ChipBLASTER to Expand at Crawford Business Park
Over the past 12 years, ChipBLASTER Corporation has grown in our community to become a world-renowned company that leads the high-pressure coolant industry. ChipBLASTER provides the products that increase cutting speed, tool life, coolant life and filter life for a wide range of customers. They are the industry leader in the provision of super efficient, quiet and long-lasting pumping systems.
Headquartered at 13605 South Mosiertown Road in the Crawford Woodlands Corporate Park, ChipBLASTER is one of a number of area businesses most recently benefiting by the weak US dollar. While marketing aggressively to foreign markets for a number of years, recent international sales have been particularly strong. Current and future projected growth mandates the need for additional manufacturing and machining space. To meet this need, ChipBLASTER has agreed to a new four-year lease at the Crawford Business Park.
A little more than 16,000 s.f. of manufacturing space is currently being prepared by our crew for occupancy on June 1st. As ChipBLASTER had their start at the former Avtex facility, we are most pleased to welcome them back in this next phase of their continued growth and development.
On behalf of the staff and Board of Directors of the Economic Progress Alliance, I extend our sincere appreciation to owner Greg Anton and his team for their continued commitment to Crawford County.
Until next time...
Mark Turner
News and Developments . . .
On May 1, 2008, Vantage Holding Co., LLC, closed on the purchase of eleven acres and the 66,000 square feet former Talon Plant 7 facility located at 1305 South Main Street, Meadville, a project that has been in the making with the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Meadville for more than two years. Vantage plans to locate six of its eleven companies at this new location to be called "Vantage Center Meadville."
Started in 1984, Vantage is a for-profit company that serves a partnership of thirteen non-profit hospitals, providing medical equipment and services to its member facilities, allowing better use of resources to support and provide quality health care services. The company has grown from the original five employees to over 300 with eleven companies that service health care in Pennsylvania along with healthcare facilities in six other states.
With the closing on this property, Vantage also signed a Consent Order and Agreement with the PA Department of Environmental Protection, ensuring that the building and property will be re-used in an environmentally safe manner. A $15,000 grant from the NW Commission was awarded for the project for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, verification that the project meets the highest green building and performance measures. Also, $1.5 million was awarded for the project from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program for bricks and mortar.
The site is also a designated Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ). As such, this project fulfills the mission of the state KOZ program to place blighted brownfield sites back into private hands.
Construction is expected to be completed in August, 2009. The initial Vantage divisions to move into the Vantage Center Meadville will include Care Apothecary, Home Infusion Services, Home Medical Equipment and Services, Mobile Services, and administration and corporate offices.
PennDOT is partnering with Allegheny College's Arts and Environment Initiative to create an "eco-art" project as part of the I-79 Meadville Interchange reconstruction and bridge replacement project. The initial concept for the project, "In Praise of Land & Water," began in Professor Amara Geffen's environmental art courses at Allegheny.
The Eco-Art project merges earth art with best management practices in the environmental mitigation of storm water runoff. Their contribution to the Interchange project will focus on transforming the areas within the cloverleaves into sculptural systems designed to filter and purify road runoff. The concept of their project integrates aesthetic solutions with targeted environmental remediation storm water issues inherent at the project site. All the storm water for I-79 and the surrounding area passes through the cloverleaves and empties directly into Van Horne Creek, eventually making its way into the French Creek watershed.
The design of the project includes a series of sculptural check dams, infiltration pools and earth mounds that will serve as a model for merging best environmental and art practices in addressing water quality issues along federal highways. The check dams, constructed of crushed concrete from the demolished bridges, will reduce the concentrated storm water flows in the channels and protect the vegetation. This natural storm water retention and infiltration scheme will also demonstrate creative reuse of the concrete from the demolished bridges and will feature native plantings. Upon completion, motorists will get a view of an environmental stewardship project that not only mitigates and protects but also provides a pleasing vista.
The interdisciplinary team that provided the designs for this storm water project includes Amara Geffen, Professor of Art and Director of the Center for Economic and Environmental Development, Allegheny College; Chris Brown, Landscape Architect with Derck & Edison, Inc.; Steve Halmi of Diess & Halmi Engineering; and Angelo Ciotti, environmental artist. Artist Jackie Brookner participated in the early design development process.
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ranks the third most popular holiday in the world, after Christmas and Easter
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Anna Jarvis (1864-1948) is the founder of Mother's Day in the United States
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proclaimed the second Sunday in May by President Wilson in 1914
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most popular flower for mother is the carnation, pink or white
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widely reported as peak day for long distance telephone calls
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earliest celebration dates back to the ancient Greece annual spring festival dedicated to Rhea, Mother of the Gods
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82.8 million mothers in the U.S. in 2004
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5.6 million stay-at-home moms in 2006
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21,135 florist establishments nationwide with 101,861 employees in 2005
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120 greeting card publishing establishments with 12,473 employees nationwide in 2005
You can access free foreign language courses online. The Foreign Service Institute offers a variety of materials for a range of languages including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Korean, Russian, Spanish - 34 languages in total. If you are moving or traveling to a foreign county, your business deals with foreign countries, or you are just interested in learning a new language, this resource could be of interest to you.
The Foreign Service Institute is the federal government's primary training institution for officers and support personnel of the U.S. foreign affairs community. The language course web site is an independent non-profit effort to foster the learning of world-wide languages. The courses are made available through the efforts of individuals donating their time and resources to provide quality materials for learning languages.
source: USA.gov news
The Crawford County Career Link and Precision Manufacturing Institute (PMI) are co-sponsoring a Career Exploration event to be held from 2:00 - 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 5, 2008 at the Douglass Conference Center, 764 Bessemer Street, Meadville for anyone interested in exploring manufacturing, business and trades opportunities. Included among the many areas to be explored are electromechanical technology, industrial maintenance, CNC machining and programming, business/office administration, and plastic and mold technology. The event targets all job seekers. Employers are encouraged to reserve a table to present their company to attendees.
For further information, contact PMI at 814-333-2415 or Theresa Anthony at Career Link, 814-337-5574 x 4101.
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Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County
764 Bessemer Street, Suite 101
Meadville PA 16335
814-333-2299
05/22/2008