Wayne Bank Ranks Amongst Top Banks in the Country Wayne Bank, a subsidiary of Norwood Financial Corp (Nasdaq Global Market – NWFL), was recently ranked by Bank Director magazine as one of the top 25 best banks in the country in their Ranking Banking, The Best US Banks 2023 publication. Wayne Bank was also ranked number ten (#10) in the country for banks in the $1B-$5B asset size category. Bank Director applied a consistent set of metrics to determine the best banks, based on calendar year 2022 results. Wayne Bank was evaluated on its profitability, capital adequacy, asset quality, and total shareholder return. For this 2023 study, Bank Director identified The Best U.S. Banks 2023: those that balance growth and profitability, deliver long-term shareholder value, and execute their goals in a safe and sound manner. They also examined factors that drive performance, including growth, leadership, board oversight, and technological innovation. President and Chief Executive Officer, James O. Donnelly, stated, “We are delighted and honored to be on both prestigious lists of The Best U.S. Banks 2023. Our inclusion in the Top 25 Banks in the Country overall is an accomplishment we have never before achieved. Last year, Wayne Bank was ranked at number seventy-one for banks in our asset size. This year we are proud to say that our dedication and commitment to shareholders, employees, customers, and our communities has helped us rise to number ten in our asset size. This is a testament to the dedication of our employees and to executing our strategic vision.”
The Waverly Community House Announces Fall Programs The Waverly Community House will host a three-week Gardening Series at The Waverly Community House. The first week is spring bulb planting. The second week is deer-resistant plants. The third week is fall gardening. This will take place Wednesdays 6:00-7:30 PM September 13th through September 27th or Thursdays 10:00-11:30AM September 14th through September 28th. The registration fee is $25 for all three classes. Participants will receive 10 bulbs each to plant in their own gardens! Click here to register. The class second is a beginner-level Spanish class for grades 6-8 with Kelly Lynott at The Waverly Community House. Kelly Lynott will teach beginner-level Spanish classes for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at the Comm! No previous Spanish experience is required, and it is intended for kids who show a genuine interest in learning the language. Students are required to bring a notebook, folder, and pencils. Access to cell phones for digital flashcards is encouraged but not required. Max capacity 10 students. This class will focus on greetings, basic phrases, and present tense verbs via reading, writing, and speaking. The class will begin on September 20th, 2023, and run for eight weeks (with no class on October 11th). It will be on Wednesdays 3:00 pm—3:45 pm COST: $100 at the CRB room. Advanced registration is required. Registration includes Instruction and a take-home textbook. Click here to register. The third class is an Introduction to Spanish for Adults. The objective of this six-week course is to establish a foundational understanding of the Spanish language through practical vocabulary development, a stock of frequently used phrases, and an idea of fundamental grammar and cultural perspectives. It will be Tuesdays for six at 6:00 PM beginning September 19th in the CRB Room. The cost is $65. Click here to register. The fourth class is a children’s mixed media art class for ages 7-12 years. There is no experience necessary. It will be Wednesdays from 3:30-5:00 pm. on September 20th through October 4th. The cost is $110 for a six-week series. All supplies are included and will take place in the Scout Room at The Comm. Click here to register.
The Wright Center Offers Training to Jump-start Career in Health Care In one word, Melissa Lemus can sum up why she applied to the National Institute for Medical Assistant Advancement while trying to jump-start her career and land a job as a medical assistant. “Flexibility,” she says. As a single mother of two, the Scranton resident needed a training program to propel her toward her goals while not breaking her budget or forcing her to quit her day job to take classes. The institute’s program offered Lemus the best of everything: lower tuition and lots of freedom to set her own schedule. “The classes are online,” she says. “I was able to work during the day, then go home, take care of my kids, and do online coursework. It was a lot to juggle. But I knew I could do it.” Lemus, 28, became the first person to complete the institute’s program through a training partnership with The Wright Center for Community Health. She graduated from the program in October 2022 and started a full-time job as a certified clinical medical assistant (MA) in the same building where she trained – The Wright Center for Community Health Scranton Practice. The institute, based in Denver, Colorado, partners with health centers nationwide to offer job-training opportunities to people in their home communities. Its program is designed to allow participants to become medical assistants faster and at less cost than many other MA programs, typically preparing a student to sit for the credentialing exam in about eight months. The career-launching program now costs less than $7,500. While enrolled, Lemus received weekly instruction via computer, plus hands-on experience during her externship hours at The Wright Center’s primary care practice in Scranton’s South Side, where she could immediately apply her newfound skills. Today, the Scranton High School alumna is “thriving” in her new job role, according to her manager. “Melissa is still a new employee, but she’s already so seasoned,” says Amber Bello, co-assistant manager of medical assistants at The Wright Center. “She was able to live the MA life while learning the life.” Bello serves as a site facilitator for the institute, which is commonly referred to by its initials, NIMAA. “NIMAA is great,” she says. “All of their instructors have been awesome in communicating with me. I am able to reach out to them with any questions or concerns.” So far, Bello, 28, has guided two people through the externship portion of the NIMAA program at The Wright Center, and two more are expected to finish in October 2023. She quickly became a fan of the institute and its training method, so she joined its advisory board. MAs ‘vital’ to health care team Medical assistants play a central role in today’s health centers, where care is typically delivered by a team. Lemus is one of about a dozen MAs who work at the Scranton Practice, greeting and ushering patients to exam rooms and performing essential tasks that support physicians and other providers while promoting patient wellness. The duties go far beyond measuring patients’ vital signs. Lemus and her fellow MAs at The Wright Center sometimes draw blood samples, perform annual screenings, vaccinate children, educate individuals on topics such as diabetes management, and prepare patients to be seen by a doctor or other clinician. “I feel like we are vital to the team,” says Lemus. “We are the first ones to see the patient. We’re the first ones to get a sense of how they’re feeling. And, sometimes, they really open up to you.” Lemus, who speaks both English and Spanish, feels a sense of satisfaction each time she successfully connects a patient to the right treatment or service or simply offers comfort and understanding with her translation skills. “There are a lot of moms who come to our clinic and who don’t speak English,” she explains. “They might not have taken their kids to a primary care provider in a long time because of a language barrier in scheduling an appointment and things like that. So, when they come in and are able to get the help they need, it’s good. “You feel like you’re really doing something – something positive,” she says. In early 2022, Lemus was determined to become a medical assistant and would have been willing to deplete her emergency savings to participate in the NIMAA program, she says. Instead, she was thrilled to learn she was eligible for financial support that defrayed much of the cost. Formerly employed as a caregiver in the area, Lemus considers her MA certification to be a major step toward her ultimate career goal of becoming a registered nurse – something she’s been thinking about since middle school. Finding her niche in a new country Lemus, a native of Honduras, left Central America when she was about 8 years old. Her maternal grandmother was a midwife there who favored natural approaches and was said to possess a rich knowledge of the healing properties of herbs and other plants. Aside from her grandmother, Lemus had no immediate family members working in health care to serve as role models. She got a bumpy start in U.S. schools because she initially spoke little English. After only a few years, however, she became fluent and began to form ideas about her life after high school. “When I was in sixth grade, our science teacher gave us an assignment to write about what we wanted to be in the future,” she recalls. “We had to do some research. I always found myself looking at the nursing careers.” After high school, she considered enrolling in college. Then motherhood became her priority. Today, she is the parent of an 8-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. To support her young family, Lemus previously trained as a certified nursing assistant and took a series of caregiving jobs, including a stint at an Alzheimer’s and dementia care facility. The work was difficult at times, but the experience taught Lemus she was indeed meant to be in the health care field. The NIMAA program had a similar impact on her. After finishing the program, Lemus took an MA credentialing exam on a Friday morning at a testing site in Lackawanna County. “I had to wait until the following week to get the results,” she recalls. “I was nervous the whole time.” She didn’t want to disappoint herself, much less her Wright Center manager or her own family members, some of whom had helped by providing child care. By Monday, Lemus was checking her cellphone every five to 10 minutes to see if her exam results had been released. Finally, just as she got her kids in the car to make a short trip, the news arrived: She had passed. “I was in shock,” she says. “I told my family, ‘I can’t drive like this. I need to take at least 10 minutes.’” Looking back on the journey that led her to The Wright Center, Lemus knows she made the right choice by picking NIMAA and getting her MA certification. “It was a big deal,” she says. “For me, it was another confirmation that I’m on the right path.”
