The Dynamics of Wilkes-Barre’s Business Landscape: Where We Were, Where We Are and What's Ahead

If you were to look at the city of Wilkes-Barre in the early 20th century, you would have seen numerous mom and pop shops lining downtown. In the late 1970s, small businesses were moving away from the downtown due to the introduction of the Wyoming Valley Mall.

Wilkes-Barre’s business landscape has shifted and fluctuated for decades. Downtown Wilkes-Barre saw the loss in brick and mortar shops due to the larger retail chains. Now, in the year 2020, malls are on the decline and the small businesses that have returned to the area brought their entrepreneurial spirit with them.

Where We Were

Chuck Pierce, Interim Director of the Allan P. Kirby Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, works closely with business development organizations in the Wilkes-Barre area and experienced the changing landscape of small businesses over the years firsthand. Pierce noticed the resurgence of small business in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

“The trend seems businesses are shying away from malls and returning to brick and mortar shops,” said Pierce.

According to the Family Business Alliance, family businesses make up the majority of businesses in this area. Thus, they have a profound impact on the overall business landscape. The return of small businesses has made the once dim downtown into a busy hub for entrepreneurs.

“The next generation is very entrepreneurial and has to be for the business to continue because companies that started off with one mission now have just changed and could be producing completely other products,” said Sue Reilly, executive director of the Family Business Alliance.

One specific example that Reilly described is the A. Rifkin & Company, who started off developing bags to transport money over 140 years ago. Now, most of that process is automatically done via machines, and they have expanded their services to making luggage, clothing and uniforms.

Guard, an insurance company, is another example, which was started by a family in Wilkes-Barre two generations ago. The daughter acquired it from her father and made an exponential advancement before selling it to Berkshire Hathaway. Ever since, Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance has maintained a significant presence in the area and has over 600 employees in the downtown.

Warren Buffet, the owner of Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance, praised the location of Wilkes-Barre in his annual letter to shareholders. The annual letter discussed the profits in 2019, as well as an update on the business landscape as a whole and highlighted the substantial positive impact it has provided in the downtown.

Where We Are

Executive Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development, Terri Ooms, further shed light on the potential for small businesses within the Wilkes-Barre community. The area is in a centralized location as it is at a crossroads of several major highways and interstates connecting to major cities.

People can travel to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. in just a few hours. Existing business owners or entrepreneurs looking to start their business can reach a large part of the market within an 8-hour radius.

Centers like the Allan P. Kirby Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, the Small Business Development Center, the Family Business Alliance and the Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce are also in convenient proximity.

Although they are separate business development entities, they make up the committed group of business leaders in the community dedicated to rendering resources, mentoring and networking opportunities for entrepreneurs. These organizations have played a significant role in the entrepreneurial success in the area.

“When people would come to any economic development agency, 90 to 95% of entrepreneurs who were coming into these organizations had a very high success rate,” said Pierce.

To maintain a high success rate, these organizations have developed a variety of specific programs to facilitate a strong business community.

Leadership Wilkes-Barre is one of the programs which brings these community leaders together. This program seeks to develop leadership skills in professionals through networking, team building and awareness in northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA).

“Different leaders in the area have built a cluster, especially in Wilkes-Barre, where people are able to freely get together and speak,” said Pierce.

There are also programs, such as Junior Leadership and Intercollegiate Leadership Wilkes-Barre, for high school and college students where various community leaders can introduce networking and leadership skills to budding professionals and entrepreneurs.

“There are more organizations now than ever, and all of these people want to help one another because everyone’s success is tied to the others,” said Pierce.

This sense of community among businesses is beneficial for all parties involved because it not only helps the city by fostering inclusiveness, but it is encouraging students to acknowledge the opportunities of working in NEPA and making the area a part of their career path.

“In the past 4 years, we have seen an uptick in the number of small businesses, and they just create a lot of energy in the downtown area,” said Dorothy Lane, director of the Small Business Development Center.

These businesses have primarily been restaurants, like Rodanos and coffee shops, like Pour and Abide. Lane continued to explain that these businesses have drawn more people to the downtown area who are likely to spend their money. This was strategically planned by the Chamber and the City of Wilkes-Barre in the past with the integration of RC Theatres Movies 14 and the F.M. Kirby Center for Performing Arts.

As a result of the atmosphere that has been established, people have been more inclined to return to northeastern Pennsylvania. Due to the wide recognition of the area’s return rate, there has been an acknowledgment that the region is changing and evolving.

“About 80 to 90% of entrepreneurs who left the area have come back to this area with new experience and expertise,” said Pierce.

In addition, several buildings have been revamped into apartments and condos for people who want to experience all the amenities within walking distance. As a result, there is a spurring economic development which is allowing larger corporations to be attracted to the area.

