“Hazleton specifically, being born and raised, shaped everything I am as a person — hardworking, gritty, resilient, focused on family and community.”
Gregg Pavlick is a proud Hazleton native who has built both his life and career in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Born in Hazleton and raised in nearby West Hazleton, he grew up in a hardworking family with his parents, older brother and sister. His father worked long shifts in local manufacturing while his mother was a nurse. A three-sport athlete, Gregg played baseball, football, and basketball in high school. He was part of the first graduating class of Hazleton Area High School after the district consolidated in the mid-1990s. He went on to attend Penn State University, studying at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Penn State Hazleton, and later earning his engineering degree from the main campus at University Park.
After college, Gregg joined Barry Isett & Associates, an employee-owned, multi-discipline engineering firm offering civil, environmental, mechanical, electrical and structural services. He began his career at the company’s Allentown headquarters and later returned home to help grow Isett’s Hazleton office. Over the years, his leadership has played a key role in the firm’s continued growth across Northeastern Pennsylvania, where he serves as regional Vice President and Senior Project Executive.
Gregg lives in Hazle Township with his wife, Danielle, also a Hazleton native whose family owns Victoria’s Candies and Alta Pizzeria, longtime local staples. Together, they have two children, Giada and Julian.
We met with Gregg at Barry Isett & Associates’ downtown Hazleton office overlooking the city, CAN DO Community Park, and the Hayden Family Center for the Arts, home of the Hazleton Art League. As we talked about the city’s progress and ongoing projects, he reflected on the growth of the region, his team’s local impact, and—of course—why NEPA.
How long have you lived in NEPA?
I am 50 years old. So, outside of the five years I spent at Penn State and in Allentown, I’ve been here.
What do you love about your town?
The attitude of the area has grown and made me the person I am. If you look at the transition that has happened in the region over the past few years, it’s that a lot of our elders have passed away, and there’s a whole different culture — a very family-based culture. The way it’s been embraced and continues to thrive, I think, is a big part of what I love about here. And it just continues to grow. You see a lot of people being very passionate about the region, and that drives me to do what I do.
What’s your favorite NEPA restaurant?
The staples — the go-tos — are Alta, my wife’s family restaurant. Another one would be Sally Purcell’s. I’ve spent a lot of time there; one of the owners of Sally’s is one of my good friends. His family has owned that business for a really long time. The local ones that you always hear — the Jimmy’s Quick Lunch, Rosta’s Café, still my favorite pizza place in Senape’s Tavern — you know, all of those have really been with me and driven me all the way through.
If you’re looking to go out on a weekend, Tap at Humbolt or Best Cigar Pub are great places. One of the things my wife and I like to do is try restaurants in other areas. As I visit different offices I’ll ask, “What restaurants do you go to? What’s good?” Recently, we went to The Refinery — that place is awesome. I mean, that is just a really, really, cool place. MVD and Cork Bar in Wilkes-Barre. They’re awesome. One restaurant that has been a staple is Bar Pazzo in Scranton — that place, and the meatballs there, are fantastic.
What’s your favorite thing to do in NEPA?
Well, eating always plays into it. But being a big sports fan, and having the Penguins and the RailRiders, being able to literally go out, eat dinner, go to a RailRiders game, and then find one of the local establishments that has entertainment — I love music too. You know, there are so many cool places that have music. So we really try, when we get a weekend that we can actually spend locally, we’ll do dinner, a game, and then go somewhere — whether it be a casino or one of the other establishments that has a band or some sort of music. That’s my ideal evening plan.
During the day or on a weekend that we have free, it’s going skiing or going on the various lakes that we have up here. We have a lot of friends that have houses on different lakes within the area. So, we’ll go up there and get on the boat and have a good time. I do love being outdoors. And my son’s just like me — he’s one of those kids. He’s 14, and I actually have to tell him to go play video games. “Can you go play video games, please? Because you’re harassing me!” Like, all he wants to do is something! So yeah, no, it’s good.
What’s next for you?
So I would say, professionally, I’m going to keep driving our company to continue to be part of the community and continue to grow. I think a big part of our culture as a whole is being that hometown engineering firm. We’re 270 people in total, but you would never know it, because what we try to do is be that hometown group, not that corporate group.
Being that we’re employee-owned, we really have the keys to the bus — we decide if we’re going to sell or not sell. We’re not going to sell anytime soon. So a lot of what we try to do is be a big part of the community. If individuals who work in an area are passionate about something, we like to be supportive of that. So, professionally, I’m going to keep driving that bus and keep growing all the regions. One of our BHAGs — “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” — is to be the best firm, the choice of class, in every region where we have an office. And that’s really hard to do. So, professionally, we’re going to go in that direction.
And personally, I’m going to chase my kids as much as possible and try to live. We live in Eagle Rock Resort — there’s so much to offer in Eagle Rock. Two lakes, four pools, a ski area, gyms, an indoor basketball court, an indoor pool. I try to enjoy those resources that everybody else comes to do on the weekends. We’re there. I try to enjoy them as much as I can, and continue to build my relationship with my wife — not just slap hands as we’re playing one-on-one defense with our kids, you know what I mean?
Where do you see NEPA heading in the future?
I don’t believe people realize it but we’re probably seeing larger development than any other region throughout the state of Pennsylvania. I don’t think the average person understands how much is going on within Northeastern PA — with data centers, with industrial, with warehousing, with all the things that are happening. I mean, just the infrastructure alone. You’re looking at millions and millions of square feet of buildings that are going to be developed within the region in the next five to ten years.
With that infrastructure is going to come a whole bunch of opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors, and local individuals to build and grow what they want to build and grow. And with that is going to come investors from other regions that are going to build and grow the region.
I think Hazleton and Northeastern PA are five to ten years behind the rest of them. But I think that’s a benefit in some ways to us, because people are going so fast in those regions that they’re just doing. People are now trying to come here and plan a little bit better. So I think it’s going to help us and the region continue to grow.
You look at our company — we’re obviously across the central and eastern portion of PA — and we’ve finally gotten to the point where a lot of the developers and individuals that we work with are coming and saying, “This is my region. Hey, what’s going on there? How can you help? How can you do this?” So I think we’re going to be the future of what Pennsylvania is — in Northeastern PA.
Why NEPA?
This is my home. It’s always been my home. If you would have told me, what, 27 years ago, that I would have been here for my full 27 years in my professional career, I would have told you you’re crazy. I think, in a lot of ways, at that time, I was naive to understand what opportunities were here for individuals within this region.
But I love the region. I love everything it has. I mean, look at it from the perspective that you can take a day trip to New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh — some of the biggest cities — and that’s just to name a few. You can go to New Jersey beaches, Maryland beaches, South Carolina beaches — on that same front.
I think the location, the ability to live within means that are reasonable also — it just, you know, it has a lot going for it. And locally, you can ski, you can swim, you can fish, you can do anything you want to do. And who doesn’t love the four seasons?
