BlackOutDesign

Wilkes-Barre Connect

As a company with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to contribute to NEPA’s economic development, our work with Wilkes-Barre Connect, a new initiative supporting local entrepreneurs, start-ups, and college students, is special to us.

Blackout provided design and development of the website launched in November of 2016 for the initiative that is administered by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber and facilitated by a committee of strategic partners. In addition, our design of its business cards and rack cards helped the Wilkes-Barre Connect team spread awareness of the new program among regional business and education partners.

On Wednesday, Megan and I had the opportunity to experience a Wilkes-Barre Connect event for ourselves at its impressive 6,000 square-foot THINK Center, a co-working space featuring a 50-seat theater and multimedia conference rooms housed inside the Innovation Center in the heart of downtown Wilkes-Barre.

It was fitting that the featured speaker was Helen Lavelle, CEO and chief strategist of the Lavelle Strategy Group, another advertising agency that got its start in NEPA, for the value the region offers through a supportive and close-knit network.

Lavelle emphasized to aspiring female entrepreneurs that the key to success isn’t having all the answers—Lavelle herself was just 28 when she started her own agency before going on to chair the American Advertising Federation. In essence, her advice to young women was that talent is inherent to the individual; therefore, leaving your hometown isn’t necessary to find success.

As two women working for a small business founded in NEPA, we wholeheartedly agree.