Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the Securities and Exchange Commission recommended that financial services firms establish reliable backup operations outside the New York City power grid to enable recovery and resumption of the U.S. financial system within two hours. The cascading, multistate power outage in August 2003 further reaffirmed the need for remote operations.

In April 2004, the SEC issued guidelines for NASD and NYSE members to develop business continuity plans and procedures relating to an emergency or significant business disruption.

All of this reinforces why Northeastern Pennsylvania is the ideal location for the Wall Street West initiative, which is supported by a $15 million investment from the federal government and more than $6 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Special Report: Northeastern Pennsylvania Business and Education Profile
An excerpt from Northeastern Pennsylvania Resource Report by Moran, Stahl & Boyer, LLC.

Northeastern Pennsylvania Business and Education Profile

Northeastern Pennsylvania is composed of a nine-county region consisting of Berks, Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike and Wayne counties. Within Northeastern Pennsylvania, more than 20,000 residents are currently employed within the financial services and insurance industry. In addition, more than 20 major employers are here, with operations that include: Corporate headquarters Back offices Data processing Software development Customer service Sales and other related functions Over the past twenty years, companies from major metropolitan areas, such as New York City, Hartford and Chicago, have located operations in this area to take advantage of lower operating costs, a well educated and motivated work force, and the accessibility to major metro areas via interstate and air service. The drive time from portions of the area to New York City is about one hour and fifteen minutes to one hour and forty five minutes. The local financial services and insurance industry cluster includes the core segments of insurance, banking and securities. There are also other industries that support the core industries in addition to the education institutions that underpin the entire local economy. Based on interviews with local employers within the financial services and insurance industries, a critical mass of employment within the industry has been reached and having additional employers within the industry would be beneficial in expanding the employment base. Most of the local employers recruit experienced labor (rather than newly graduated students) from regional and national labor sources and utilize local colleges and universities for certain skill and career enhancement.         Centrally located with easy access to NYC, Philadelphia, Washington Well-developed telecommunications infrastructure Moderate operating costs, particularly for labor and real estate Affordable energy costs Wide availability of open commercial sites and industrial parks Substantial tax incentives for businesses 20+ major employers in the financial services and insurance industries employ more than 20,000 21 four-year colleges and 5 two-year colleges Lower cost of living, great quality of life, short commutes

Wall Street West is a not-for-profit partnership of more than two dozen local, regional and statewide economic development agencies, technology investment groups, workforce development organizations, educational and research institutions and experts from the private sector. The group secured a $15 million Workforce Innovation In Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to assist in the initiative and attract New York City-based financial institutions to establish their back-up and back-room operations in the region. The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania is the project manager of Wall Street West.