Happy New Year!  It’s hard to believe that another holiday season has come and gone, and 2008 has offered a fresh start for the calendar year.  The Commission is beginning their fifth decade serving Northwest Pennsylvania.   It is a busy time preparing for the upcoming Annual Dinner.  Each department is running reports and reviewing numbers from 2007 and strategically planning how to approach the goals that are to be achieved in 2008.  This year the staff of the Northwest Commission will continue to reach out to business and local governments and provide quality services for the economic benefit of Northwest Pennsylvania.

Northwest Commission Loan Program Receives Agricultural Loan Award
On behalf of the Northwest Commission, Daryl Coyne, Manager of the Commission’s Loan Program, attended the Pennsylvania Farm Show to accept the PAgrows award.  Coyne and her staff have been instrumental in planning agricultural projects in the Northwest Pennsylvania region.  Congratulations to Daryl and her staff on a job well done!

Annual Dinner Reminder
The Northwest Commission’s Annual Dinner will be held Thursday April 3^rd at Cross Creek Resort in Titusville.  Sponsorships are available, if you are interested.  There are four sponsorship levels: platinum, gold, silver, and bronze.  Each sponsorship level helps to support the Annual Dinner and offers an opportunity to gain advertising exposure for your business the night of the dinner.  If your business is interested in sponsoring this event contact Sam Wilson, Public Relations Coordinator at the Commission by email at samw@nwcommission.org, or by phone at 814.677.4800 X 105.

Welcome New Staff
The Northwest Commission is pleased to welcome Susan Smith as the new Manager of Business Development.  It will be her responsibility to market the newly designated Northwest Pennsylvania Keystone Innovation Zone.  This will include presenting the opportunities available to businesses through the KIZ and coordinating activities of the KIZ with the local colleges and universities.  She will manage the Commission’s Business Attraction Program and will represent Northwest Pennsylvania as a viable business location at trade shows.


Sincerely,

Movers & Shakers
In December the Northwest Commission closed six loans:

• Shannon & Brenda Irwin of Crawford County closed on a $46,800 SBF/FIF Agriculture loan to construct a barn.  Because this is an agriculture project there are no job creation requirements.
   

• Thornton Industries, Inc. of Erie County closed on a $150,000 USDA/IRP loan and a $25,500 USDA/RBEG loan to purchase equipment.  Ten jobs will be retained and five jobs will be created within three years.
   

• Moon Tool & Die Company, Inc. of Crawford County closed on a $105,000 EDA/RLF loan and a $95,000 ARC/RLF loan to purchase equipment.  Twenty four jobs will be retained and two jobs will be created within three years.
   

• Leech, Inc. of Crawford County closed on a $200,000 SBF loan to expand their facility.  Sixty one jobs will be retained and eight jobs will be created within three years.

The Loan Committee approved five loans in December: 

• Lincoln Metal Processing Co., Inc. of Erie County was approved for a $200,000 SBF loan to purchase equipment.
   

• Al’s Melons Farm Market and Greenhouses of Crawford County was approved for a $180,000 SBF/FIF Agriculture loan.
   

• Jason & Jessica Kennedy were approved for a $125,400 EDA/RLF loan to purchase a farm in Crawford County.
   

• John & Norma Struthers were approved for a $200,000 SBF/FIF Agriculture loan to purchase a farm in Mercer County.
   

• Ashtabula Iron & Metal Recycling was approved for a $200,000 SBF loan to purchase the assets of the recycling center in Crawford County.

After the Commission-wide program orientation on Dec. 10, the Manager of the Loan Department presented the loan programs in more detail to Gannon SBDC staff and several commercial lenders from National City Bank. The meeting enabled the bankers and the SBDC staff to ask specific questions about each of the loan programs and their procedures.   
 

Government Contracting Opportunity with the Army
The Department of the Army is searching to identify supplier capabilities for its Small Manufacturers Defense Initiative (SMDI) Program. The Northwest Industrial Resource Council Network is maintaining a SharePoint site which will eventually contain an “A List” of companies who might respond to the Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) requests for quotations.  When ARDEC releases a Request for Quote (RFQ), companies on the “A List” would be notified by e-mail and would have the capability to look at the RFQ online.  ARDEC, located in Picatinny, NJ, is the Army's principal researcher, developer and sustainer of current and future armament and munitions systems. ARDEC plays a key part in Army Transformation with its involvement in the development of the Soldier and Future Combat Systems and continued efforts in the development of advanced weapons that exploit technologies like high-power microwaves, high-energy lasers and nanotechnology.  

