395 Seneca Street
P.O. Box 1127
Oil City, PA 16301
Phone:
814.677.4800
Fax: 814.677.7663
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Project Funding
Opportunity
The Northwest Commission is pleased to once again make
available $100,000 for regional projects. Eligible projects
should be multi-county in scope and show economic impact.
Applications are
due August 31, 2007 and applicants are required to make
presentations on September 11, 2007. Award notification will
take place in early October. If interested in receiving an
application, please contact
Ned Goucher.
Next Board
Meeting
Join
us August 3, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. for a meeting of the board of
directors. The meeting will take place at the Lincoln Hall in
Foxburg. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP your
attendance to Kellie at 814-677-4800, ext. 106 or at
kelliem@nwcommission.org
by July 27.
Welcome New
Staff
The
Northwest Commission is pleased to announce that Samuel Wilson
will join the agency as the Public Relations Coordinator.
Wilson, a DuBois resident, will provide ongoing public relations
and support for the Northwest Commission and its many programs.
Wilson is a 2003
graduate of Penn State University, where he received his Bachelor
of Science in Marketing. His talent and experience in
public relations will prove to be a great asset to the
Commission.
New outreach
office in Mercer County
The
Northwest Commission has recently opened an outreach office in
Mercer County. Modeled after the successful satellite office in
Erie County, it will serve the Mercer and Lawrence County area.
The office is located within Penn Northwest Development
Corporation’s new office complex at 749 Greenville Road in
Mercer. Katarina Ishman, International Trade Specialist, will be
working in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Valerie Hearn,
Community Development Specialist, will be working in the office
on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month.
Additional staff will be utilizing the office on an as needed
basis. Thank you to Penn Northwest for partnering with us on
this great initiative!
Sincerely,
 |
|
Five Loans Closed – Four Loans Approved
In June the
Northwest Commission closed five loans:
1. A
$196,000 SBF/FIF Agriculture loan closed for Westford Milling
Co. of Crawford County. The loan was used to purchase and
install a feed batching system.
2. A
$150,000 USDA/RLF loan closed for DHSteel Products LLC and DH
Realty LLC of Erie County. The loan was used to purchase and
renovate a building.
3. A
$123,700 SBF loan closed for K. B. Pizza, Inc. of Venango
County. The loan was used to purchase land and install
equipment and do renovations.
4. A
$40,000 SBF loan closed for American Tinning & Galvanizing
Company of Erie County. The loan was used to purchase a
supplemental water treatment system.
5. A
$164,250 SBF loan closed for World Gutter Systems, Inc. of
Erie County. The loan was used to purchase machinery and
equipment.
The loan Committee approved three
loans in June: Leech, Inc. of Crawford County; Munot
Plastics, Inc. of Erie County; and
JP Maximus, LLC of Venango County.
NW Commission
client recognized
The Loan
Department of the Northwest Commission and John Snyder of Gannon
University Small Business Development Center (SBDC) co-nominated
Frontier Pharmacy of Erie for the Retail Business of the
Year award. Gannon University SBDC presents awards annually to
companies in the region. Tom Toale, owner of Frontier Pharmacy,
was presented the award at a luncheon in Erie to recognize all
award recipients. Frontier Pharmacy is a 66 year old independent
pharmacy in Erie. Frontier is thriving despite competition from
the major national chains and supermarket pharmacies that are
driving other independent pharmacists out of business. The
pharmacy offers 24-hour emergency service, six-day delivery
service and provides medications to nursing home residents. The
company has seen its sales double over the past five years by
offering old-school services that are rare in the industry.
Congratulations to Tom Toale, owner of Frontier Pharmacy.
(Pictured above are Tom Toale; owner of Frontier
Pharmacy and Daryl Coyne
of the Northwest Commission)
|
|
On July
11th, the Northwest Commission hosted its Government
101 training event providing companies with information on how to
do business with the government. The Commission had 11 companies
from the regional area attend this seminar with topics ranging
from SBA programs, registration and how to work through the
government opportunities, specifically with the Defense Supply
Center Philadelphia. Speakers included Jeff Jobes from the
Defense Supply Center Philadelphia and Carl Knoblock from the
Small Business Administration. The presentation of this event
will soon be posted on the Northwest Commission’s Web site. The
commission hosts Government 101 training every other month and
updates of these dates can be found on the Web site as well.
Resource Spotlight: DGS
The
Department of General Services (DGS) is the chief procurement
agency for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and its Bureau of
Procurement is responsible for purchasing
or contracting for equipment and supplies for the Commonwealth.
Utilizing the Commonwealth’s new supplier portal will provide you
with a one-stop shop for viewing and responding to current bid
leads. Registration is required and can be done on the website.
The Bureau of Procurement also has an E-Alert service in which
procurement opportunities are emailed directly to you! Please
visit
https://www.pasupplierportal.state.pa.us to get registered.
Upcoming Events
The Northwest PA
PTAC is working with U.S. Congressman Phil English to co-host a
daylong government procurement seminar this fall. Watch for dates
and information coming soon.
|
|
Pennsylvania’s Annual International Week
Sept. 12-13, Bayfront Convention Center, Erie
Pennsylvania’s
international representatives from 18 countries around the globe
will be traveling to Northwest Pennsylvania to meet with regional
companies one-on-one on Thursday, Sept. 13.
Benefit from
meeting face-to-face with Pennsylvania’s trade representatives to
discuss your market potential for your product or services in a
particular country, know your competition, or find key contacts
such as agents/distributors. Gain a competitive edge in your
industry by taking advantage of this free service!
