The Lehigh Valley will benefit from its share of nearly $3 million in grants awarded by Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. for community improvement and revitalization projects.

PP&L announced Tuesday (7/16) that 10 Lehigh Valley projects will receive grants totaling $469,000 through the company's Community Partnership Program for 1996. (Projects are listed at the end of this news release.)

Across the 29 counties it serves, PP&L is awarding grants to 75 nonprofit agencies and organizations. Funding for the program comes from company earnings. PP&L does not collect any of the cost from its electricity customers.

PP&L created the Community Partnership Program to help local efforts to revitalize urban neighborhoods, promote home ownership, assist small businesses and improve the quality of life in central eastern Pennsylvania.

"We are making an investment in the communities we serve. It's an investment with a real payback for PP&L and the people of the area," said Evelyn Soto, PP&L's regional customer relations representative.

The payback, she added, comes in several ways. Small businesses, particularly in the downtown area of cities, can get the backing they need to take root, grow and create jobs. Low-income families have more opportunities for home ownership, which gives them a greater stake in the community. Blighted urban neighborhoods have access to funds for improving their appearance, safety and stability, to attract new residents and new investments.

In establishing the Community Partnership Program last year, PP&L used input from community leaders and social service organizations to identify the region's most pressing needs.

"We believe this effort is important enough to the future of the region that we have contributed more than $5.4 million over the past two years," Soto said. "And, funding will continue through at least 1997."

Projects receiving 1996 Community Partnership Program grants in the Lehigh Valley are as follows:

• Allentown Economic Development Corp. — $100,000
  To help fund the Portland Place project, which will adaptively reuse a vacant building on Hamilton Mall and create a central facility for job training, literacy training and entrepreneurial development.
• Allentown Neighborhood Housing Services Inc. — $40,000
  To fund exterior property improvements in the Old Allentown and Old Fairgrounds neighborhoods, which are designated historical districts.
• Community Action Development Corp. of the Lehigh Valley — $10,000
  To help establish a loan fund for developing new businesses in downtown Allentown.
• Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley — $20,000
  To fund a Home Ownership Counseling Program that helps first-time home buyers in the Lehigh Valley who might not otherwise enter into the home buying market.
• Lehigh Carbon Community College — $60,000
  To establish, in partnership with the Allentown Economic Development Corp., a work force training program at LCCC's Allentown location. Services will include job analysis, skills assessment and career counseling.
• Lehigh Carbon Community College — $17,000
  To set up a scholarship program that will provide educational opportunities in business and management programs for up to 10 small business owners or their employees.
• Old Allentown Preservation Association — $32,000
  To fund the restoration of home exteriors (for owner-occupied homes) in the Old Allentown historical district.
• City of Bethlehem — $100,000
  To support the South Bethlehem Neighborhood and Housing Improvement program. The program will help with home improvements, home ownership counseling and converting rental properties to owner-occupied homes.
• Bethlehem Economic Development Corp. — $40,000
  To improve the exterior of a major retail building in South Bethlehem and improve the business climate of the neighborhood.
• Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley — $50,000
  To clear, excavate and prepare a site for five Habitat for Humanity homes in the Lynn Gardens area of Bethlehem.