As we close out 2021, HappyValley Industry is looking toward a new year of bringing you stories of success, challenges, innovation, and change that you won’t read anywhere else. Here are the stories we’re watching for 2022 and news about our expanded coverage, which will tell even more business stories beyond the tech sector in the year to come.
New Year, New Coverage
HappyValley Industry was created to shine a spotlight on the area’s emerging tech sector, bringing focus and attention to big stories of discovery, innovation, funding, and growth that rarely make their way to local media. Support and advice from local industry leaders are driving the evolution of our mission to broaden the scope of stories we cover and include more local business segments. While we’ll continue to prioritize technology, look for new variety in our editorial in 2022. From the real estate to startups to success stories, we’ll continue digging deep with business leaders who call Happy Valley home.
The Impact of Private Equity
The past 18 months were marked by major private equity investments in Happy Valley firms, including Blue Mountain Quality Resources, BioMagnetic Solutions, Phospholutions, Videon, and EnergyCAP. We’ll be following the impact of these deals and other big news from these emerging companies, like BioMagnetic Solutions’ commitment to growth at Innovation Park and EnergyCAP’s new CEO.
The Business of Penn State
One of Pennsylvania’s biggest businesses is right here in Happy Valley, with its $7.7 billion budget driving employment, R&D, tourism, and more, and turning out new talent by the tens of thousands every year. How will the university evolve under the leadership of new President Neeli Bendapudi? We’re looking forward to analyzing the economics and impact of the new reality of college football — along with the name, image, and likeness (NIL) and retaining coaching talent to drive success — and measuring how it affects tourism dollars coming into Happy Valley. We’ll be watching and reporting on those stories as they unfold.
Talent & Tourism in a Pandemic World
The pandemic drove monumental shifts in the workforce. Talent migrated from big cities into areas like Happy Valley that offer a better quality of life amid new opportunities to telecommute. We’ll follow-up with Happy Valley-based human resources experts on their efforts to keep this trend going.
The pandemic hit the tourism industry especially hard, but Happy Valley’s hotels, restaurants, and attractions bounced back big-time. According to the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, Happy Valley witnessed record football weekend room revenue year in 2021. Total revenue for the seven home games was more than $13.2 million, topping the 2018 amount of slightly more than $13.1 million. Beyond football visitors, July weekend occupancy was stronger in 2021 than 2019 and 2018 even without the benefit of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, People’s Choice and Philipsburg Heritage Days. Building on its existing Nittany Lion fan base, Happy Valley is capitalizing on the charm, natural beauty, recreational opportunities, and hyper-local food and beverage trends to attract new visitors. We’ll have exclusive interviews on plans to maintain this positive momentum.
Your Input on Our 2022 Editorial
Every week our publisher and editorial team carefully review our readership analytics to make sure future content is hitting the mark. The best indication of our success is your feedback. Tell us what you’d like to see in the New Year.
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