As we begin the design and construction of the project to bring public water to future occupants of the Keystone Regional Industrial Park this spring, the Economic Progress Alliance recently agreed to join forces with many of our counterparts in the region to pursue a unique marketing strategy of mutual interest.
The business of business attraction is highly competitive, involving a very limited number of business relocations and competition among states, regions and communities growing more intense all the time. To be successful in the business attraction arena, unless located in a high growth area, consideration of unique natural characteristics and their use to draw desirable economic activity is often a fundamental consideration. Under the general auspices of the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, economic developers from Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Clarion, Forest, Lawrence and Warren counties have agreed to pool resources to analyze and quantify water resources in the region. It is also our intent to identify specific firms that might have a high likelihood of current or future interest in investing in the region to access this abundant resource
In anticipation of the Keystone Regional Industrial Park water project, we conducted production tests of a single well among many that we own and produced more than 1.5 million gallons of water per day. At full design capacity we will be able to deliver more than 3 million gallons of quality dependable fresh water per day to occupants of the Keystone Regional Industrial Park.
This initiative to attract high intensity water users will be pursued in addition to our overall strategy to attract distribution and logistics businesses to the strategically located park.
Until next time..
Mark Turner
Two loans processed through the Economic Progress Alliance are part of a total $318,500 project for HJR Equipment, LLC, a start-up manufacturing business located on Johnson Road in Townville. A $25,000 Revolving Loan Fund loan along with a $50,000 USDA Intermediary Relending Program loan through the Alliance provided start-up capital to the new business for the development and production of the patented Auto Brace. Gannon University SBDC also assisted HJR on the business plan and projections for their project.
The Auto Brace is a telescoping brace used by emergency personnel to secure vehicles at the scene of auto accidents. The brace, developed through a joint effort by owner James D. McCue, company partners, and rescue trainers and emergency personnel, is fully engineer tested and insured. The Auto Brace features an attached
hook, ratchet and strap for immediate deployment and anchoring of the device to the vehicle in only 45 seconds. The current standard anchoring device takes eight minutes for deployment and anchoring to insure safety of the vehicle before victims can be removed from the crash site.
The first production run has been completed, surpassing expectations with 32 units of the Auto Brace being delivered to customers in West Virginia. The second run is underway with increased production while marketing materials are developed and new markets are identified. The company's long-term plan is to develop manufacturing capabilities and capacity to sell through national distributors and to continue development of additional products. Anticipated job creation is 15 full time employees within three years.
It's poetic justice that about 150 years after the first successful oil well was drilled by Edwin Drake in the Titusville area, the region's oil industry is again on the radar screen as Rock Well Petroleum recently acquired the rights to develop mineral interests on approximately 3,000 acres in the Pleasantville area. The project is currently in the permitting stage but no major obstacles are foreseen and the company anticipates being fully operational within the year. Rock Well has leased office space in Titusville's BSI building and plans to create 50-80 jobs in the first year.
Rock Well, based in Calgary, Alberta and Sheridan, Wyoming, intends to implement the Rock Well Technique in the recovery of oil in the area. This process consists of tunneling and/or shaft drilling beneath a shallow reservoir, constructing a sequence of underground chambers, drilling a large number of closely-spaced wells into the reservoir from drill stations and using gravity to drain the oil to a customized designed collections system where it is pumped to the surface. This technique was successfully executed in a pilot program in Wyoming where the field's production rates were drastically increased. This method also allows for oil recovery at operating costs below industry median prices with substantially reduced environmental impacts by minimizing surface disturbance and reclaiming wild habitat through removal of existing infrastructure.
The company screened about 14,000 fields throughout the world over an 11-year period for characteristics ideal for the Rock Well Technique. They identified 200 oil fields in the U.S. with potential for successful completion of the technique. The company feels there is still a good reserve of oil in this area, estimating that only 25% of which has been tapped.
Congressman John Peterson and Senator Mary Jo White were instrumental in attracting the $60 million project to the area while close working relations between Kathleen McGinty, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP); Scott Roberts, Deputy Secretary of DEP; and the Rock Well team brought the project to a successful conclusion. John Hoak, Director and Chief Executive Officer of Rock Well, was already familiar with the area as a graduate of Titusville High School and Allegheny College in Meadville.
Possible future projects for Rock Well Petroleum are planned for other locations in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas as well as international locations.
The Titusville Redevelopment Authority and the Governor's Action Team have worked closely together to complete two projects recently that combines will create about 50 jobs over the next three years.
Charter Plastics, manufacturer of high-density polyethylene pipe, received a $50,000 Opportunity Grant, $70,000 in job creation tax credits and $15,750 in customized job training funds for an expansion project that will enable them to offer varying and larger dimensions of pipe sizes up to 24". The project includes the installation of an internal machine shop, and purchase of new large diameter pipe extrusion equipment and material handling equipment. Pipe made by Charter Plastics is used in potable water, reclaimed water, sewer, geothermal, gas, and irrigation and industrial applications. Total project cost is $4 million and will retain 90 jobs and create 35 jobs. .
Titusville Honing was awarded a $400,000 Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) loan, a $250,000 Machinery and Equipment Loan Fund (MELF) loan, $5,400 in customized job training funds and $24,000 in job creation tax credits for an expansion project with a total cost of $1.5 million. The project includes the purchase of the building they now lease, the transfer of their distribution process to New Castle, and closing a plant in Ohio and transferring that manufacturing equipment and operations to Titusville. The project will retain 43 jobs and create 12 jobs. Titusville Honing processes and distributes tubing in aluminum, stainless steel and alloys.
The Titusville Redevelopment Authority is currently working with the Governor's Action Team on three additional projects.
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development is accepting nominations for the 13th Annual Best 50 Women in Business awards through February 7, 2008. Any senior executive, management-level woman with significant authority in a for-profit company - including board chairs, partners, chief financial officers, presidents or owners - who work in or are residents of Pennsylvania, is eligible. A panel of judges will select the "Best 50" based on professional accomplishments, community involvement and advocacy for women in business.
This year's honorees will be recognized during an awards reception on May 19th. at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. Winners will be profiled in special supplements of the Central Penn Business Journal, Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal, Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal, Pittsburgh Business Times and Pennsylvania Business Central.
Candidates may not represent a non-profit organization, and the contest is not open to elected officials, judicial branch or political appointees, previous "Best 50" winners, a member of the judge's panel or a member of a judge's immediate family.
All nominations must be received by 5 p.m., Thursday, February 7, 2008, and be mailed to DCED's Center for Entrepreneurial Assistance, 4th Floor, Commonwealth Keystone Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120. No faxed or emailed entries will be accepted.
For full nomination guidelines, visit the state web site or contact the Center for Entrepreneurial Assistance at 1-800-280-3801.
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Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County
764 Bessemer Street, Suite 101
Meadville PA 16335
814-333-2299
02/01/2008