First Friday art walks are held on the first Friday of every month at galleries and businesses around Downtown Scranton. Paintings, photography, sculpture, music, performance art…you never know what you’ll find at First Friday in Scranton.

Support local artists and businesses and mingle with your Northeastern Pennsylvania neighbors, all in a casual atmosphere. Hope to see you there!

Leave a comment and let us know what you’re doing to celebrate Veterans Day.

First Friday art walks are held on the first Friday of every month at galleries and businesses around Downtown Scranton. Paintings, photography, sculpture, music, performance art…you never know what you’ll find at First Friday in Scranton.

Support local artists and businesses and mingle with your Northeastern Pennsylvania neighbors, all in a casual atmosphere. Hope to see you there!

First Friday art walks are held on the first Friday of every month at galleries and businesses around Downtown Scranton. Paintings, photography, sculpture, music, performance art…you never know what you’ll find at First Friday in Scranton.

Support local artists and businesses and mingle with your Northeastern Pennsylvania neighbors, all in a casual atmosphere. Hope to see you there!

As long as he can remember, playing and working on the boats around Lake Wallenpaupack has been the biggest part of Kevin Trevor’s life.So when the time came to decide on a career path, he never considered pursuing anything other than what he loves doing.

Upon returning home from the Marine Mechanics Institute in Florida, Trevor discovered a nearby marina business had closed leaving hundreds of customers underserved. It was an ideal opportunity to put his education and experience to work so in 2009, the seeds were planted for New Wave in Recreation. Trevor’s parents, who have extensive industry experience, provided unconditional support and became his first two employees.

As the business blossomed, Trevor realized the current location was too small and moved into a larger facility. The entrepreneur also decided to look into MetroAction’s loan program for the financing he needed to sustain New Wave’s growth.

“The staff at MetroAction really understands the needs of small business owners, and shared my vision for New Wave’s continued success,” says Trevor, who borrowed $20,000 for working capital and inventory.

“I also attended MetroAction’s Small Business Institute where I learned about the importance of taking a step back from my day to day responsibilities and looking at the big picture of owning a business.”

With his dream of owning a marina business now a reality, the future looks promising for Trevor who recently became a franchisee of Boat U.S. offering fuel, repair, and towing discounts to members; the only one in the surrounding area.

For more information on MetroAction’s loans visit www.MetroAction.org or call (570) 341-0270.

Nominations for the 2nd Annual SAGE Awards- Scranton’s Awards for Growth and Excellence.

Are you proud of what your company has achieved over the past year? Get the recognition you deserve! The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and MetroAction are proud to present the 2nd annual SAGE Awards. The SAGE Awards, which stands for Scranton’s Awards for Growth and Excellence, celebrate the outstanding efforts of our local business community and their talent, creativity, and innovation. Applications are still available in 21 categories and the deadline for submission is September 9th.

The SAGE Awards give businesses and other organizations the opportunity to showcase themselves and demonstrate their success to the community. It is also a great way to open doors to new opportunities. In addition to the 21 award categories to apply for, all finalists will be entered into the People’s Choice Award category and the recipient will be determined by a community-wide popular vote.

Recipients will be announced at the Chamber Gala on November 11.  Nomination forms, instructions and judging criteria for the SAGE Awards are available at www.scrantonSAGEawards.com.   For more information, contact
info@scrantonSAGEawards.com.

“We are excited about this ranking.  The City, County and the Chamber have spent years investing in infrastructure, development projects and skills development to create opportunities for our community,”  says Austin Burke, President, The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.  “This recognition illustrates what we have known all along — that Scranton is scoring high when it comes to job prospects and affordable housing.”

A number of Chamber-led projects are contributing to the area’s growth and development, such as SLIBCO‘s development of Mount Pleasant Corporate Center, the Regional Bioscience Initiative, small business lending programs through MetroAction and the Skills in Scranton workforce education programs, among others.

“These rankings validate the hard work of our partners, the community and the continued team approach led by the Chamber,” adds Paula Mackarey, Board Chair, The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.

And as our clients grow, MetroAction continues to grow, too.  Through a variety of programs and services, we are dedicated to furthering our mission of nurturing businesses through every stage of their life cycles.  This year, MetroAction increased access to small business financing, hosted a number of business development programs, and honored the entrepreneurial successes that surround us.

Twitter is an information network used by millions of people, organizations, and businesses to discover and share new information every day. Everyone from techies to celebrities is using Twitter and it’s bringing people together in ways never thought possible.

This real-time information network connects you to the latest information about whatever you find interesting. On Twitter, anyone can read, write, and share messages of up to 140 characters.  These messages or Tweets are public and available to anyone. And you don’t have to “tweet” to enjoy Twitter.

As a business you can use Twitter to connect to customers in real-time, share information about your products and services, gather market intelligence and insights, and build relationships.

MetroAction wants to know:

How is your small business using Twitter?  Tell us your story.

If you’re feeling out of the loop and are just beginning to explore Twitter or have questions about how to get started, MetroAction is offering a “Getting Started with Twitter” webinar on Thursday, May 19 from 9:00 – 11:00 AM.

This webinar will cover:

• How Twitter works and current trends
• Setting up a Twitter account
• Generating content to tweet
• Growing your network
• Incorporating Twitter into your marketing and social media strategy
• Helpful resources

Cost is $25 per person.  Pre-registration is required.  Register today!

After being referred by Ron Sebastianelli, vice president and commercial loan officer of Honesdale National Bank, Kromko and Smith turned to MetroAction for financing options and help writing their business plan.

“HNB wanted to develop a partnership with Christine and Doug- something we could grow a relationship on, and we saw that opportunity in MetroAction’s loan programs.   I was happy to learn that they were able to assist Jake’s Carpet, a longstanding fixture in the Hamlin community,” says Sebastianelli.

MetroAction tailored a loan for Kromko and Smith that suited their needs much in the same way the entrepreneurs work with their customers to make a house a home.  Their $20,000 loan was used for working capital and to purchase new computer software.  “MetroAction believed in us as much as we believe in ourselves,” adds Kromko.

And the community is taking notice too. Jake’s was recently named 2010 Poconos’ Choice leader in carpet and flooring.