John P. Blake
John is a life-long resident of Northeastern PA, and lives in Archbald with his wife Louise and two children Vince (15) and Katie (13).
John was Appointed in March of 2003 by Governor Edward Rendell to serve as Director of the Governor's Northeast Regional Office, representing the Governor and serving as liaison to the NEPA state legislative delegation; to local government officials; and to the business community in 15 counties.
John has over 25 years of professional experience in housing, community and economic development. A Graduate of Villanova University (BA, '82); Marywood College Graduate School of Social Work (MSW, '87); and the University of Scranton Kania School of Management (MBA in Finance, '01), John also completed Executive Education in Public Management at Harvard University's JFK School of Government.
As well as having served as Executive Director of the Lackawanna County Redevelopment Authority, John was an Administrative Officer for the PA Dept. of Community Affairs in DCA's Northeast Regional Office and an Executive Director for the PA Northeast Territory Visitors Bureau. He completed a 2-year fellowship at the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development at HUD's PA State Office in Philadelphia. Immediately prior to the Governor's appointment, John served as a Vice-President and Senior Development Advisor for PNC Bank --growing and managing a $35 million, corporate-wide portfolio of community and economic development loans and investments.
Currently, he is a board member of the PA Downtown Center, the Wilkes-Barre Innovation Center Advisory Board, the Redevelopment Authority of Lackawanna County, MetroAction, Inc., Consumer Credit Counseling of NEPA, Inc., the Lackawanna County Workforce Investment Board, the Advocacy Alliance, Inc., United Cerebral Palsy of NEPA and the Archbald Borough Planning Commission. He was a former Member and Chairman of the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority.