Economic Insider — May 8, 2009

Director's Focus
Linesville Property Update

The Economic Progress Alliance and its predecessor organizations (Crawford County Development Corporation and Meadville Area Industrial Commission) have a long and successful history of utilizing blighted property and brownfield sites to support business development and employment in the county. As briefly reported in a prior issue of the Economic Insider, we are again pursuing the acquisition of a major industrial facility in Linesville with which we intend to support job formation and economic development in that community.

As you may know, Cardinal Home Products, doing business as Tel-O-Post, discontinued operations at its 110,000 square foot manufacturing facility a few years back. Because of a release of trichloroethylene (TCE) caused by a ruptured underground tank, soil and ground water contamination resulted in the imposition of a Consent Order and Agreement between the company and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). As you can imagine, these circumstances seriously hindered any future sale or productive utilization of the property. Enter the Economic Progress Alliance.

As owners and developers of the Crawford Business Park (former Avtex facility) and the Bessemer Street Complex (former Conrail property), the Economic Progress Alliance is uniquely experienced in operating facilities subject to DEP Consent Orders and has been successful over the years in the reutilization of these brownfield sites for the benefit of the community.

Working closely with the facility’s owner, DEP and the Linesville Borough Council, we are nearing completion of an agreement with the DEP which will limit our liability for prior contamination and which specifies our responsibilities as the future owner going forward. This has been a major commitment of time and effort by all involved. I know it will result in considerable benefit to the community on a number of levels.

We have begun to show the property to potential users and feel confident that, with a little cooperation from the general economy, it won’t be long before this potentially blighted property will become productive again.

Until next time…

Mark Turner

PSI Medical Wins Big Idea Business Plan Contest

PSI Medical Catheter Care of Meadville, a division of Problem Solving Innovations, LLC, was announced this week as the winner of the 2009 Ben Franklin Technology Partners $100,000 Big Idea Business Plan contest. A second place prize of $10,000 was awarded to another Crawford County company, Scribe Printing Technologies Inc. of Cochranton.

PSI Medical was founded in 2007 by Anthony Colantonio, MD, and Menno Jager, DVM, to develop solutions that make the care of intravenous catheters easier and safer. "PSI Medical's products are innovative and they provide a practical way to reduce hospital-related infections." said Dean Bunnell, one of the judges for the competition and the CEO of Indigo Biosciences, LLC. "They are easy to use and the company already has a prototype ready to be commercialized. These factors really set them apart form the competition."

The company has been working toward final production of their novel devices in conjuction with Multi-Plastics Inc., a division of CORE Manufacturing in Saegertown. However, they anticipate moving operations in the near future to the Erie Technology Incubator at Gannon University. The founders feel this move will facilitate the company's expansion and accelerate completion of its pre-market preparations. It will also advance collaboration with the Plastics Technology Center at Penn State Erie - the Behrend College.

Scribe Printing Technologies received their award for innovation in printing technology. The company developed data printers for medical products which enables the ability to print on plastic products using a digital process that is high-speed, non-contact and full color with variable data. They currently have two fully funtional printers in use. The company was founded in 2008 when Robert Deets, a manufacturer of plastic components, partnered with Frank Pagano and Glenn Sahlin, experts in the development of custom software and the science of motion.

There were more than 100 submissions from 32 Pennsylvania counties for this year's Big Idea Business Plan contest. To be eligible, applicants needed to have a new marketable business idea, fewer than 50 employees in 2007 and 2008, less than $500,000 sales in year-to-date 2008 and less than $500,000 for the full year 2007. Ben Franklin Technology Partners, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, provides funding, operational assistance and entrepreneurial support to emerging tech-based companies and small, existing manufacturers for the purpose of creating and retaining jobs in Pennsylvania.

Sustainable Energy Technologies Seminar

The Crawford Conservation District and Penn State Erie Office of Continuing Education will host a Sustainable Energy Technologies program, "Introduction to Wind Energy Generation," from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at the Woodcock Creek Nature Center, 21742 German Road, Meadville.

Presenters are Dr. James Sonnenmeier, Research Associate Professor, and Ms. Lucille Olszewski, Wind Energy Meteorologist. Topics to be addressed include sustainable energy technologies, wind generation, impact pros and cons and basic economic issues.

The seminar is open to the public and is made possible through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Environmental Education Program. For more information or to register, call the Crawford Conservation District at 814-763-5269.