Oct. 16—SUNBURY — Small business owners and Sunbury Revitalization Inc. (SRI) members heard some ideas from a Luzerne County mayor during the first Evening Brunch for Business held at the Albright Center Monday as part of the Think Sunbury Business Association.
Pittson Mayor Michael Lombardo spoke to a crowd of about 50 business owners and elected officials Monday night and explained how he took his Third Class City and made it a destination for visitors.
"The first thing is to get a plan and stick to the plan," he said.
Lombardo explained that downtown development and infrastructure improvements are the first two things that need to be worked on.
"There are so many great things in Sunbury," he said. "I drove around when I got here and thought of all the things that could happen here."
Lombardo said he is no stranger to the area as he graduated from Bucknell and even visited Shikellamy High School during his time in the Valley decades ago.
SRI Executive Director Jody Ocker and SRI President Slade Shreck set up the event, which drew Sunbury Mayor Josh Brosious and Lewisburg Mayor Kendy Alvarez.
"It's easy to get lost in the busy-ness within our communities that we don't take the time to look beyond where we are to where we could be," Alvarez said. "Mayor Lombardo's presentation shows what could be next for not only Sunbury but for many communities in the Valley."
Brosious agreed with Lombardo's theme that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is wrong.
"Sunbury cannot have this state of mind and expect change," Brosious said. "We need to start doing things different in order to have change. Residents need to take action and demand change from the elected officials if they want to see Sunbury move forward."
Lombardo also said Sunbury needs to have events. Weekly, monthly and annually.
Pittson plays host to the Tomato Festival, which draws more than 100,000 people to the city each year.
Ocker said she was thankful to Lombardo for making the trip to Sunbury.
"I feel like we have a good start to getting on track and we have people who are working and growing together," Ocker said.