Economic Insider — December 4, 2009

Director's Focus
Committed Colleagues

Since having arrived in Northwestern PA about five years ago I’ve been pleased to regularly meet with professionals representing the myriad of organizations in the region engaged in some aspect of economic development. Unfortunately, as I’ve mention before on this page, fragmentation is a major factor in the economic development world and a commitment to effective communications among regional players, even competitors, is highly beneficial.

For many years now, the staff leadership for the following organizations has met bi-monthly to share current initiatives and practices, and to discuss topics of importance to the economy of the region: (in no particular order)

  • First Energy
  • Meadville Chamber
  • Meadville Redevelopment Authority
  • Economic Progress Alliance
  • Titusville Redevelopment Authority
  • Ben Franklin Technology Partners
  • NW Industrial Resource Center
  • NW Regional Planning and Development Commission

At our most recent meeting we had the pleasure of welcoming newly appointed Meadville Chamber president Kathleen Bishop. (Kathleen is a native Floridian and the group assured her that the weather around here is pretty much the same as Florida).

I very much appreciate the efforts and willingness of my numerous regional colleagues to commit time to sharing insights and to coordinating efforts on behalf of the region. I don’t take these commitments for granted. There are too many examples of duplication, redundancy and waste of precious resources to not appreciate the commitment made by those in the region to ensure a coordinated and quality economic development delivery system.

Until next time…

Mark Turner

Welcome!

The board and staff of the Economic Progress Alliance would like to welcome Kathleen Bishop, the new President and CEO of the Meadville-Western Crawford County Chamber of Commerce, to the Meadville area. Ms. Bishop, a Florida native, joined the Chamber on December 1, 2009 in her official capacity. Everyone at the Alliance would like to wish her the very best on her new endeavor!

Latest Crawford Business Park Renovation Celebrated

On November 23, 2009, the Department of Community and Economic Development joined the staff and board of the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County for a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to mark the substantial completion of work at the Crawford Business Park. The Crawford Business Park is a former brownfield site that is home to approximately 23 businesses, which employ more than 800 people.

Speaking at the ceremony, DCED Deputy Secretary for Business Assistance, Dee Kaplan commented that the ribbon cutting marked the final phase of the $2.3 million renovation to the Crawford Business Park. The DCED has invested $1.6 million in grants and loans on this project, with some of the funding coming from the State’s Infrastructure Development Program.

The $700,000 in Infrastructure Development Program funds were used for engineering, design and inspection costs; the east entrance improvements and parking area construction and Broadway road improvements which included street resurfacing, drainage improvements, new sidewalks, curbing and landscaping.

Four Crawford County Businesses Awarded Energy Efficiency Grants

On November 9th, Governor Edward G. Rendell announced that 165 small businesses in Pennsylvania, which include four in Crawford County, were awarded Small Business Energy Efficiency grants. According to Governor Rendell, these grants will assist small businesses in cutting energy bills nearly in half. Combined with the awards announced in November, the Small Business Efficiency grant program has awarded $2.3 million to 218 companies in 2009.

Grant program eligible projects include purchasing and installing geothermal heat pumps, energy efficient HVAC systems, lighting and refrigeration systems, insulation and air sealing projects among others. Abbatron, LLC, a Crawford Business Park tenant, was one of the four Crawford County small businesses to receive the grant. Abbatron is joined by Park Restoration LLC, Zatsick’s Golden Dawn and D&B Custom Wiring. To see a full listing of the Pennsylvania small business receiving grants, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: Small Business Energy Efficiency Grants.

Pennsylvania Health and Human Services Resource Guide

As everyone is aware, the recent economic climate has affected many of our friends and neighbors residing in the Commonwealth. What everyone may not be aware of is that the Pennsylvania Health and Human Services Resource Guide offers residents of the Commonwealth information on heating bills; health insurance; food assistance and unemployment issues. The guide is available on the following website: www.health.state.pa.us. The U.S. Small Business Administration has passed this information along and asked that it be shared with the community. Together we can assist our neighbors in need through this unique program.

Training Session

The Northwest Commission, in partnership with the Oil Regional Alliance is offering a half day training session on December 17 which focuses on International Business Contracts. The speaker for this session is Dennis Unkovic, Partner of Meyer, Unkovic and Scott, LLP of Pittsburgh, who will present the following modules:

  • International Business Transactions
  • Financial Considerations for Overseas Operations
  • Negotiating & Drafting foreign Agency and Distribution Agreements
  • Drafting an Arbitration Clause for International Contracts
  • The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods
  • The Foreign Corrupt Practices ACT (FCPA)
  • What You Need to Know about U.S. AntiBoycott Laws

This training will be located at Sperian Fall Protection, Inc., 1345 15th St. Franklin, PA 16323. Registration and a Continental Breakfast will be held at 8:30 a.m. and the training will run from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. A registration fee of $15 will be charged. Anyone interested in this training program, should contact Katarina Ishman at: katarinai@nwcommission.org.