By Keith Gushard
05/19/08
May 18, 2008 11:38 pm
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This is the third year in a row that Mark Turner has had the same top goal for the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County — getting the first tenant to locate somewhere on the sprawling 1,300-acre Keystone Regional Industrial Park site in Greenwood Township.
Despite failing to attract a tenant to the Keystone park, the Alliance, which Turner serves as executive director, has had significant successes at other sites it owns. It’s landed new tenants for Crawford Business Park and Crawford Woodlands, both in Vernon Township. The Alliance also helped process more than $14 million in loans for 13 firms in 2007.
However, having the first tenant locate at Keystone is the major goal for the Alliance in 2008, said Turner.
When will Keystone be ready?
The big holdup in landing a tenant has been Keystone’s lack of infrastructure — namely water and sewer lines and roads, said Turner.
When the Keystone was first being set up in 2000, Sue Ferry, a past executive director of Meadville Area Industrial Commission (one of the Alliance’s predecessor agencies), often called it “shovel ready,” meaning all was ready for a prospective tenant to begin a building project.
There is a water tower, some water lines and an access road off Adamsville Road leading into a 223-acre area where HON Industries, a Muscatine, Iowa-based office furniture manufacturer, bought 80 acres in January 2001. However, it is a water well system only for that 223-acre area. Though it still owns that land, HON hasn’t built yet.
“We were not shovel ready,” said Bill Bragg, president of the Alliance’s board of directors. “We’re only getting a water system (for a majority of the park) now.”
Progress has been made toward installing the first phase of a water system for the park, but it has been slow because of wetlands issues.
Construction of a public water system for the industrial park is expected to begin this summer. However, before construction can start, delineation of wetlands on the site is needed since it’s near the Conneaut Marsh. In addition, development of a master plan has to be completed.
Since 2006, the Alliance has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to determine what areas are truly wetlands. The delineation project is expected to wrap up in June. However, Alliance officials already know that about half of the park will be ruled wetlands. It’s a major blow because those 650 to 700 acres can’t be developed.
“Wetlands are a fact of life in Crawford County,” Turner said. “I’m disappointed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a productive investment for the community.”
“It was a fundamental question we couldn’t answer,” Turner said of what areas can be developed. “It made it very difficult. We’re just now in position where someone needs a 40-acre site we have a 40-acre site, or a 20-acre site and we have a 20-acre site.”
Progress has also been slowed by other environmental factors. The state Game Commission became involved in assessing the site because water wells for the water system are located in the Conneaut Marsh. The marsh is a highly protected area because of its composition and because of the fact that it’s a nesting area for bald eagles, which are federally protected. The two initial water wells were located near eagle nesting areas and the two water wells that were eventually approved by state and federal regulators are farther east — away from the nesting area.
“We’re disappointed it’s been slow, but they are reasons outside our control,” Bragg said.
The Alliance still is talking with a couple of firms about locating at Keystone.
“Companies we talked to two years ago are still talking,” Turner said. “Both keep looking at sites at Keystone. These things very seldom happen overnight.”
Bragg isn’t disappointed with Turner, who was paid $92,500 in 2007. The Alliance refused to release his salary for this year, but the organization does have a total 2008 payroll of $929,932 with a staff of 30 full-time workers.
“Some 1,500 companies relocate every year, but there are 33,000 (development) agencies looking to get them,” Bragg explained, citing what he said were statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce. “It’s not something that happens overnight.”
Dealing with the Army Corps of Engineers and DEP has been a lengthy process for Turner and his staff, but it should pay off soon, according to Bragg.
“We actually can be in a position this summer where we can truly offer something to somebody,” Bragg said of potential building sites at the park. “There’s a lot of work that had to be done.”
Other sites taking off
Though work at Keystone has been painfully slow, Bragg said he and the board are happy with the accomplishments of Turner and his staff at other industrial sites owned by the Alliance.
“We have a fifth company (Moon Tool) going into Crawford Woodlands (another industrial park in Vernon Township),” Bragg said. “We have five sites left (there) and we’re close on couple more (companies buying sites).”
Crawford Business Park in Vernon Township — the site of the former Avtex Fibers Inc. plant — added seven new tenants in 2007, according to Alliance officials. There are now 29 tenants with a combined total employment of approximately 1,000 employees.
Also, some 120,000 square feet of space at Crawford Business Park were remodeled for use by eight different tenants.
Right now, there’s more than 810,000 square feet of space leased out at Crawford Business Park with only about 24,000 square feet remaining, Turner said.
Crawford Business Park in particular has been a major success. Since 2005, Turner and his staff have been able to add 11 firms with 576 workers, leasing some 326,300 square feet.
Turner said the Alliance also has been active in negotiations to complete the sale of all remaining property the Alliance holds at the West Mead Industrial Park to private hands.
Finances and organization
Helping area companies with financial assistance was another area of accomplishment for the Alliance in 2007.
It helped process loan applications totaling $14.1 million for projects that totaled $18.3 million at 13 firms, creating 59 local jobs and retaining another 520, Turner said.
The numbers are down from 2006 when the Alliance processed $18.8 million in low-interest loans for projects that totaled more than $30 million at 21 firms, creating 150 new jobs and retaining more than 1,400.
Job numbers — particularly those retained — can fluctuate from year to year depending on the size of the firms seeking loans.
From 2000 through 2007, more than 90 firms have been helped with $45.2 million in loans toward $70.3 million in projects, resulting in more than 4,200 jobs retained and more than 600 created.
Strong use of the loan programs this decade is something Bragg said he and other board members are encouraged to see.
“Job preservation is key and we’re preserving jobs through the loan programs,” Bragg said.
Bragg also praised Turner and his staff for the combination of the former Meadville Area Industrial Commission and Crawford County Development Corp. and their respective subsidiaries into one organization in 2007.
Meadville Area Industrial Commission and Crawford County Development Corp. make up the Economic Progress Alliance. The Alliance is the county’s designated lead economic development agency with Turner serving as its as executive director as well as of MAIC and CCDC.
MAIC was a private, nonprofit organization of local business leaders that promotes industrial development in the region.
CCDC was a private, nonprofit corporation organized to promote economic, social and civic welfare; seek and assist in bringing in new businesses; assist existing firms; and reuse existing vacant buildings.
The two agencies began working cooperatively in 2004, but continued to manage their own assets and have separate boards of directors.
However, the Alliance was formed with the two agencies integrating their staffs. An oversight board was established that includes two members each from MAIC and CCDC and a representative from the Crawford County Board of Commissioners.
The two agencies and their subsidiaries formally into one economic development organization with a combined board in 2007.
They combined into one agency for the county so businesses didn’t have to deal with multiple agencies and to simplify economic development dealings with state agencies.
“We’re very happy with Mark and what he’s done. Seamless is the way we have to describe it,” Bragg said of the merger.
Turner said the agency’s actions all are aimed toward one overall goal.
“Our primary mission is to support job creation out there (in the business world),” he said.
Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.
Coming Tuesday
Nearly eight-month delay in getting local land for a manufacturing facility called an “anomaly” by top economic development official.
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