In Big Valley, even an economic development event feels like a homecoming
By Cara Aungst
Last Wednesday, Ben Franklin Technology Partners collaborated with the Juniata Valley Chamber of Commerce for an entrepreneurial networking event celebrating innovation, connection, and the power of community in the tiny town of Reedsville.
The event was a small revolution. It took the Centre Region Entrepreneurial Network (CREN) model that strategically brings local thought leaders together in an informal setting, allowing “random collisions of goodness” to occur naturally, and added a twist.
Food and drink tickets led attendees through a culinary walking tour of local gems: smashburgers from Reedsville Creamery, artisan coffee from East End, gourmet bites from Revival Kitchen, small plates from Pass the Dutchie, and nostalgic subs from Stone House Market. Each guest was also handed a bouquet from local grower Back Mountain Flowers — a warm, unexpected gesture that perfectly captured the evening’s tone.
“Only in Big Valley do you go to an economic development event and walk away with flowers,” Greg Woodman, HappyValley Industry’s publisher, quipped to me as we met up on Hallmark movie Main Street during the event.
As a writer who lives in Belleville (Reedsville’s sister town) and has worked most of my career in State College, I couldn’t help but feel the deeper significance of the night: This wasn’t just a networking event. It was a bridge across a mountain — literal and metaphorical — that too often divides.
For locals in Mifflin County, Seven Mountains is just called “The Mountain,” (there is even a website called howsthemountain.com for commuters to check before they scale it on their way to their Happy Valley job). Sometimes it seems like economic vibrance only flows one way, in spokes radiating out from Penn State.
But Mifflin County has always had a gritty, hardworking entrepreneurial mindset, something even more evident over the past few years with a resurgence of manufacturing and small businesses — like the establishments that line the charming streets of Reedsville. These businesses have been championed by the Juniata Valley Chamber of Commerce, and more recently, by Todd Erdley, Central Regional Director at Ben Franklin Technology Partners.
The event’s sponsors — Kish Bank, CBICC, Happy Valley LaunchBox, Geisinger, MCIDC, SEDA-COG, and others — helped make the evening possible. But it was the people who made it unforgettable. College deans and startup founders, economic developers and restaurateurs, bankers and brewers — all sharing burgers, ideas, and visions for a stronger, more unified region.
“Taking a risk and doing something that has never been done before is what defines us,” Todd Erdley said in an email to attendees after the event. “This foundational point is what allows people from all types of businesses that are scattered all over Pennsylvania to come together for a night of amazing networking. We quickly learned how much we have in common. We literally saw that our tribe is way bigger than we might have imagined. And through this, we hopefully made connections that are meaningful and impactful.”
It turns out that tribe includes farmers and founders, baristas and bankers — all brought together not by a keynote speaker, but by the simple belief that progress happens when we meet as neighbors first.
And maybe, just maybe, when we leave with flowers in hand.