Eligible companies are small businesses who have: metal fabrication capabilities, plastic capabilities, wire harness capabilities, and pneumatic capabilities.

If you have questions pertaining to this program or would like to sign up, please email Wayne Williamson.

Resource Spotlight: Department of Defense Procurement Gateway https://progate.daps.dla.mil/home/home.cfm
The Procurement Gateway contains sales opportunities estimated between $250 and $25,000 and only posts for products, not services. It is an integrated collection of automated systems providing oversight for the management of procurement data. The Procurement Gateway allows prospective government contractors to perform comprehensive and detailed searches against Request for Quotation (RFQ) and Award documents. Flexible search options permit the user to identify RFQs and awards using a variety of search criteria including solicitation, Purchase Request Number, and National Stock Number (NSN).

New NAICS Codes for 2007
If you are currently involved with Federal contracts, please note that the Census Bureau has just released the new North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes for 2007. Most codes remain the same, however some codes have been revised and some new codes have been added. To ensure that you are using the most current codes, please go to http://www.census.gov/naics/2007.  If you have any questions about your NAICS codes, please contact either Candace Glover (814-677-4800, ext 107) or Wayne Williamson (814-6774800, ext 121).

Federal Set-Asides for Women Owned Businesses
A new rule proposed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) could make it easier for women-owned small businesses to win federal contracts — but only in a few specialized industries. The rule would apply only to contracts in the following “underrepresented industries” and would enable women-owned small businesses to be eligible for “set-aside” contracts:

National security and international affairs;
Coating, engraving, heat treating, and allied activities;
Household and institutional furniture and kitchen cabinet manufacturing; Other vehicle dealer.

[Notes:  1) under this rule, contracts in other industries (over 2300) cannot be set aside for women-owned small businesses; 2) set-aside contracts cannot exceed $3 million, except for manufacturing contracts, which are capped at $5 million.]

This proposed rule was published December 27, 2007, in the Federal Register, and remains open to public comment until Feb. 25. If this rule is approved, the SBA feels it could be implemented as early as 2009.

New Department of Defense (DoD) Wood Packaging Material (WPM) Requirements
The DoD now requires that all non-compliant WPM meet ISPM 15 (Guidelines For Regulating Wood Packaging Material In International Trade) guidelines using heat treatment for pest control.  What the Guideline explains in detail is how the DoD will bring non-compliant WPM currently within their system up to ISPM 15 standards, such as:

• used within the US and US territories or;
   
• fumigated and marked according to ISPM standards or;
   
• marked as "DOD Pest Free" for material with a "valid" pack date prior to Dec 31, 2007 or;
   
• returned to origin at shipper’s expense.

In summary, all of the non-compliant WPM will eventually be used after which only heat treated WPM will be acceptable for use by the DoD.  More information on this can be found in ISPM 15 and the following websites:

• American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC) – www.alsc.org
   

• National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) – www.nwpca.com
   

• Customs and Border Protection – www.cbp.gov

Northwest Commission Upcoming Events:

January 16^th – Government 101
Conducted at the Northwest Commission, this introductory training provides an overview of how to do business with the Federal, State and Local governments.  This half-day event will be for any company who is looking to start working with, or would like to refresh their memories about, the sites and certifications of the federal and state procurement process. Topics such as set-asides, bid leads, registrations, and how to work through government opportunities are customized to attending companies for this half-day training event.  For more information and to reserve your spot today, please contact Lori Moore at lorimo@nwcommission.org or at 814-677-4800 x104. 
 

Local Companies Attend EuroMold2007 Trade Show in Frankfurt, Germany
The Office of International Business Development, Center for Trade Development, in corporation with the Northwest Commission recently hosted a trip to the Euromold International Trade Show held in Frankfurt, Germany, December 5-8.  Euromold is a World Fair for mold making, tooling, design, and application development. 

