ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk is set to again deliver his 2024 State of the City address early this week.
His speech is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Ritter Elementary School.
“The event is free and open to the public,” Allentown Communications Manager Genesis Ortega said. “We’ll even have dinner for those who attend, too.”
Tuerk first presented his 2024 address Jan. 11 to the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Hundreds of chamber members and many city officials attended the event at 615 Waterfront, where tickets for nonmembers of the chamber cost almost $90.
The mayor recapped his first two years in office before laying out his short-term goals.
Tuerk said he’s “championed change” as mayor, “transforming City Hall into a data-driven, listening and learning organization."
“Our team tried lots of new things in season one; we observed the results, and then we made adjustments for season two,” Tuerk said.
More than 7,500 construction permits were issued in 2023 — a five-year high — while 525 new businesses were granted licenses, the most in three years, Tuerk said.
“There is a lot of good energy around what’s to come in 2024."Allentown Communications Manager Genesis Ortega
“There is a lot of good energy around what’s to come in 2024,” Ortega said Wednesday.
Tuerk this month told LehighValleyNews.com his administration will focus on “about 10 things” in 2024, including public safety, reducing pedestrian and traffic fatalities and cleaning up the city.
A federal grant program that could send up to $50 million to Allentown will play a pivotal role in the city’s success this year, Tuerk said.
The U.S. Economic Development Administration in December selected 22 proposals — including Allentown’s — as finalists for its Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program.
The program is expected to distribute $200 million in grants for “economic and workforce development projects that connect workers to good jobs in geographically diverse and persistently distressed communities across the country,” according to the EDA.
