If gas prices have you down this summer, just remember when you are planning vacations that there are many activities right in the region available for recreation and tourism.  Take advantage of the local forest areas, rivers, lakes, and fun day activities to entertain your family while reducing high energy costs!

Project Funding Available
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, 2008.  Applicants will be required to make a presentation about the project on September 9, 2008.  Award notification will take place in early October. If interested in receiving an application, please contact Ned Goucher.

Community Revitalization Receives Funds from Erie
Mark DiVecchio (Erie County Executive), Rick Novotny (Executive Director of the Erie County Redevelopment Authority), and Dave Mitchell (Erie County Council) made two check presentations to the Northwest Commission on behalf of Erie County  and  the  Erie  County  Redevelopment  Authority  (ECRDA)  on   Friday, June 20, in downtown Corry. 

Erie County designated $21,800 and the ECRDA designated another $24,860 in order to assist the commission’s Community Revitalization Program and to bring Suzanne Gagliardo on board at the commission as the Manager of Community Development. 

Suzanne has an extensive background in Community Revitalization.  For the past four years, Suzanne has been the Western Region Program Services Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Downtown Center and prior to that served as the Main Street Manager and Manager of the Washington Business District Authority for Washington, PA.

An article appeared in the Corry Journal detailing the event, as well as media interviews and clips that appeared on three segments of WICU 12 local news in Erie.  The check presentation was also widely attended by local business owners in Corry.

To view the picture of the Erie County check presentation click here.

To view the picture of the Erie County Redevelopment Authority check presentation click here.

State Budget Passes
The Pennsylvania State Budget was passed late evening June 30.  Within the budget the seven local development districts of Pennsylvania were funded $6,034,000. The funding is used for the Commission's economic and community development programs.

Cheers!

Seven Loans Closed – Six Loans Approved

In June the Northwest Commission closed seven loans for six companies:

• Coal Oil Johnny’s Eatery of Venango County closed on a $50,000 EDA/RLF loan to purchase commercial real estate which serves as a restaurant/banquet facility.  Two jobs will be created within three years. 

• Harrison Machine Company, LLC of Erie County closed on a $20,000 Microloan for business relocation expenses and inventory purchases.  Since this is a Microloan, job creation is not required.

• New Castle Candy Company of Lawrence County closed on a $200,000 SBF loan to purchase a commercial building in New Castle.  Seven jobs will be created within three years.

• Optical Filters USA LLC of Crawford County closed on a $200,000 EDA/RLF loan to purchase equipment.  Eight jobs will be created within three years.

• Tamarack Packaging LTD of Crawford County closed on a $140,000 ARC/RLF loan and a $60,000 EDA/RLF loan to purchase land, a building and equipment.  Eight jobs will be created within three years.

• Jepson Precision Tool, Inc. of Erie County closed on a $150,000 SBF loan to expand their building.  Two jobs will be created within three years and 12 jobs will be retained.

The Loan Committee approved six loans for five companies in June: 

• Clifton Automatic Screw Machine Products, Inc. of Erie County

• Dk Industries, Inc. d/b/a Precision Profiles, Inc of Crawford County

• Geometric Design and Technology, Inc. of Crawford County

• George-Ko Industries, Inc. of Erie County

• Kraeling Industries of Crawford County

Northwest Commission loan clients honored by SBDC
Gannon University honored several small businesses at their annual Small Business Awards luncheon on June 6.  The Commission is proud to say that two loan clients received awards!

Congratulations go out to John O’Grady, owner of Al’s Melons Farm Market & Greenhouse in Linesville for the Agribusiness of the Year award. John O’Grady purchased the business from his father in 2001 and has been actively expanding the business ever since. The operation sells produce, fruit and nursery products. They recently purchased land in Conneaut Lake to expand the operation by constructing a large greenhouse, and have plans to construct a building to sell produce and flowers at the site. Mr. O’Grady oversees a thriving farm, a wholesale and retail operation and has plans to grow into a destination site for Crawford County. Al’s Melons has retail locations in Meadville and Conneaut Lake. The award was nominated by Ed Miller of Northwest Savings Bank, Daryl Coyne and Larry Morgan of Gannon SBDC.

Congratulations also go out to Tony Gomo, General Manager of CSI Industries Inc. in Fairview for the Manufacturing Business of the Year award. CSI Industries Inc. was created in January 2000 with the purchase of Trost Inc. They have nearly tripled sales and doubled employees since 2000.  CSI has a diverse product mix and has built a reputation for building quality, highly-engineered products. Tony Gomo has plans to continue growing the company. Because they have such a diverse product line they have readied the company for economic downturns. CSI Industries Inc has customers for their products world wide.  They started with 32 employees in 2000 and have 60 employees today. Congratulations to all the employees at CSI Industries Inc that make the award possible. The award was nominated by John Snyder from Gannon SBDC and Daryl Coyne. 