The Euromold draws 61,720 visitors from 83 countries to investigate the newest technology and processes in the Tool and Mold Industry sector. Vendors are brought in to display their products and services to potential customers, adding value to the trade show by encouraging discussion of new ideas, process flow, and cost. More than 1,600 exhibitors from 43 countries took part in Euromold 2007. It provided high quality of attendees, many interesting discussions and a lot of business contacts.

The Commonwealth hosts a booth so that local businesses can attend Euromold and have a booth to display their products and services. Three businesses from Northwest Pennsylvania attended this conference: Joint Venture Tool and Mold (Meadville), X-Cell Tool and Mold (Erie), Tech Tool and Molded Plastics Inc. (Meadville).

Jack Jaeger, of X-Cell Tool and Mold, said, “I felt that our experience this year was very positive. The shrinking value of the dollar is making European companies take a longer look at doing business in the US. While they are utilizing companies in the Asian region for some of their tooling, there is still hesitation due to concerns over confidentiality.  That is not a concern when dealing with companies in the U.S.”

Jaeger added, “The support that we received from The Northwest Commission and in particular Dorte Heffernan was excellent. Her assistance was invaluable both in the preparation stage for the show and with assistance during the show as well as setting up before hand and tearing down afterwards. Thank you!”

Dorte Heffernan, Manager of the International Program for the Northwest Commission said, “The international program at the Northwest Commission is part of a global network of professionals and consultants across Pennsylvania and in 50 markets worldwide. We are focused on increasing export sales for Pennsylvania companies. International trade shows such as the EuroMold in Germany provide low cost and high quality opportunities for regional companies to test and enter foreign markets. Exports provide a big push for the U.S. economy and we should do anything, to increase our exports. Now is the time to investigate the European market, given the strong Euro – Dollar exchange ratio. Since the Dollar is at an all time low compared to the Euro, US products are more and more affordable to the European buyer.”

For more information about the Euromold 2008 trade show, or about the International Program at the Northwest Commission contact Dorte Heffernan.

                
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Participate with Pennsylvania in the Trade Mission to South Africa:
Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. February 18-22, 2008
South Africa is an emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources and well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transportation sectors. Additionally, it has one of the 10 largest stock exchanges in the world and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to the region’s major urban centers.
In 2006, South Africa achieved GDP growth of 5% and an industrial production growth rate of 7.1%. Pennsylvania’s exports to South Africa surpassed $180 million in 2006, 7th highest in the United States, an increase of 33.2% over 2005.This market can be defined as a developing and established market, factors that both benefit American companies coming into the market. Travel itineraries are personalized, tailoring all business appointments and meeting locations to accommodate your company’s individual needs! There is no participation fee, however, companies are responsible for all travel and business related expenses.
Deadline for registration is Jan. 28. To view the official brochure, please click here.
 

The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) approved revisions to the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) that reflect adding a 4% inflation factor to all project costs. This is known as Year of Expenditure adjustments and is a SAFETEA-LU requirement.

Commission staff has begun working on the 2008-2009 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) for transportation. This will be available for review and Board approval at the February 15^th Board meeting.

Next Land Use and Transportation for Economic Development (LUTED) RAP Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for Friday, January 25, 2008 at 10:00 AM at the Business Innovation Center in Oil City.
 

Commission staff met with the Corry Area School District to discuss having a base map of their entire district created.  Currently they use three maps from the three different counties that their region encompasses.  The District is also interested in having their bus routes/stops mapped and possibly having this information made available through the Northwest Commission’s Internet Mapping site www.nwneighborhoodgis.com.

Five (5) proposals for the regional parcel project were received and were sent to the members of the parcel committee for their review.  All five vendors were invited to give presentations the week of December 17^th.  The parcel committee met on January 4^th to review and make a recommendation to the Commission Board of Directors.

Please visit the Neighborhood GIS site by going to www.nwneighborhoodgis.com.  The Neighborhood GIS site is an interactive mapping web site that is available to all 265 local governments in northwest Pennsylvania.

Please contact Matt Gilara, GISP - Manager, Regional Planning at (814) 677-4800 (x102) or mattg@nwcommission.org if you have any questions regarding GIS/GPS.