The Poconos are a way of life | Howard J. Grossman

There are many words and phrases that could describe the Pocono-Northeast. One of these may be Veritas Vita.

Used sometimes in a religious sense, it means The Truth, The Life.

Recently, it was used in a novel by author Steve Berry, and it brought to light, a story line in that book. However, in this region, it may mean the many assets that portray our ability to think through positive elements that enable this region to verify its destiny of becoming major center for economic development with a life that thrives on talent, capability, human services, a place to be meaningful and independent as required.

Think of the region as a geography of ancient history, community living and responsiveness to recessions and other doubtful negatives that have constantly threatened our ability to be a central place for the birth of the industrial revolution, the capacity to induce the greatest regional economic comeback in the history of the United States, and much more.

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Consider our place in the context of civic participation, something which carries goodness and strength way beyond the norm.

For every difficult setting that has faced this region, there has been a positive response, well beyond standard practices found elsewhere. It does not mean that we are better than anywhere else in the world, but we have produced some outstanding and creative people who have taken their place in important positions in many fields such as politics, science, health, education, human services, and so forth.

This includes the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.

• We have produced people and entities to meet challenges and seen a growing commitment to collaboration and exciting ways to focus attention on such values as STEAM, meaning science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. There is a positive feeling of the truth and the life that motivates responses to all problems.
• We are the originators of the Pennsylvania industrial grant programs that have been used to attract new development or enhance existing businesses to expand.
• We have had astonishing men and women who have been part of the region’s movement toward economic development activities that have changed the direction and course of our history in every county in this region.
• We have seen tourism become a major economic engine across the Pocono Mountains and elsewhere.
• We have more recently seen young people take their place in all sectors of the regional economy and become the new leaders of regional life.
• We have been part of the Gilded Age, the military needs of the nation, perhaps more so than found in many other regions, and a growing commitment to both domestic and international development.
• We should be proud of our achievements and not have sluggish feelings about where we live and who we are and represent, which in the past, was far too, difficult to hear and see and feel.

Think of the term Veritas Vita, and what this means as a way to enhance and grow our future for enabling the advancement of the region’s quality of life in coming years, decades, and centuries.Howard J. Grossman, AICP operates his own consulting company, HJG Associates, in Pittston, PA. He has a Master of Public Administration from New York University. He served as Executive Director of the Economic Development Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania (EDCNEPA). He may be contacted at grossmanhj@aol.com.