Daryl Coyne met with three banks in the region to explain the Commission's loan programs and promote their use.  First United National Bank in Fryburg, First National Bank in Hermitage, and National City Bank in Sharon were those visited.  Several commercial lenders were updated on the Small Business First program, the Commission's Revolving Loan Fund program, the First Industries Agriculture and Tourism loan programs as well as the Microloan Program.  
 

Government 201: Contracting Opportunities with PennDOT, July 23
The Northwest Commission will host a half-day Government 201 training event focusing on how to do business with PennDOT.  This training will include information regarding PA Department of General Services (DGS) contracts and non-DGS contracts, and will also provide information for women-owned businesses, minority owned businesses and disadvantaged businesses and how they can become PennDOT vendors.  Carlton Brooks, Interim Director and Kyron Robinson, Project Coordinator, both of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Supportive Services Center at Cheyney University, will be presenting and addressing contracting opportunities relating to all industries.  Training will be held at the Northwest Commission’s Oil City office and registration will begin at 8:30am.  For more information and to reserve your spot today, please contact Lori Kenyon at lorik@nwcommission.org or at 814-677-4800 x104. 

Government 101: September 17
Conducted by 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. Presenters currently scheduled to speak include representatives from the Small Business Administration (SBA), Department of General Services (DGS), and the COSTARS program. 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. The Commission has started to take the Government 101 “on the road” to better accommodate the companies within the region. The September event will take place in Lawrence County in Ellwood City - the exact location will be announced at a later date. For more information and to reserve your spot today, please contact Lori Kenyon at lorik@nwcommission.org or at 814-677-4800 x104. 

Please see the Calendar of Events for additional upcoming trainings!
 

Market Access Grant open for applications
With the start of new fiscal year 2008/2009 Market Access Grant once again opens its doors to small and mid-sized Pennsylvania companies with the annual sales not exceeding $40 million.

If you are seeking financial assistance and foreign market entry support the Commission encourages you to apply for this matching grant program with a maximum annual award of $5,000. MAG can offset a portion of the qualifying expenses associated with new international marketing initiatives such as but not limited to:

• Trade mission participation

• Foreign market sales trip

• Subscription to USDOC services

• Trade Show Exhibition

• Consultant Fees for Website Internationalization

• International Marketing Media Design

• Training Workshops (CE MARK, CSA, ISO, etc.)

The next deadline to apply for Market Access Grant is July 31. For more information please do not not hesitate to contact Claudia Garcia (Erie County) at 814-454-7191 or Katarina Ishman at 814-677-4800 x117.

Pennsylvania International Week
September 10, 2008 at the Radisson Hotel in Sharon.

This event is an opportunity for local businesses to schedule one-on-one business appointments to meet with Authorized Trade Representatives and discuss ways in which they can successfully compete in the global marketplace. The event will feature 23 Authorized Trade Representatives from Australia/New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China-Beijing, China-Shanghai, Czech Republic, Eastern Mediterranean region, Arabian Gulf, France, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, UK and Vietnam. The Authorized Trade Representatives are contracted by the Commonwealth to provide market research for products/services, agent/distributor searches, foreign company background checks, industry contacts, in country assistance and many more to small and medium sized companies in Pennsylvania.

For more information about Pennsylvania International Trade Week, please contact Claudia Garcia (Erie County) at 814.454.7191 or Katarina Ishman at 814-677-4800 x 117.
 

Website Completed
Northwest Commission staff completed the Corry Area School District Neighborhood GIS web page.  The Commission built a Neighborhood GIS site for the district.  The interactive mapping site shows the district boundary, roads, bus routes/with stops, building addresses, and aerial photography.  The Corry Area School District will mainly use this site to help design and coordinate their bus routing and stops. 

NWC Meets with Grove City
Northwest Commission staff met with the Grove City Borough Manager to discuss how GIS technology could benefit the borough and some ways the borough could implement GIS.

Regional Parcel Conversion Project
The Regional Parcel Conversion Project is underway for Clarion, Crawford, Forest and Venango Counties.  WorldView Solutions, Inc. has completed 25% of the Venango County portion of the project and is working on pilot projects for the other three counties.

Please visit www.nwneighborhoodgis.com.  The Neighborhood GIS site is an interactive mapping web site that is available to all 265 local governments in northwest Pennsylvania.  If you would like a custom Neighborhood GIS web site for your organization, please contact the Northwest Commission.

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.