Sporting a Penn State football jersey in keeping with the event's halftime-party theme, Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello stands before a screen showing the city s new logo and tagline Lebanon: The place to grow shortly after introducing them Wednesday night in HACC-Lebanon s multipurpose room. (John Latimer / Lebanon Daily News)
You won't find any reference to bologna in Lebanon's new catch phrase.
The city's new tagline - "Lebanon: The place to grow" - was announced Wednesday night by Mayor Sherry Capello.
The mayor's announcement was made in HACC-Lebanon's multipurpose room, which was decorated to reflect a Super Bowl halftime party theme. The room was filled with community leaders and invited guests, including many local elected officials.
In keeping with the sports-like atmosphere, the Lebanon High School cheerleaders lent their voices to the celebration, and many guests wore the jersey of their favorite team - including Capello, who sported a Penn State football jersey.
The tagline and logo - a red outline of the city's skyline above the word Lebanon - were the creations of a steering committee of about a dozen community volunteers who worked several months on the project, Capello explained.
The group formed its message by focusing on four of the city's best attributes - business, education, family life and community, the mayor said.
"Our tagline .... is not quite the big city flashy sort of tagline," Capello said. "However, it does reflect our vision statement and what you can get if you come to live in or visit Lebanon."
The tagline will not be part of a big marketing campaign, but it will be used to identify the city on places like its Website and letterhead, the mayor said.
The announcement of the tagline and logo were the finishing touches to a process that began a year ago when Capello invited community members to develop a vision for the city.
Four meetings were held at HACC during which the city's strengths and weaknesses were identified and discussed. A public survey was also conducted to gauge public sentiments.
The result was a lengthy vision statement, a portion of which identified Lebanon as a place with "a perfect blend of urban flair and rural character (with) a walkable urban center that embraces its historic charm and integrity while meeting the contemporary needs of a 21st Century economy."
While that process was guided by the Pennsylvania Downtown Center - a nonprofit organization with a track record of helping other cities develop revitalization strategies - Capello stressed that the tagline was a homegrown effort created and refined by Lebanon residents.
"We did what is right for us. What fits us," she said.
Capello gave credit to Jack Cantwell for coming up with the basic idea.
Owner of SkyLimit Marketing, Cantwell is a marketing specialist who has developed taglines and messaging for dozens of companies during a lengthy career.
After the celebration, Cantwell explained that good taglines need to have a positive message and be targeted towards the right audience - in the city's case, families and business owners.
"We built the line around grow, because it is a positive word and it is a reflection of the future, and positivity," Cantwell said. "We are a very solid, traditional community that sees the future as something special and positive. And we are happy to be here because this is the lifestyle we enjoy, and you can't find it anyplace else."
When campaigning for mayor in 2009, Capello promised to change the city's image and said creating a tagline was one way she would attempt to do it. Wednesday night, she said she was pleased with the results.
"If you want to elevate the standard of living of our residents and build our businesses, we must counter unproductive stereotypes about our city," Capello said. "We are going to change our image. We will promote the quality and benefits that are good to be associated with. Our tagline is credible, sustainable and matches the reality of our place."
johnlatimer@ldnews.com; 272-5611, ext. 149
Source: http://www.ldnews.com/ci_19822169?source=rss_viewed
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