Also, please
join the Commission staff for a relaxed and fun evening welcome reception on
Wednesday, Sept. 12, for the State’s foreign trade
representatives at the new Bayfront Convention Center, Erie.
Enjoy the multi-cultural atmosphere and meet with people from
around the world!
For
additional information, please contact
Claudia Garcia at
claudiag@nwcommission.org
Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania Trade Mission to China
November 5 -13
This
is an
upcoming multi-sector trade mission to key industrial cities in
eastern China. The purpose of this mission is to assist
Pennsylvania companies in exporting their products and services.
Participating companies will receive pre-arranged one-on-one
business appointments with interested distributors, agents, etc.,
in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Suzhou.
China’s private sector is growing rapidly in the global economy.
In 2001, China was Pennsylvania’s 11th largest trading
partner, today it is 3rd. PA exports to China
increased more than 35 percent in 2006, totaling almost $1.3
billion. Leading sectors for PA exports include: fertilizer and
pesticides, air traffic control equipment, airport security
equipment, automotive components, coal mining, construction
equipment, machine tools and semi conductors, medical equipment,
education and training, power generation and water treatment. For
additional information and registration form please click on the
following
link.
|
|
A draft of the Northwest RPO Long-Range Transportation Plan has
been completed and available at several open house meetings that
were scheduled in Clarion, Crawford, Venango, and Warren
counties. The draft plan is posted on the Northwest Commission's
website at
www.nwcommission.org/transportation.html and is on
display in each of the five county planning offices.
|
|
The following transportation courses will be held:
- August 23, 2007
(8 AM – Noon) – Equipment and Worker
Safety – Vernon Twp.
(Crawford County)
- September 27, 2007 (8 AM – 4 PM) – Winter Maintenance –
Vernon Twp.
(Crawford County)
To register,
please contact Matt Gilara 814.677.4800 x102, or by email at
mattg@nwcommission.org. You may also register for these
courses online at
https://www.ltap.state.pa.us
|
|
MTAP Training Classes:
The Spring MTAP training classes are complete. Fifty-nine
(59) people registered to attend nine (9) classes conducted
in five counties. Forty-six (46) people actually attended the
scheduled trainings. Feedback in response to the programs was
consistently exceptional.
The fall
training schedule is currently being developed. A completed
schedule should be available in August. The fall classes will
be structured and announced with more specific information
about program content. If you have specific ideas or
suggestions for MTAP training programs, please contact W.
Randy Rice at 814.677.4800 x122 or
randyr@nwcommission.org.
QuickBooks
Training Proposals:
Municipal secretaries and treasurers have made their need
for QuickBooks training clear. Increasingly, municipalities
are relying on QuickBooks, and similar desktop accounting
software, to manage their budgets. The Commission recently
asked area accountants to submit proposals for QuickBooks
training that addressed the unique aspects of municipal
accounting. Those individuals or firms submitting proposals
were asked to develop a “curriculum” that would guide users
through the features of QuickBooks municipal officials rely
on most often (i.e.: setting up a chart of accounts, payroll,
contact and equipment management, accounts payable, etc.).
Evaluation of the training proposals is ongoing at this time.
|
|
|
Broadband Vision:
The Technology Advisory Group (TAG) met Friday, June 8th
at the Northwest Commission. The high-point of the agenda was
consideration of the Design Nine conclusions and
recommendations regarding Broadband deployment in Northwest
Pennsylvania. The TAG encouraged Commission staff to begin
getting the word out to the region about the Design Nine
reports toward facilitating a regional dialogue about
opportunities, challenges, and next steps toward a regional
Broadband Strategy. As a first step in this direction, W.
Randy Rice made a presentation at the Clarion County
Economic Development Corporation Eggs & Answers community
breakfast on July 12th.
Broadband
Outreach and Aggregation:
The Northwest Commission is currently assisting twenty-four
(24) communities with ongoing Bona Fide Retail Request
efforts. Three (3) communities met their threshold to trigger
DSL deployment in June. All three requests were submitted to
Verizon by the Northwest Commission on behalf of the affected
communities. A total of six (6) communities have been
successful at meeting the required deployment threshold since
January as a result of Commission assistance.
Community
mailings to promote aggregation efforts were completed in Ft. Leboeuf, Girard Township, and Oakland Township. The mailing
included information on the BFRR program and a web page and
phone number through which additional information and BFRR
forms could be obtained. These were the first mailings
conducted by the Commission. The effectiveness of mailings
versus door-to-door campaigns is being assessed.
|
|
|
The Northwest Commission coordinated an Introduction to ArcView
9.2 class June 6-7. The course was instructed by
Mr. Stewart Bruce from Penn State University and was attended by
14 individuals from the region (private business, County
Planning, and local government).
Northwest
Commission staff is working on a Biking Map for the Pennsylvania
Great Lake Tourism Region. The map will display the main biking
routes in Crawford, Erie, Mercer, and Venango Counties.
Please visit the
Neighborhood GIS 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, GIS/Community Development at
814.677.4800 x102 or by e-mail at
mattg@nwcommission.org if you have a desire to take GIS/GPS
training or want a map created.
|
|
Thank you
for subscribing to this e-publication
If you
enjoyed this edition of the NW News or have a suggestion for this
e-newsletter, please send comments
HERE |
|
To be
removed from our mailing list, please e-mail
click here.
|
|
