Lehigh Valley senator, PPL president tour Penn College labs

Sen. Nick Miller, a Democrat whose 14th senatorial district comprises portions of Lehigh and Northampton counties, visited Pennsylvania College of Technology Thursday, taking in a variety of instructional areas along with members of his staff, college administrators, and state Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23), who chairs the Penn College Board of Directors, and his staff.

Coincidentally, Miller’s campus call overlapped with a visit by Christine M. Martin, president of PPL Electric Utilities, and other PPL employees. (PPL Corporation is based in Allentown, Miller’s home and district office location.) The two groups merged for the same tour, covering construction, electrical, machining, welding, collision repair and automated manufacturing labs. Along the way, they learned about the Clean Energy Center, architecture & sustainable design majors, and the upcoming Baja SAE international competition. 

Earlier in the day, Miller and his entourage stopped at the college’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center near Allenwood for a glimpse into the diesel technology, electric power generation, forestry and horticulture majors before continuing onto the main campus in Williamsport. 

Miller represents one of the fastest-growing regions of the state, home to hundreds of Penn College alumni and an array of the college’s industry partners, including PPL, B. Braun Medical Inc., Lehigh Valley Health Network and St. Luke’s University Health Network. Based on its economic development projects, the Lehigh Valley is ranked #1 in the U.S. among mid-sized markets (population 200,000 to 1 million) by Site Selection magazine and is the 56th largest manufacturing market in the U.S. based on economic output of $8.1 billion in 2022. Home to well-known global and national brands, Lehigh Valley has 15,000 employers and a 1.7 million labor force.

Among the Penn College contingent guiding the visitors across the campuses were President Michael J. Reed; Loni N. Kline, senior vice president for college relations; Patrick Marty, chief government and international relations officer; Alison A. Diehl, executive director of the Clean Energy Center; Kyle A. Smith, senior executive director of college relations; Bradley M. Webb, dean of engineering technologies; and Justin W. Beishline, assistant dean of diesel technologies and natural resources. Also joining was Mike Stefan, vice president for government relations, Penn State. Stefan is the newest member of the Penn College Board of Directors.