you need to control who is providing reviews because your competitors can add a lot of bad comments, but testimonials are great assets, particularly when there is a name and contact information,” he said.

Main Streets holds quarterly breakfast meetings as a way to attract more business owners to the membership.

“Evening meetings are tough for a lot of the owners, so we opted to try these breakfast meetings,” Brubaker said. The objective for the meetings is not only to share experiences but also to make suggestions to improve the borough.

“Right now we are looking for suggestions on parking,” she said. “It has been a bug-a-boo in the borough. There is a traffic committee looking at the situation, and we can always use more input.”

Everyone in attendance was impressed with the quality of the breakfast menu offered by the host business.

“One of the comments we get from all of our patients is that the food is great,” said Jennifer Lively, executive director for Catasauqua’s Malvern Institute.

Shannon Veneziano is the intitute’s community outreach coordinator.

“The institute started in 1948 primarily focused on alcohol abuse,” she said. “The program we offer is based on a 90-day model. It takes about nine days to get someone out of danger.

“Once someone is released, we follow them closely for another 30 days of outpatient treatment; then we have them in a 12-step program for as long as they need the support.”

Lively noted every patient is assigned a clinician.

“We have a ratio of one clinician to eight patients. We have patients on a very structured schedule,” she said.

Malvern is starting an educational outreach program.

“We started the first class on Oct. 4 and will have one every week during October. There have been plenty of sessions on addiction in the Lehigh Valley and across the state. Our sessions are designed to provide information in a discreet manner,” she said.