Mohegan Pennsylvania to Host A Golden Girls Mystery: The Halloween Caper On Saturday, October 7th and Sunday, October 8th, the Keystone Grand Ballroom at Mohegan Pennsylvania will host the popular special event, A Golden Girls Mystery: The Halloween Caper. This spine-chilling event allows the audience to become a part of the action during a 90-minute murder mystery. Guests will be playing detective and tasked with following clues, interrogating suspects and more. The show on October 7th starts at 8:00pm and the show on October 8th starts at 2:00pm, with doors opening 30 minutes before the start of each show. Tickets are on-sale now for $35.00, and available online through Without A Cue Productions. Tickets will not be available for purchase at Mohegan Pennsylvania. The Golden Girls are at it again! Miami’s Fab Four are planning their annual Halloween Shindig, and the goblins and ghouls have all come out to play. As Rose dresses the room in traditional St. Olaf Halloween decorations and Blanche dons her cat ears, Dorothy eagerly anticipates a surprise guest…but the surprise might be on her when things don’t work out the way she hoped and Sophia shows us her Psycho side. In the end, all we can say is…thank you for being a fiend! There will be several opportunities to take selfies with the characters (and a fun race to see who can get them all first), hidden clues, and even an opportunity to get a mugshot taken. Once the performance begins, guests will become part of the action as they play detective and try to solve the mystery. This fun-filled event will not serve dinner, but cocktails and other drinks will be available for purchase. For more information, guests can visit WithOutaCue.com. A Golden Girls Mystery: The Halloween Caper is an event recommended for guests ages 13 and up. Please note, most areas of Mohegan Pennsylvania, including the hotel, are restricted to ages 21 years and older. All minors attending the show must enter through the hotel entrance, proceed directly to the event and be accompanied by an adult 21 years of age or older at all times.
WVIA Named A Finalist For Nine Public Media Awards The National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) has announced that WVIA is a finalist for nine Public Media Awards in several different categories. This year is the 55th Annual Public Media Awards. The Public Media Awards, presented by NETA, honor their member’s work in the highest caliber community engagement, content, education, and marketing and communications. WVIA’s works were announced as finalists in the following categories; Education Resources for the Community, Cultural Feature, Annual Report, Integrated Marketing Campaign, Promotion, Social Media, and Special Events. A standout production that was named as a finalist in multiple different categories is WVIA’s original documentary ROAR: The Story of the Southern Columbia Football Tigers. ROAR was released on May 12, 2023, after months of building anticipation and awareness through various promotions, culminating in a community pep rally held at Southern Columbia High School with a special showing of the film the day before the official public release on May 11th. “ROAR became something more than a football documentary to me. I got swept up in the drama of the season and the emotions of the players while capturing this incredible story,” said filmmaker Alexander Monelli. “It’s awesome to not only see the film recognized nationally by NETA, but all of the marketing and promotional efforts as well. So many people at WVIA touched this project and I think we all produced something special that I’ll never forget.” WVIA’s Mind Over Matter, Season 2, a mental health initiative presented in conjunction with Geinsinger, was also named as a finalist. Mind Over Matter began as a television program, but quickly led to a podcast as well. The success of the program has resulted in a renewal for a third season, debuting in fall/winter of 2023. “Our team is honored to be recognized by our public media peers for the content that we produced highlighting the people and places in the communities of Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania which we are proud to serve,” said Ben Payavis II, Chief Content Officer at WVIA. The 55th Annual PMA winners will be announced on Sunday, September 10, 2023, at the 2023 NETA Conference and CPB Public Media Thought Leader Forum in Grand Rapids, MI. With the exception of the overall excellence categories, stations competed within their divisions based on their station size. Awards are judged by a group of expert panelists from within the public media system, as well as industry professionals working outside of public media.
Scranton Area Community Foundation to Host 4th NEPA Learning Conference The Scranton Area Community Foundation, through its Center for Community Leadership and Nonprofit Excellence, will host its fourth NEPA Learning Conference on September 20 – 22, 2023. This event will offer nonprofit organizations and nonprofit professionals across the region the opportunity to receive in-depth training from local and nationally-recognized presenters. The event will take place at the Hilton Scranton & Conference Center (100 Adams Ave, Scranton, PA). Ruchika Tulshyan, best-selling author of Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work, will be the keynote speaker.Tulshyan is also the founder of Candour, an inclusion strategy practice. A former international business journal, Tulshyan is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Harvard Business Review and a recognized media commentator on workplace culture. Attendees will experience three transformative days of networking and interactive sessions while gaining the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the challenges and maximize the impact of their nonprofit organization. They will learn from over 45 local and national experts in a variety of fields, exploring the powers of collaboration and advocacy. A crowd of roughly 200 representatives from nonprofit organizations is expected to attend this event. While attendance is geared toward nonprofit professionals and board members serving on local nonprofit organization boards, registration is open to the public. Registration closes at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 1. Attendees can register through the conference website at NEPALearningConference.com. “Through the Scranton Area Community Foundation’s Center for Community Leadership and Nonprofit Excellence, we prioritize the importance of enhancing organizational capacity building and view it as transformative to the region as a whole,” said Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO of the Scranton Area Community Foundation. “We are grateful for so many of our partnering foundations right here in Northeastern Pennsylvania supporting our efforts to bring this learning conference to the nonprofit community of our region.” Sponsors of the event include the Moses Taylor Foundation, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, The William C. McGowan Charitable Fund, The Hawk Foundation, Wayne County Community Foundation, Fidelity Bank Wealth Management, McGrail Merkel Quinn & Associates, United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties, Hilton Scranton and Conference Center, Center City Print, Indraloka Animal Sanctuary, Children’s Service Center, and KMMK Communications. For more information on the 2023 NEPA Learning Conference, please visit NEPALearningConference.com or contact Brittany Pagnotti, Communications Manager of the Scranton Area Community Foundation at 570-347-6203.
