Nano Seminar Successful
On July 14, 2006 the Northwest Commission and Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. in Oil City, PA sponsored an informational seminar by award-winning author Jack Uldrich. Uldrich, along with John Heard, PhD at Clarion University and Jim Kosco, PhD at Ben Franklin Technology Partners, presented an introduction to nanotechnology, discussion of the current developments in the field, and outlined potential opportunities for economic development from this growing industry.

The seminar had a successful turnout of 120, which included legislators, county commissioners, regional business owners and individuals. We expect to do more of these informative seminars about specialty industry trends and applications.

Project Funding Opportunity
The Northwest Commission’s board of directors approved the formation of a Local Funds Committee, which has been working on a formal process for managing requests from various organizations for additional regional project funding support.

Per our August 4, 2006 board of directors meeting the committee has received approval from our board of directors to make available up to $100,000 for regional projects in one fiscal year (October – September).

We are excited to launch this new process and look forward to funding projects that are regional in scope and have a multi-county economic impact. Complete details and application guidelines will be available soon, so stay tuned!

Welcome New Staff
We would like to again welcome and introduce another new staff person at the Northwest Commission:

Katarina Ishman has joined the agency as a new administrative assistant. In this position, Katarina will work with the Community Development and Planning division of the organization.

Katarina is originally from Slovakia and prior to moving to the area with her husband, she resided in Colorado. Her husband is originally from the area. Welcome Katarina!

Sincerely,

The Northwest Commission is partnering with First Energy to attend the upcoming International Woodworking Fair (IWF) in Atlanta, Georgia on August 23-26, 2006. Accompanying Denise McCloskey of the Commission will be Clarion County as well as partners from other parts of Pennsylvania.

The Commission's business attraction team is currently following-up with 15 prospects as a result of the MDM East and NPE Plastics shows. Commission staff will be gauging the level of interest in northwest PA from each prospect.

The Commission is also preparing for a visit from Pennsylvania's Foreign Direct Investment representatives. They are scheduled to be touring the region on October 9-10. Eleven (11) investment reps and three (3) representatives from Harrisburg will learn about the region's sites and buildings, foreign-owned companies, alternative energy initiatives, and workforce/wage data.

Entrepreneur Club Event
The first Entrepreneur Club Event was held on July 19, 2006 at the Arlington Hotel in Oil City, with over thirty people attending. The Entrepreneur Club is for regional businesses to network and discuss issues and concerns with other business owners and professionals. Informational presentations at each event focus on topics chosen by the participants. This event had presentations by a banker, an accountant, and an insurance agent, on the importance of professional services to small businesses. These events will be held every other month on the third Wednesday. The next Entrepreneur Club Event will be held on September 20, 2006....mark your calendars!

SBA Microloan Check Presented to Horsepower, Inc.
On July 7th, Commission staff presented a $20,000 SBA Microloan check to Mary Jo Light, of Horsepower, Inc. This loan was used to purchase inventory. Horsepower, Inc. designs and manufactures fuel injection systems for the motorcycle industry, mainly Harley Davidson.
 

In photo from left are: Donald Carter, Deputy District Director of Small Business Administration, Representative Matt Good, Mary Jo Light, owner of Horsepower, Inc., County Executive Mark DiVecchio, and Denise McCloskey, Executive Director of the Northwest Commission

In July, the Northwest Commission closed one loan:
A $137,000 EDA/RLF loan closed for Moon Tool & Die Company, Inc. of Crawford County. The loan was used to purchase equipment. Two jobs will be created within the next three years.

In July, the loan Committee approved three loans: Arvite Technologies, Inc. and Premier Conduit, Inc. of Erie County; and Venango Steel, Inc. of Venango County.
 

RFID is a method of identifying unique items using radio waves. This training seminar, presented by Frank DeWolf, COO of the Center for e-Business and Advanced IT (eBizITPA), will provide you with vital information needed to get RFID started in your business, the latest word on supply chain management technology for the 21st century, and what’s happening now in package tagging as it grows at a rate of 46% a year. Registrations will be taken until September 6th and the cost is $35.00 per person.
click here for brochure/registration form or contact Bill Kenyon, x107.

Doing Business with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania October 18th
Gayle Nuppnau from the Department of General Services will be joining us on October 18th at the Howard Johnson Hotel of Mercer to present this half-day workshop on how to do business with the State of Pennsylvania. Get answers to questions like… Does the state buy what you sell? How does the state government buy goods and services? How can you find state bid opportunities? What information is available on the internet to help? How can you receive state certification as a minority- or woman-owned business?
The Northwest Commission Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) team will host this workshop to familiarize companies with state government contracts. There is no cost for this event but you must register in advance as space is limited. Please contact Lori Moore to register at extension 104.

Government 101 Training November 8th
The Northwest Commission's PTAC team will be holding this introductory training at the Northwest Commission on November 8th from 9:00am until noon 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, registration, and how to work through government opportunities are customized 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 for further details or to register at extension 104.

A quarterly Transportation Advisory Committee meeting was held on June 15, 2006. Representatives from Clarion , Crawford Venango and Warren counties attended as well as representatives from PennDOT districts 1, 10 and central office.

The Northwest Commission's 2007 Transportation Improvement Program was approved by the State Transportation Commission on August 2, 2006. A Freight Analysis for Clarion, Crawford , Forest, Venango and Warren counties has been completed.

Pennsylvania International Week (Bringing the World to YOU!), October 3 and 4, 2006 at Cross Creek Resort, Titusville
Join us for this exciting annual event! Meet with the State’s overseas contractors one-on-one to discuss your market potential for your individual product or service. Fifteen foreign consultants, under contract with the State to promote PA exports to the world, travel to our region on Oct. 4, 2006 to meet with You!

