The Allentown Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) and Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski today named Capital BlueCross as the inaugural “Business of the Month” at a news conference.

Capital BlueCross was selected by members of the Business Recruitment and Retention Committee of Allentown Ahead, a volunteer group of AEDC, on the basis of its tenure as an anchor in Allentown’s Central Business District.  Capital BlueCross employs more than 200 people at the Downtown Allentown location, which it has occupied since 1970, in such professionals fields as customer service, claims, clinical and sales.  “Capital BlueCross is honored to be named Allentown’s first Business of the Month recipient by Allentown Ahead,” said Bill Lehr, Capital BlueCross president & CEO. “This is particularly special considering how strong the business community is in Allentown, making for many viable candidates and healthy competition. The Allentown area and its wealth of business and civic offerings have always been a huge part of our history, our success and our reason for being. We are looking forward to serving the people of this community, its businesses and its merchants for years to come.”  

“It’s important to recognize the valuable contributions made by businesses to make Allentown a better place to live, work and play,” said Pawlowski.  “The “Business of the Month” designation is one way of bringing attention to their outstanding efforts.” 

 Allentown Ahead is a group of business and community leaders dedicated to continuously improving the business climate in the city.  Members lend their time and expertise toward solving some of the more difficult problems related to economic development in the City Of Allentown.  The Allentown Ahead committees – Business Recruitment & Retention, Real Estate Development & Marketing – make policy recommendations to city officials, facilitate meetings with local business owners, coordinate with neighborhood groups, guide economic development strategy, advise on branding decisions and work tirelessly to promote Allentown as a destination for work and play. "The Business Recruitment and Retention Committee created the Business of the Month program because we believe outreach to and recognition of the extraordinary businesses in the City is one of the best ways to retain businesses in the City and encourage new ones to move here.  As this program moves forward we plan to recognize businesses of all sizes and types and hope that community members will nominate other worthy recipients,” said Jack Gross, Committee Chair and Partner at Gross McGinley LLP.  The Business Recruitment & Retention Committee is accepting nominations to be reviewed in February.  Please send nominations to businessofthemonth@allentownahead.com along with a brief description of how the business exemplifies excellence.