By Marieke Andronache

Special to The Press

“This county is the place where people are moving to,” Lehigh County Executive Phillips A. Armstrong began his state of the county remarks at Coca-Cola Park. “The place that makes us one of the best counties. It’s not the person who’s in charge of the government saying I did this. They did this.”

“They” include Carmen Bell from United Way, Kurt Landis from the IronPigs and Kassie Hilgert from ArtsQuest.

Armstrong praised them, as well as others, for having contributed in some way to the prosperity of the county.

Donning a Phillies shirt and advancing to the lectern dancing to “Jumping Jack Flash” from the Rolling Stones, Armstrong was all smiles as he delivered his address on Feb. 23.

“You know, we got a lot of money because of a lot of grants and programs,” he explained. “So, I want to tell you a little bit about what happened with this money that we had.

“First of all, we did not spend $1. We invested. And I think there’s a big difference between spending and investment.

“We got $72 million from the American Rescue Funds.”

Armstrong said he had the honor of being with President Joe Biden the previous week in Washington, D.C.

He was a former county commissioner and in his words, “This is where things get done, on the local government level.”

“And this is why the American Rescue Funds, the money went right to the county, right to the cities, where it could be best placed to make it a better place to live,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong gave the following examples of how that money was spent to better the lives of county residents:

•With the help of Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, $10 million was directed toward helping more than 800 small businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

•The Community Action of the Lehigh Valley received $44 million to help more than 5,000 families stay in their homes during the pandemic.

•Investments in infrastructure projects, such as bridge repairs to Wire Mill Bridge, Walnut Street Bridge, Geiger’s Covered Bridge, and the Wehr Mill Covered Bridge.

•$15 million was invested for renovation of the county’s Historic Courthouse, which was built in 1812. It is set to reopen later this year.

•Cedarbrook, South Whitehall, E-Wing renovation project.

•Helping aging populations by addressing their needs.

Armstrong also mentioned the Community Corrections Project and the Pardon Project both seen as priorities for the public defender and district attorney.

Saving the IronPigs was also a high point for Armstrong.

“What is county government? And you know what, sometimes people don’t realize what county government is,” he concluded. “The county government is there for you.

“County government is the agency that if there’s a problem, we are here to solve it.”