KIZ Micro Grant Awarded
KIZ company, Wilson Engineering, was awarded a $10,000 KIZ Micro Grant Award at the December 11 KIZ Board Meeting.  The grant funds will be used for the purchase of equipment to allow them to provide better energy efficient systems to institutions such as School Districts.

Tax Credits
2009 KIZ Tax Credits were awarded in PA for the sum of $12,668,497 to 173 KIZ companies.  Four Crawford County NWPA KIZ companies; Abbatron, 2W Technology, Bright Hospitality, and Optical Filters USA along with Clarion County’s Clarion Boards each received the maximum award of $100,000.
 

ROI Contracted
Four businesses have talked to the Commission about the possibility of expanding in Pennsylvania.  The Commission continues to work to refine ROI’s search criteria to identify better prospects.  Without ROI, the Commission would not have been aware of these leads. 

Regional Interest
The Solar Farm Company from Oregon has identified three locations in the Northwest Region that potentially, could meet their needs for a KOZ-Brownfield location.
 

Hermitage Receives EDA Grant
The City of Hermitage has just been awarded a $4.2 million EDA grant to construct a 15,000 square foot tech center in the Linden Pointe Industrial Park.  The tech center will have a testing laboratory for businesses and will have business incubator space available. 
 

Northwest Commission Energy Workshop Added
As mentioned in last month’s Northwest News, the Commission is in the process of looking for energy workshop topics for the coming year.  At this point, staff has one in the making that will address electricity rate cap expiration and some strategies to alleviate the impact.  All rate caps in the region will be removed by this time next year, with the majority of them coming off on January 1, 2011.  Rate increase estimates vary, but at this point it appears that the increases are likely to exceed 30%.  Don’t let this put your municipality in a bind; please stay tuned for more details as dates and locations are finalized.

Energy Consortiums
One way to combat increasing energy costs is through the creation of buying groups or consortiums.  There are various ways to go about forming and/or joining one of these groups as well as different purchasing strategies that may be undertaken.  The Commission’s Energy Program is here to assist you with any questions or concerns that you may have regarding your future energy purchasing while making sure that you end up in a program that is a good fit for your situation.  Please contact Bill Rupert to find out more about the buying groups and consortiums that are available in the area. 
 

MTAP Schedule is Complete
The Northwest Commission is pleased to announce that it now has the completed schedule of MTAP course for Winter/Spring 2010 as follows:

• 1/15 – Excel 2007 Level I
• 1/17 – Word 2007 Level I
• 1/27 – Excel 2007 Level II
• 2/09 – Word 2007 Level II
• 2/24 – Microsoft Vista
• 3/03 – PC Security and Maintenance Level I
• 3/08 – Social Networking
• 3/31 – PC Security and Maintenance Level II
• 4/14 – Excel 2007 Level III
• 4/21 – Word 2007 Level III
• 5/05 – QuickBooks Level I
• 5/19 – QuickBooks Level II
• 6/02 – Microsoft Outlook
• 6/16 – Mail Merge
• 6/16 – Excel Functions
• 6/21 – Microsoft Access 2007 Database Level I

There will be a one hour lunch break during each of the full day courses.  You should feel free to go off premises or to bring a lunch with you to the facility.  For times and places please refer to the official MTAP schedule at:

http://www.nwcommission.org/mtap.html  

MTAP Computer Equipment Giveaway
The Commission has several flat screen computer monitors that it will be giving away to municipalities as a part of the MTAP program.  If you have a need for one of these monitors, the Commission asks that you send an email to Bill Rupert stating your name, contact info, and municipality. Winners will be chosen at random and then notified as a group.  Limit is one per municipality.
 

Route 62 Smart Transportation Study
An advisory team kick-off meeting for the Route 62 Study was held on December 3, 2009.  The study area has been extended to Pumphouse Road to correspond with the project limits of the existing project at the bottom of Seneca Hill.   The next meeting of the advisory team will be at the end of January.

Route 8 Land Use & Transportation Study
The first Study Committee Meeting was held on December 14, 2009.  The first public meeting will be held on January 19, 2010, to gather input on the study and the corridor. The goals and objectives will be presented to the Study Committee after that public meeting on January 29th. Parsons Brinckerhoff will be using four newsletters for public outreach over the term of the project.

Linking Planning and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
In an effort to promote cost effective solutions and expedite project delivery, a seven-step process is being developed to address environmental and cultural resource constraints along with transportation needs and analysis.  The identification of these constraints early in the process will help to mitigate the impact.

