Summer is quickly approaching which translates to vacations, family picnics, concerts and the like.  Those are all very important, but as we move into the Fourth of July holiday, let us not forget about the true meaning of the holiday.  Independence Day, the only holiday that celebrates the United States, is a federal holiday celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which enabled the United States to become an independent nation.

Did you know?  In 1778, General George Washington marked the Fourth of July with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute!!

As you’re enjoying the holiday and watching the beautiful Fourth of July fireworks light-up the sky, remember what it took to get us where we are today and thank the founding fathers for making it happen! 

NADO 2007 Innovation Awards
Three Northwest Commission initiatives have been selected to receive the National Association of Development Associations (NADO) 2007 Innovation Award. Award recipients include:

        1.     Northwest Neighborhood GIS
2.     Breakfast for Champions!
3.     Broadband Aggregation

We will join other NADO Innovation winners at the 2007 NADO Annual Training Conference August 25-28, 2007. Congratulations to the award recipients and those that make the programs successful!

Strategic Planning

Summer marks the time for strategic planning!  The Northwest Commission staff and board will be working over the next few months to develop and adopt the Commission’s 2007-2008 Strategic Plan.  Stay tuned for more details.  Click here to view the 2006-2007 Strategic Plan.

Welcome New Staff!  
                                                      
The Northwest Commission is pleased to announce new staff in the Government Contracting Program:


                                              
Wayne Williamson will serve as Manager of the Program.  He is a graduate of Duquesne University, as well as a veteran of the U.S. Navy.  He served more than 20 years as a Navy officer specializing in logistics planning and execution and retired in the fall of 2005.  Welcome Wayne!


                                           
Candace Glover will serve as Specialist in the Program.  She is from Morrison, OK and is new to the northwest region.  Candace graduated from Oklahoma State University and then relocated to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Candace worked as an office manager for LJC Defense Contracting during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts before her and her husband, moved to Western Pennsylvania last fall. 

We’re very excited to have them on board and look forward to their involvement with the Northwest Commission! 

Sincerely,
 

For May the Loan Review Committee approved a loan for Horsepower Inc. of Erie County.

Loan department staff presented the Northwest Commission loan program in New Castle at the Business Financing Workshop sponsored by the Lawrence County Economic Development Corporation to inform the business community about loan programs available to small businesses. 

The Northwest Commission was approved for a $99,000 Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development. We will match the $99,000 with $33,000 to create a $132,000 revolving loan fund. The new funds will augment our existing revolving loan fund program. The RBEG program will provide funding for loans for land and building purchases, machinery & equipment purchases and related expenses as well as business acquisition and working capital needs.  Eligible applicants are those businesses engaged in manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing or servicing a product for profit.  The program can finance up to 50% of a project. The rate charged on the loans will be four points below the Prime rate and will not be less than 4%. The funds are contingent upon job creation and retention. One job will be created or retained for every $25,000 borrowed. When the loans are paid back the funds will be made available for additional loans to other small businesses in the region. 

Also, the revolving loan fund program has updated the job requirement for all borrowers.  Regardless of the type of borrower, the job requirement will now be one job for every $25,000 borrowed from the revolving loan fund. The job requirement for the State Small Business First program is one job for every $25,000 borrowed from their fund as well.

For more information, contact Daryl Coyne at darylc@nwcommission.org

Click here to view additional upcoming events available to small businesses in the area!
 

At the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) conference on May 23 in Erie, PTAC staff learned the latest advancements in RFID technology and where the technology is heading. There were also discussions on the challenges of implementing RFID technology in a small business setting. Speakers included representatives from the Department of Defense, Lockheed Martin, as well as other agencies and companies. For more information, contact Wayne Williamson at waynew@nwcommission.org

WAWF Update

The Federal government is in the process of transitioning its vendor payment system from a paper system to an electronic system. There currently is no date when this transition will be complete, so current invoicing / payment "paper" methods are still in effect. Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) is a web-based system that allows government contractors and employees to interact on a transaction level to execute contractor invoicing, government inspection, acceptance and payment for rendered goods or services. For more detailed information on WAWF and training opportunities for accessing and using this new system please go to: http://www.wawftraining.com.

Upcoming Events

June 25^th:  “Defense Contracting for Small and Disadvantaged Manufacturers (SADM),” presented by the Small & Disadvantaged Manufacturers’ Consortium from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Days Inn, Meadville. Speakers at the consortium will review SBA programs, how to get sole source and set aside contracts, and marketing to the government and large defense contractors.  There is a $190 fee for this event. Register at www.sadbu.us or by phone at (814)652-6983 or (716)462-4637.

June 26^th:  “Defense contracting for SADM” will also be presented by the Small & Disadvantaged Manufacturers’ Consortium at the Royal Allegheny Hotel in Kittanning. Registration process is as listed above.

