Economic Insider — January 30, 2009

Director's Focus
How good is PA for Small Business?

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council recently completed its 13th annual Small Business Survival Index for 2008. For those who may not have seen it, I have summarized Pennsylvania’s rankings for your review. As the Crawford County economy is largely dependent on the health of small businesses, our relative competitive position among the states and the District of Columbia is important.

While the following rankings are only a snapshot of 2008, they do serve to highlight our relative strengths and weaknesses.

  • Top Personal Income Tax Rates 11
  • Top Individual Capital Gains Tax Rates 13
  • Top Corporate Income Tax Rates 51 (including DC)
  • Top Corporate Capital Gains Tax Rates 51
  • State and Local Property Taxes 29
  • State, Local Sales, Gross Receipts and Excise Taxes 11
  • Adjusted Unemployment Taxes 22
  • Number of Health Insurance Mandates 25
  • Electric Utility Costs  34
  • Workers’ Comp Benefits / $100 of Covered Wages 39
  • Crime Rate 4
  • Number of Government Employees / 100 Residents 3
  • State Gas Taxes 40
  • State Diesel Taxes  44
  • State and Local Six-Year Spending 30
  • Per Capita State and Local Gov. Expenditures 34

To view the full report click on the following link: www.sbecouncil.org/uploads/sbsi%202008%5B1%5D1.pdf

Until next time...

Mark Turner

Company Relocates to Crawford County

A Mercer County company has been acquired and moved to Crawford County. Christopher Chiesa recently purchased the assets of Knepp Buildings, Inc. and relocated the business to Conneaut Lake, retaining all nine company employees with plans to add one additional employee by the end of the second quarter. Mr. Chiesa received an Alliance Revolving Loan Fund loan in the amount of $20,000 towards the project.

Knepp Buildings was established in 1997 in Sandy Lake by Ronald Knepp who has decided to retire after being in the construction business most of his life. It is a residential, agricultural and light commercial post-frame construction company with a main area of focus covering Crawford and Mercer Counties. Chiesa's plans are also include gradually extending their focus area into Allegheny County.

Chiesa, a native of Elk County, a graduate of Edinboro University and Mercyhurst College, moved to Meadville about twelve years ago. He worked many years in the construction industry when the opportunity to purchase Knepp Buildings arose. The transition of ownership has been fairly seamless with the consultation services of Mr. Knepp and the experience of the employees. Knepp Buildings' new location is 7214 Church Street, Conneaut Lake.

REthink Erie Survey Launched

REthink Erie invites individuals and businesses in Erie, Crawford and Warren Counties to participate in the REthink Erie/Workforce Development Survey. The purpose of the study is to gather important workforce development information and regional perspectives regarding a prospective community college to serve northwest Pennsylvania.

The survey is available on the front page of the REthink Erie website at www.rethinkerie.com and takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. The survey period closes Friday, February 6th.

"Our goal is to have a very high response in all three counties from which we're gathering information - Erie, Crawford and Warren," said Mary Bula, vice president of the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership. "This is the last step in our research process to identify the region's workforce challenges and help determine if a community college is needed."

Community colleges provide affordable two-year degrees, certificates, and adult training and education in response to the changing needs of the local community, business and industry. There are no community colleges in northwest Pennsylvania.

REthink Erie is a collaboration among the business, government, economic development and philanthropic communities to aggressively address our region's workforce development challenges and evaluate the opportunities associated with and the viability of creating a community college to serve northwest Pennsylvania. The initiative's focus will be RElearning, REtooling, REworking and REeducating to meet the changing needs of people, business and industry in the region. If the research process determines an application for a community college is warranted, REthink Erie will coordinate the necessary community input and professional expertise to develop an application to establish a community college for submission to the Pennsylvania State Board of Education.

Allegheny College Scholarship Applications Available for Area Women

Applications for the Allegheny College Association (ACA) Continuing Education Scholarships for qualified Crawford County women will be available beginning February 1st at the Meadville Public Library and the YWCA.

The program, now in its 35th year, enables women to return to the classroom to pursue an undergraduate college degree. A tuition waiver contributed by Allegheny College allows each recipient to enroll in a maximum of three credit-bearing courses during the 2009-2010 academic year. A stipend is also provided each semester to help with costs such as books, child care and travel. Funds for the stipend are raised through programs sponsored by ACA throughout the year.

To be eligible, a woman must be 25 years or older, a resident of Crawford County at the time of application and have completed high school or the equivalent. If applicants have additional education beyond high school, it cannot exceed the equivalent of two years of college. Preference will be given to applicants who have realistic goals and the potential for academic success. Employees of Allegheny College are not eligible for this scholarship as they are eligible for tuition remission under another program.

Individual interviews will be held in March and the 2009-2010 scholarship recipients will be announced soon after. Each scholarship winner will choose her courses in consultation with a faculty member who serves as her advisor. A support group including new and former students, faculty and administrators will help scholars learn more about the college and campus life.

Applicants should plan to attend an information session to be held at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Mar 10 in the East Alcove of Schultz Hall which is located off North Main Street.

In addition to the ACA Continuing Education Scholarship, the Mary Loretta Walsh Scholarship and the ACA Returning Scholar Award enable two ACA Scholarship recipients to return to Allegheny for an additional year of study. For more information on these programs, contact Tamara Larkins at 814-332-2957 or visit the ACA Continuing Education Scholarship web site.