2023 Small Business Advantage Grant The 2023 Small Business Advantage Grant is now accepting applications for at least $1 million in available funds. This grant program is offered through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The purpose of this grant is to provide small businesses in Pennsylvania with grant funds for projects that increase energy efficiency, reduce pollution, or protect our waterways. Many different types of small businesses, from manufacturing to retail to agriculture, may be eligible for funding under this program. Funding is awarded first-come, first served so interested applicants should act fast! You are receiving this email because your agency, office or team may have clients, customers, or other constituencies that may be interested in applying for this funding. All program documents, including Program Guidelines and a Grant Calculator, are available on the Small Business Advantage Grant Website. There is also a link on the website to the online application system used to apply for the grant. Additionally, there are tutorial videos available for everything from an overview of the program to using the Grant Calculator for specific project types. Maximum grant awards will vary based on the attributes of a project as shown in the chart below. Projects will be eligible for more funding if they are located in Environmental Justice areas or reduce CO2e by at least 20 tons (as calculated by the Grant Calculator). 2024-2024 Funding LevelsProject AttributesWhichever is less, up to:All Eligible Projects50%or$5,000Eligible and located in Environmental Justice Area65%or$6,500Eligible and significant environmental savings65%or$6,500Eligible, located in Environmental Justice Area, and significant environmental savings80%or$8,000 Please share this information with your clients, customers, or other audiences. If you or they have any questions, feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions (Forest Edwards, foedwards@pa.gov 717-783-9640 or Caroline Zepp, czepp@pa.gov 717-772-5160). You can also send an email to RA-epAdvantageGrant@pa.gov.
Beware! Scam to Chamber Members. The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce was made aware of a person and/or company communicating with our members an offer for you to “purchase” our membership or event attendee list. Emails or communications like these are NOT from The Chamber. If you receive an email from a third-party company about buying contact information of our membership or event attendees, and the communication states “from The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce”—disregard the email or communication. The Chamber does NOT sell our membership lists or use any third-party companies to sell anything on our behalf. If you are interested in communicating directly with fellow members, it is safe and free for you to do so through the member portal. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Mari Potis (mpotis@scrantonchamber.com).
The Wright Center Celebrates Community Health Worker Awareness Week One of the fastest-growing careers in health care has nothing to do with direct medical care. Using their encyclopedic knowledge of local resources, community health workers (CHWs) help people meet various basic needs, including housing, utility bills, nutritious foods, clothing, insurance, transportation to and from medical appointments, and more. “Community health workers, they’re pretty much the foundation,” said Amanda Vommaro, CCHW, director of patient-centered services and supervisor of the community health workers at The Wright Center for Community Health. “We make sure the patients are getting their social needs met so that they’re able to address their health.” For example, a patient with financial difficulties may have to choose between buying food or medication, according to Vommaro. Connecting to a food pantry could help that patient afford the life-saving medication a doctor prescribes. “If you don’t have your basic needs met, you’re not really able to do anything else,” she said about patients. “When they’re not buying medication and taking care of their health, that’s where we come in.” As the health care world celebrates National Community Health Worker Awareness Week from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1, the need for CHWs is greater than ever. Employment of community health workers across the United States is projected to grow 12% between 2021 and 2031 – much faster than the average for other occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the demand for CHWs, according to Chelsea Wolff, a health educator with the Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Thousands of people lost their jobs and found themselves navigating an often-overwhelming system to apply for unemployment, food stamps, rent and mortgage relief, and other aid from government entities and local social service agencies. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan called for hiring 100,000 CHWs over 10 years starting in 2021 to support the prevention and control of COVID-19. But many entities that employ CHWs are having trouble filling the jobs, including The Wright Center for Community Health. It’s partly because people are not familiar with the position. “People are starting to know about it, but we have a long way to go,” Wolff acknowledged. AHEC hopes to help fill the need locally through training courses, some of which are held virtually for community members. The center began offering CHW courses in 2009, Wolff said. Since then, demand has soared for these specialty workers. The course covers the basics of what a CHW needs to know, from building an understanding of different cultures and health literacy to learning how to complete documentation and how to avoid job burnout. CHWs live in the communities they serve, so they become experts in knowing what resources are available and how best to connect clients to them, Vommaro and Wolff said. The AHEC classes feature many guest speakers, so trainees can begin building a list of local resources that provide help. “It’s helping to connect the dots and really building those contacts,” Wolff said. Vommaro said clients are often more comfortable talking to CHWs because of their shared community roots. “It’s just a different level of comfort when you’re talking to a community health worker because sometimes we’ve been in the same situation they are in; we’re people who live in their community,” she said. “It’s a little less intimidating than talking to their doctor.” For more information about the course, visit the AHEC’s website at NEPA-AHEC.org. AHEC also offers monthly informational sessions about CHWs every second Monday of the month. To learn more, go to PACHW.org/upcoming-sessions.
