INetU Named Lehigh Valley Business Expansion Project of the Year

Leading Managed Hosting and Cloud Provider honored at LVEDC’s Mid-Year Investors’ Appreciation Meeting and Awards Presentation

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (Monday, June 27, 2011) – Leading managed hosting and cloud provider INetU was named the 2011 Business Expansion Project of the Year at Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation’s (LVEDC) Mid-Year Investors’ Appreciation Meeting and Awards Presentation on June 23. The international technology company was awarded for expanding their Lehigh Valley headquarters and increasing the number of employees and employment benefits in a down economy.

“The entire team at LVEDC allowed INetU to expand both carefully and correctly,” said INetU president Dev Chanchani. “Not only was LVEDC a  good partner in this project, but they were also mentors and counselors. They are a critical piece of INetU’s recent and future success.” 

Financial and social impact on Lehigh Valley, jobs created, impact on the tax base, innovation, creativity and the ability to attract and retain quality individuals were among the criteria used for selecting INetU as Business Expansion Project of the Year.

INetU and LVEDC have a partnership that dates to the company’s beginnings in 1996. Together, they collaborated on a major expansion project that saw the acquisition of a 46,000-square-foot facility, which serves as additional data center capacity and customer support operations. LVEDC provided financial assistance for the new building and data center.

Over the past two years, LVEDC financing has assisted in leveraging $7.6 million in overall investment. As a result of this expansion, 20 new jobs were created, bringing the total number of employees in INetU’s Allentown facility to about 70.

“We’ve grown steadily year after year, and in fact, during this recession alone, we’ve had a 41-percent increase in employees, built two new data centers increasing capacity by 80-percent and started a 401K program matching employee contributions by 100-percent,” said Chanchani. “But it’s important to realize that our fortune is not based on our efforts alone, but rather on long, lasting relationships. Synergies between good organizations are instrumental in any success story and this (award) provides a perfect illustration of just how well that philosophy works.”

LVEDC’s Mid-Year Investors’ Appreciation Meeting and Awards Presentation was held at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks building in South Bethlehem. Additional award recipients include:

New Business Project of the Year: Kitchen Magic, Inc.

Entrepreneur of the Year: hField Technologies, Inc.

Urban Project of the Year – Allentown: Custom Nonwoven, Inc.

Urban Project of the Year – Bethlehem: Allied Building Products Corporation

Volunteer of the Year: Stephen Kalamar, TD Bank

Spirit of LVEDC Award: City of Easton / Spillman Farmer Architects / Lafayette College

About Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC)

LVEDC’s mission is straightforward: promote economic prosperity in Lehigh Valley. A non-profit organization, LVEDC accomplishes this by relocating companies to Lehigh Valley and helping them set up shop and grow. The organization also works to retain and expand business. LVEDC’s direct pipeline to dozens of financing programs and loans gets business started or growing and offers site location assistance to companies looking for real estate. LVEDC’s connections to state, county and municipal governments, combined with a wide network of business partners, streamlines relocation or expansion plans. Other services include economic research, talent retention and workforce development. Visit www.lehighvalley.org to learn more.