In the past few years, the Wilkes-Barre economy has been slowly evolving due to younger generations integrating their businesses into the area, many of them being technology-related.

“One of the biggest catalysts was when a company called Pepperjam, an internet marketing agency, under entrepreneur, Kris Jones, started in the early 2000s,” states Ooms.

Jones is originally from northeastern Pennsylvania and followed the trend of returning to the region. Jones was able to grow a workforce under Pepperjam, thus demonstrating that the area was a place of opportunity.

In 2009, he sold Pepperjam to eBay for millions of dollars. Having the name recognized by eBay being housed out Wilkes-Barre was pivotal, and it attracted even more people to the city.

“This area is becoming a hub for tech companies. Tons of opportunities, even without a technology background, have developed from the hub. Support services like human resources and marketing are all needed as well,” said Dorothy Lane, director of the Small Business Development Center.

Consequently, the area is home to and surrounded by several colleges and universities. These technology-focused companies were successful in acquisition and recruitment, as they pay a higher wage and attract the younger demographic according to Lane. Students can apply for internships and graduates can seek out full-time positions with these companies.

Despite this, however, the area has experienced somewhat of a “brain drain,” where students are educated in the area and then leave in search of other opportunities. Lane explained that due to this, students can have the opportunity to climb the corporate ladder much quicker if they remain in the area.

“It's not like how it used to be. Now, a lot of the small companies are hiring and are attractive to students as there is opportunity for forging your own path, taking on different roles, and even potentially several roles at a time,” said Lane.

Where We’re Headed

The workforce is continuing to thrive in Wilkes-Barre due to the exposure of professional resources, a lively college environment and continuous excitement in the region. While there are many positives to the emerging and existing small businesses, there are still challenges they need to overcome.

“The infrastructure to support these businesses is one of the major downfalls to this area,” mentioned Pierce.

Currently, the key issues that consumers are facing with infrastructure include access to affordable housing, transportation, rentable space and taxes. These components, along with the discretionary spending of the consumer, play a pivotal part in the success of a small business.

To combat this, the area has taken great strides to change the infrastructure of Wilkes-Barre by providing public transportation within and outside the city. For example, the Luzerne County Transportation Authority is in the process of relocating their institution near the heart of Wilkes-Barre, making it more convenient to a larger population of people.

In addition to the infrastructure, there are other challenges that the businesses in Wilkes-Barre have been facing.

“Small businesses are having to be creative to survive,” said Reilly.

For businesses that have been around for generations, the younger generations are helping create an online presence to stay connected in the current digital era. With most businesses expanding online, adopting new digital strategies are key to building their brand recognition and attracting new customers to the small business.

Social media and website development have become a necessary part in developing and maintaining any business. The utilization of these techniques allows key messages to be distributed to a larger consumer base and causes an increase in overall purchasing decisions.

Businesses have also been challenged with facilitating, not only an attractive organizational culture but a cohesive and inclusive one. Reilly addressed several questions that potential employees might ask when considering submitting an application including: How do I feel walking into that business? Is it inclusive or built on key people? Are they open to changing the culture?

With the state of the economy, everyone is looking for qualified employees. A large percent of these businesses are family-owned and thus, might not fit this mold as they typically recruit people in their family which can create an inflexible atmosphere.

Thus, to provide a more inclusive organizational culture, Reilly suggested that businesses should look to recruit employees outside of their circle. She also addressed that Wilkes-Barre has shown some progress in this facet.

“Gertrude Hawk has brought in key players that are not family and have done extremely well,” said Reilly.

Reilly also explained that Benco Dental, one of the largest family businesses in the area, is known for its inclusive and receptive organizational culture. Due to its wide success, it does not necessarily brand itself as a family business. Thus, it does not mean that smaller family businesses do not have the potential to develop and become more successful.

Furthermore, there is a struggle to establish businesses due to the state of the overall economy. Wilkes-Barre has not reached its potential as a key contributor to the economy.

“The economy has always been less than average, and we haven’t seen much growth in a long period of time,” says Ooms.

With that, employment has been slow in the past years, but it has been increasing, making small businesses trivial to improve the Wilkes-Barre economy.

Even though there are challenges in the local economy, small businesses still have an economic impact on the area. With better wages, production levels, and jobs, more people are working and spending money, and it has been circulating the economy.

“You look around and you see new restaurants and realize it's a family doing them; family businesses are great for the economy,” said Reilly.

Expanding as a community, the Wilkes-Barre landscape has been undergoing transformative changes due to the impact of small businesses. They are the backbone of the economy and contribute to the entrepreneurial spirit and passion of the region.

“Entrepreneurship is a buzzword. Everyone wants to get involved in one way or another,” said Lane.

With this said, there is always room for growth, but this does not take away from the overall strides that have been made to the Wilkes-Barre business landscape.