Transportation Advisory Committee
The Transportation Advisory Committee has scheduled a special meeting at 1:30 P.M. on the 21st of January at PennDOT’s District Office. The items of discussion will be “Linking Planning and NEPA” and the Transportation Advisory Committee Bylaws. 
 

Route 6 Heritage Communities Progressing
The region’s 2009 designees are Conneaut Lake and Youngsville. These communities Stakeholder Groups will be meeting in February to complete their Heritage Community WorkPlans.  The 2010 Heritage Community designation deadline was in December and applications are under review.  The Commission’s Community Revitalization program is providing assistance to the Route 6 Heritage Corporation, serving as the western Heritage Community Coordinator.  Visit http://www.paroute6.com .

Edinboro Main Street Effort Ongoing
The Edinboro Growth Initiative (EGI) meets the second and fourth Thursdays of every month at 6:30 PM at Eclectic Etceteras Coffee House.  The group has already submitted for a 2010 Route 6 Heritage Community designation and is also evaluating the different components of the Main Street methodology.  In addition to developing the necessary organizational elements, including a possible 501 C3 application, the group is reviewing the merits of becoming an asset based community development corporation.  Working with the Erie County Redevelopment Authority, staff continues to provide guidance, technical assistance, and resource materials to EGI.  Visit www.edinboro.cc to see what is happening in this community.

Tionesta Growing Greener Implementation
The scheduled work continues with the downtown Tionesta Growing Greener II grant plans and the Site Development signs are in production.  Watch for the installation of these project signs!

Northwest Regional Managers’ Network Meeting Slated
The next networking meeting will be in downtown Oil City on January 20th.  In addition to presentations by several artisan trail organizations, there will be a presentation on retail incubator development, a tour of the Transit Building studios, and a few success stories shared.  These networking meetings are open to the managers of designated Main and Elm Street communities as well as those revitalization organizations moving forward with active programs and projects.  Contact Suzanne Gagliardo for more details.

Save-the-Date – Connect-2-Communities
The 4th annual Connect 2 Communities Conference will be Wednesday, May 5th at Cross Creek Resort on Route 8, just south of Titusville.  Interested sponsors and vendors may contact any member of the Community Development Team for additional information.
 

Regional Planning Meeting
The Northwest Regional Planning Committee met on January 15th.  The items discussed were updates on the Transportation Improvement Program, preparing the Regional Greenways Plan for submission to the NWC Board of Directors in February, and the need to nominate or elect a committee member to chair the committee.  This person will also hold a seat on the Northwest Commission Board of Directors.

2010 KOZ Applications
Applications for the 2010 Keystone Opportunity Zone benefits are now being accepted from qualifying applicants.  Electronic submissions can be submitted here.  Due to staffing shortages the Department of Revenue cannot review 2010 applications until February.

Greenways Block Grant
Twenty-two applications were submitted for consideration in the second round of awards for a Greenways Block Grant.  These applications requested $690,300 of which $300,000 is available in funding.  Funded projects will be announced in early 2010.

Regional Parcel Project Nearing Completion
The Northwest RPO Regional Land Use/GIS Project is nearing completion. Worldview, Inc. has completed digital parcel conversion in all participating counties (Clarion, Crawford, Forest, and Venango). End-user training was provided on January 12th. The Northwest Commission will meet with representatives from each county and representatives of Worldview, Inc. to confirm that all deliverables have been met according to the terms articulated in the original contract. It is anticipated that the project will be complete in the first quarter of 2010.
 

Amanda Slider is the Loan Specialist at the Northwest Commission.  She assists the Business Financing manager with the loans that are provided to Northwest Commission clients.

Feel free to contact Amanda by telephone at 814.677.4800 x115 or email her at: amandas@nwcommission.org.

What is your favorite type of food?
I love spicy food. I also love to cook. I’ve been a vegetarian for 10 years; so my challenge is to make vegetarian food that even meat-lovers will enjoy.

Do you have any hidden talents?
I’ve been playing the piano since I was five. Note: that doesn't mean I’m good.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. She was one of the most influential women in English history outside of the monarchy.

What CD is in your CD player right now?
Muse – The Resistance

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you and why?
It would have to be someone tall.  If I have to be short in real life, I’d prefer to be tall on the big screen!

What is the most satisfying thing about working at the Commission?
Ensuring our region’s success into the future is challenging, but very rewarding. I get to be a small part of a larger mission to help local communities compete in a rapidly changing economic and social environment.