July 11^th:  Government 101 training from 9 a.m. – noon, Northwest Commission, 395 Seneca Street, Oil City. This introductory class provides an overview of how to do business with the Federal, State and Local governments. 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. There is no cost for this event, but you must register in advance as space is limited. Please contact Lori Moore at (814)677-4800 x104 for further details or to register.

Learning Opportunities:
Gaining Access to Latin America – Two session Forum, June 26, Knowledge Park Center, Erie

Session I : 9:30 a.m. - noon. Trade Opportunities in Colombia and Venezuela
Presenter: Randy Mye, US Commercial Service

Are you aware that US exports are booming to Colombia and Venezuela in the last few years? In 2006, Colombia and Venezuela were included in the U.S. five largest export markets in the Western Hemisphere behind Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Colombia has become one of the most optimistic, stable and recovering economies in the region. On February 28, 2006, the United States concluded bilateral free trade agreement negotiations with Colombia. Venezuela’s economy has been growing steadily at about 9%. For many years, Venezuela has consistently placed among the top U.S. export markets. The country’s need for capital goods, particularly in the energy sector, led to year-on-year increases. The two market briefings are offered in preparation for the State’s trade mission to Colombia and Venezuela on October 15 – 19. Pennsylvania companies participating in this trade mission benefit from individual business appointments while traveling in the safety and comfort of other Pennsylvania companies. Logistics, hotels, interpreters, in-country research are pre-arranged. Companies may choose if they wish to participate in both or just one country visit.

Session II: 1-5 p.m. “A Comparison of Cultures” – Latin America

Presenter: Terri Morrison, co-author of five books, to include “Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands; the Bestselling Guide to Doing Business in More than Sixty Countries; and Dun & Bradstreet’s ‘Guide to Doing Business Around the World’

The global economy is a reality today. World economies are integrating far faster than anyone projected. To survive, we must be able to compete effectively; we must understand more about other countries, other cultures, and other ways of doing business. When western Pennsylvania Executives consider expanding to foreign markets, they often think of nearby Canada. But Canada is a limited market, with just over 30 million people. Latin America has ten times as many people as Canada, and Pennsylvania businesses should not ignore the possibility of doing business with them. Don’t miss this informative and entertaining presentation about how to manage the intercultural aspects of an international assignment.

For additional information on either session, please contact Claudia Garcia at Claudiag@nwcommssion.org

Market Access Grants

Planning a sales trip to Bangalore? Exhibiting at a trade show in Dusseldorf? Need an interpreter in Beijing? The Department of Community and Economic Development’s Center for Trade Development (CTD) is now accepting applications for the Market Access Grant (MAG) to help qualifying Pennsylvania firms offset expenses associated with new international marketing initiatives.

Up to $ 5,000.00 in matching funds are available. Some examples of qualifying expenses include trade show exhibition fees, airfare and lodging, fees for website internationalization, international marketing media design, training workshops, and much more.

The Northwest Commission is the designated export coordinator and submits applications from regional companies to the State. This past fiscal year, our program was able to submit 37 MAG applications and so far $ 101,526.60 matching funds have been allocated and approved to companies from the northwest region. For additional information, to receive the guidelines and application for the grant, please contact Dorte Heffernan at dorteh@nwcommission.org
 

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. 

There will be a quarterly Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting on June 21, 2007 at 10:30 AM at the Business Innovation Center in Oil City.
 

The following three LTAP courses were held in May:

May 15, 2007 - Engineering and Traffic Studies at the Precision Manufacturing Institute – Meadville, PA (13 attendees)

May 16, 2007 - Posting and Bonding of Local Roads at the Franklin Industrial and Commercial Development Authority facility – Franklin, PA (34 attendees)

May 31, 2007 - Asphalt Roads: Common Maintenance Problems at the Franklin Industrial and Commercial Development Authority facility – Franklin, PA (7 attendees)

Upcoming LTAP Courses:

August 23, 2007 (8 a.m. – Noon) – Equipment and Worker Safety – Vernon Twp. (Crawford County)

September 27, 2007 (8 a.m. – 4 p.m.) – Winter Maintenance – Vernon Twp. (Crawford County)

To register please contact Matt Gilara (814) 677-4800 x102, or by email (mattg@nwcommission.org).   You may also register for these courses online at https://www.ltap.state.pa.us
 

The quarterly Northwest Pennsylvania GIS User Group meeting was held on May 18, 2007 at the Franklin Industrial and Commercial Development Authority (FICDA).  Mike Anderson presented on ways to incorporate GIS into different applications (Word, Access, Excel, etc.) without acquiring GIS software.  There was also a discussion on coordinating a GIS conference in the region, an update on PA MAP, a Northwest Commission update, and updates from all the attendees.  The next GIS User Group meeting is scheduled for August 24, 2007.

The Northwest Commission has submitted a proposal to Paint Township (Clarion County) to collect their culvert locations with our sub-meter GPS unit.  The township needs an accurate location captured for each culvert for disaster response (FEMA guideline).

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.