Penn's Northeast Marketing Campaign Receives NEDA Award for Excellence

Pittston, PA -- Ever since its incorporation in 2002, Penn's Northeast has been touting Northeast Pennsylvania's workforce as among the very best in the nation.

Now, a Penn's Northeast branding campaign designed to illustrate that very point has been selected as one of the very best in the Northeastern United States.

Penn's Northeast, an economic development organization representing five counties in Northeast Pennsylvania, was recently awarded the 2006 "Best in Show" Award by the Northeast Economic Developers Association (NEDA) for its workforce branding campaign highlighting the skills and dedication of the region's workforce.

The award recognizes the Penn's Northeast campaign as the top branding effort from over 100 different entries submitted by economic development organizations located throughout 11 Northeastern states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont) and the District of Columbia. The prestigious award was presented to Penn's Northeast during NEDA's 50th annual conference held in October in Meredith, New Hampshire.

Economic development professionals in the competition matched their best work against that of their colleagues in a number of categories, ranging from "General Purpose" marketing to "Targeted Industries" strategies to "Annual Reports" and "Internet Websites." The Penn's Northeast branding campaign received the "Best of Show Award" for the top entry across all categories. An outside panel of marketing experts served as judges for the elite competition.

The Penn's Northeast branding campaign, developed by Scranton, PA advertising firm Condron and Company, centered on a "world's best/America's best" direct-mail approach to top level executives in companies throughout the Northeastern United States.

The tagline, "If you are looking for the world's most exceptional wines…go to France. If you are looking for the world's most exceptional workforce…come to Northeast Pennsylvania" was used in one piece. Other pieces cleverly incorporated the world's finest time piece, most valuable treasure and highest performing automobile.

Each mailing was intentionally designed to look like something other than a traditional economic development piece and featured workforce testimonials from at least two local executives. The pieces also included "factoids" that detail Northeast PA's affordability and location advantages. The campaign began in April, 2006 and will continue through 2006-2007.

"We're absolutely delighted and honored to have received this prestigious award from the Northeastern Economic Developers Association," said Penn's Northeast President Jim Cummings. "We're very proud of this highly effective branding effort. But of course, we are most proud of the dedicated and skilled workers in Northeast Pennsylvania for whom it was created."

In addition to winning the "Best in Show" award, Penn's Northeast received an "Excellent" rating for a second entry in Targeted Industry Material category for its "Searchable On-Line Real Estate Database and Business Park Map."

Penn's Northeast is an economic development and marketing organization that serves as a "single point of contact" for a five county (Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike and Wayne) region in Northeast Pennsylvania. The region is increasingly being recognized by companies throughout the United States for its outstanding workforce, close proximity to major East Coast markets, lower cost of doing business and excellent quality of life.

The Northeastern Economic Developers Association consists of over 500 professional economic developers, appointed and volunteer economic development officials, and others committed to sound economic development practice throughout its region of service.