Economic Development touches everyone in one way or another.

From the clothes on your back to the food that you eat and the car that you drive, at some point, economic development had a hand in the production and transportation of those products.Carbon County is seeing great economic growth with new businesses setting up shop here as well as seasoned entrepreneurs discovering new ways to engage the community and local shoppers.How do we retain our rural character and protect our pristine woodlands and streams and still be able to support and grow existing industries and businesses and in addition attract new companies that can provide other well-paying jobs for our residents?It takes a common-sense comprehensive plan to make sure that we can protect our precious environment and agricultural areas and at the same time provide locations that make sense to develop for future residential, industrial and commercial use.In 2013, our county commissioners approved the Carbon County Comprehensive Plan.The purpose of the plan is to assess our county's assets and address individual communities' concerns; how do we build on the assets we have and address those concerns. What do we want to change and what do we want to save, and how do we encourage the changes we want and preserve what is most valuable about our communities.From agriculture to industry to the environment and tourism, successful economic development means we must work to efficiently steward our resources.Farmers and large landowners should be encouraged to belong to our Agricultural Security Areas which protect farmers from nuisance challenges to their operations and promote voluntary land preservation.Townships should also encourage zoning provisions in agricultural areas to permit a range of accessory activities that allow farmers opportunities for supplemental income and help promote retail sales of products from their farms.Employers can connect with job training programs and other resources to assist them with expansion. Development of "shovel ready" sites such as the West Plant in Palmerton should be ongoing.Strengthen the downtowns and promote them as the business, entertainment, cultural and civic centers for the region.Encourage the businesses to be open on weekends and later in the evenings and aggressively market to customers through joint promotions and social media.Townships and boroughs should encourage historic preservation and greater interest in the region's history and our historic buildings.Welcome new and expanding businesses by making sure that local regulations and permitting processes are as streamlined as is reasonable to avoid unnecessary delays and higher costs.Successful economic development is not just accomplished by one person or entity but by partnerships between all the entities that make up a community.Carbon Chamber and Economic Development continually works to promote our county and the businesses and organizations located here. We're not just a Chamber of Commerce but one of communities as well. We also provide marketing and consulting services as well as low-interest loan programs and lines of credit to established businesses as well as new entrepreneurs.Contact the office at 610-379-5000 to see how you can benefit from the many programs we offer.