For the first time this year, we are expanding our annual event and offering export training on October 3rd. Training on European Standards such as CE Marking (also CCC for China), WEE directives, and the now often discussed ROHS are some of the topics!! You want to learn more about Export Controls and Licensing? No problem! We will also cover that on October 3rd. We will round off the day with a relaxed welcome reception for the overseas contractors. For the next day, on October 4, all fifteen overseas contractors from around the world are available to you for individual meetings to discuss your opportunities one-on-one. Immediately, you can understand your market potential, know your competition, and find key contacts, organizations and events. Please contact Dorte Heffernan or Claudia Garcia for additional information.

The Northwest Commission is taking companies to Germany to exhibit in the EuroMold 2006! Frankfurt / Main, Germany 29 November – 2 December, 2006 Whether you are a tool-or mold maker, designer, application developer, supplier of CAD/CAM, rapid prototyper, supplier of machine tools, laser and testing technology, coating technology or even raw materials, EuroMold is the right trade fair for you. World fair for mold making and tooling, design and application development. The entire process chain “From Design to Prototyping to Series Production” is represented at EuroMold. A unique fair-concept closing the gap in between industrial designers, product developers, producers, suppliers, and end-users. Everyone with rank and fame of the industrial sector meets here: decision makers, purchasing, and leaders of the industry. The Northwest Commission is offering subsidized booth space. Each participant will have their individual booth of 12 sqm. Please contact Dorte Heffernan for further information.

Testimonial on our recent “Spanish First Aid Kit Class” – Spanish language training and cultural skills coaching:
As advertised the course was truly a “Spanish first Aid Kit”. A veritable tourniquet for those afflicted with bi-lingual hemorrhaging. Dr. Soledad Traverso in true triage fashion was able to facilitate a healing among the Spanish walking wounded. As for myself, I will always be hobbled and linguistically challenged, however I feel much more confident that I will be able to navigate through simple conversational pleasantries. I now know my “Hola from a Chao” in Spanish.

Seriously, I found the class to be a benefit and would recommend participation to anyone with a limited command of the language and with intent on initiating a business venture in the country.

Muchas gracias ,John “Juan” Farkas, Sales Engineer,Viking Tool & Gage, Inc.

LTAP offers safety and maintenance courses (transportation related) to local governments across the state at little or no cost. The courses make the work that municipalities do more efficient, which saves money and makes the transportation network safer.

A new year (FY 2006-07) is starting in LTAP. A survey and cover letter was sent to each municipality in all of our counties except Lawrence County. Lawrence County LTAP is coordinated through the Southwest Planning Commission. After surveys are returned and analyzed, training session will be arranged.

Final Web Grant Presented
On July 17th Commission staff presented the last of five $1,000 MTAP Broadband Connectivity and Web Development Grants to Greene Township in Erie, Erie County, PA. Greene township supervisors plan to use the monies for both broadband internet connection and web site development utilizing a state sanctioned program called Dynamic Site Framework.

In photo from left are: Representative Curtis Sonney; Greene Township Supervisor Linda Cagnoli; Denise McCloskey, Executive Director of the Northwest Commission; and Bob Spaulding, Director of Economic Development for the County of Erie.

There is still time to sign up for free MTAP computer training this summer!
Eight classes are left on the summer schedule for MTAP computer training this summer (The complete summer program included a total of 18). Classes cover many popular business applications and benefit the efficiency, integrity and in some cases requirements of local government electronic documents. Elected officials and government employees are urged to attend the FREE day-long classes to be held throughout the region. These classes and the annual MTAP program are made possible in-part to a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Click here to view the MTAP training schedule.

A new MTAP fall training schedule will be mailed out the week of August 14th. New topics appearing on the schedule will include IT (information technology) planning and budgeting, Back up/archival storage and disaster recovery plus several of the old favorites.

In the near future the MTAP program will also partner with the Center for eBusiness and Advanced IT (eBizITPA) to host two introductory seminars demonstrating the advantage of ‘Reverse Auctioning.’ Stay tuned for more details!

Mark your Calendars!
The E-commerce Association of Pennsylvania is planning four seminars on broadband applications/broadband drivers. One of the four seminars will take place in our region on August 31st in Meadville at the Meadville Country Club. The seminars will focus on applications/programs/devices that drive broadband deployment.

The Northwest Commission has been invited to speak about the IU Consortium Broadband Project and to bring along some regional technology authorities to elaborate on other ‘producing’ projects in the region.

Technology Advisory Group last met on July 21st.
Updates to the various county broadband projects were reported on by TAG members. All reported to be looking into wireless ‘last mile’ applications. Unlike the other counties initial activities, Warren County’s’ project is primarily looking into publicly owned wired & wireless infrastructure as the primary and last mile infrastructure.

The recent meeting was well attended in anticipation of two interesting presentations made by guests representing USA Choice Internet and Expedient Communications. USA Choice exposed TAG to an in depth view of the new Wi-MAX wireless broadband technology and a few hurdles for acquiring licensed broadcast spectrum for its anticipated deployment. Expedient presented on a new product/service called Ethernet Anywhere (a business class solution) which asserts many advantages to fiber broadband and can utilize the already existing communications infrastructure (traditional copper telephone lines) business has enjoyed for the last century. This technology does require a certain commercial customer base and specialized central office equipment before deployment.

TAG member Randy Rice has offered to donate use of the computer lab at the Health Science Education Center of Clarion University Main Campus for the MTAP program.

The next Technology Advisory Group meeting is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 15th beginning at Noon.

Upcoming Events:
October 2-3
Introduction to ArcView 9.2

October 23-24
Intermediate ArcView 9.2.

Training will be held in the region and cost will be $350 for each two-day course. Please contact Matt Gilara to register.