The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement Supports People Facing Hardships During a community-outreach project, Kara Seitzinger was handing out free back-to-school supplies at the South Side Farmers Market in Scranton on a sunny Saturday when she got an urgent call from a colleague at The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley Practice. The caller, a community health worker, explained the still-unfolding situation: A mother, homeless and pregnant, had come into the clinic in Jermyn needing food, diapers, and other essential supplies. The caller asked: Can we help her? Yes, said Seitzinger. Within hours, the woman received what she needed. The same day, Seitzinger and a group of volunteers distributed 85 school backpacks to families visiting the farmers market. It’s all in a day’s work for Seitzinger, executive director of public affairs at The Wright Center, and like-minded employees who volunteer with the nonprofit organization’s subsidiary, The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement (PCE). Oct. 23 is National Make a Difference Day, an annual observance during which people are encouraged to find ways to improve their communities. Motivated by a similar spirit, many of The Wright Center’s employees and resident and fellow physicians are active year-round, doing impactful projects with PCE to improve people’s health and well-being. PCE’s roots can be traced to an informal auxiliary started years ago by staffers at the Mid Valley Practice and funded by their donations. They sporadically passed the hat to help a patient or family with a pressing need. However, The Wright Center’s leaders soon recognized the profound need it filled in the community and formalized the initiative in 2020 to make it self-sufficient. Mary Marrara, a longtime community champion and a member of The Wright Center for Community Health Board, helped complete the paperwork to establish PCE officially. “The initiative to do patient and community engagement started with little bites, and then we folded in the auxiliary to launch what it is today,” she said. ‘We take care of it’ PCE strives to help people in the region overcome food insecurity and other negative social and economic determinants of health, such as inadequate housing, lack of educational access, and poverty. The Wright Center’s leaders recognize that addressing these basic needs is critical to improving patients’ health over the long term, said Seitzinger, who serves as advisor liaison to The Wright Center’s president and CEO. “Transportation has always been a huge problem for many of our patients,” said Seitzinger. “And, food insecurity has increased exponentially since the COVID-19 pandemic began and really rose again in the last six months as SNAP benefits were cut.” PCE seeks grants and conducts several fundraising events to fulfill its mission. The organization hosted its inaugural golf tournament in May, which raised more than $45,000. In August, proceeds from the second annual Road to Recovery Car Show at Nay Aug Park assisted patients of The Wright Center for Community Health’s Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence with transportation to and from appointments. Similarly, when possible, PCE helps community members get past short-term crises, as it was able to do for the pregnant, homeless woman who needed assistance. “People can come to us without worry,” said Marrara. We have people come to us privately, and we take care of it, but we maintain 100% accurate records. I want people to know – everything we do is checked and double-checked.” ‘The next step’ PCE relies on volunteers to chip in during food distributions, school backpack giveaways, and other events at The Wright Center’s primary care practices and other locations in the community. Seitzinger sees it as a win-win: Employees make a difference in the communities they serve, and they raise public awareness about the affordable, high-quality health care and preventive services available by visiting The Wright Center’s clinics in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne counties. “The Wright Center is federally funded, so in a sense, the community owns it,” said Seitzinger. “We’re trying to find ways to contribute to the community and get our staff out there to give back.” Looking to the future, Seitzinger envisions building more lasting ways for PCE to help the community, including adding a permanent food pantry and a dedicated clothing closet. “Having the ability to have a food bank or a clothing closet right there in the clinic, that’s the next step,” she said. Marrara echoed Seitzinger’s goals, noting that she’s excited to see how PCE will continue to grow over time. “I’m proud of what we have become,” she said. “And I would venture to say that a year from now, I’ll be even prouder.” For more information, visit TheWrightCenter.org.