January 2023 - Business Indiana - Indiana Gazette / The Blairsville Dispatch / Shopper’s Guide — 5
Many moving parts contribute to county’s prospects for 2023 ECONOMY: From A-4
the community. Recently, IUP joined forces with the University of Pittsburgh to make sure we keep the mis- sion alive for Indiana Coun- ty’s economic development. We stand ready to serve the community with a new management consultant lo- cated in 108 Eberly College of Business, Dr. Eric Swift, who has taken over for the retired Mr. Tony Palamone.” Fryling said a “unique component” is how SBDC helps the IUP office of strategic partnerships and Eberly student marketing association grow the Talon Ticket program, “which is a student-led project which works directly with local businesses to provide stu- dent discounts for the IUP community with valid stu- dent ID cards. The program promotes collaboration and networking within the busi- ness district as well as op- portunities for students to support local businesses.” The university is seeing the fruit of its decision to cut tuition for in-state and out-of-state students living within the United States. “While it is very early in the process, we are seeing really strong, very positive momentum in both appli- cations and admissions,” Fryling said. “The net de- posits are higher than any of the past five years,” as is the yield of admitted to net deposits, while the market share of Pennsylvania high school graduates is ahead of last year for all phases of the admissions funnel (apps, admits, deposits). “We are also seeing an in- crease in applications for the Academy of Culinary Arts,” the IUP spokeswom- an said. Pennsylvania’s involve- ment in the Northeast Re- gional Greenhouse Gas Ini- tiative continues to loom as an issue, or as state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pitt- man, R-Indiana, put it, “the anvil of RGGI hanging over their heads” at power plants in and near Indiana County. Pittman said Shapiro will
have a significant role in de- termining whether Pennsyl- vania will go ahead “in join- ing the RGGI scheme.” Hilliard said the best news now is, the matter is still in the state appeals courts. “We’ve been prepar- ing for it for a number of years, since it was first an- nounced,” Hilliard said. “At that point we began the discussions. I sat in front of a number of Senate and House and other commit- tees, for Indiana County.” The question remains, does RGGI impose a regu- latory fee as proponents in- sist or, as opponents say, an $800 million carbon tax on electricity generated from coal- and natural gas-fired generation in Pennsylvania? “I remain steadfast in my opposition,” Pittman said. “I think it has already cost economic damage because of the economic uncertain- ty,” over the area’s coal-fired and natural-gas-fired power plants. “There is no doubt that the coal-fired power plants in our district are aging and they are coming to the end of their useful life,” Pittman continued. He wants to “give every opportunity” for those plants “to evolve into something new that still al- lows for economic opportu- nity.” The power plants are pay- ing taxes whether or not Pennsylvania joins RGGI, and whether or not it’s a fee or a tax being assessed. Pit- tman points to the “huge amount” of property taxes power plant owners pay local municipalities and school districts. “Indiana County has long been a coal community, an energy community with a long history of natural gas production and elec- tric generation,” Stauffer said. “We are in a cycle that change is ahead, with RGGI, with wastewater treatment rules, etc., which means that there will be challenges and obstacles for the econo- my, Indiana County has key assets here, great people in
ed Stauffer and all those involved “for being proac- tive in this regard,” adding, “They have been proactive since before COVID. They have done a great job with utilizing the funds they have.” In addition to the miles of fiber-optic cable being laid for broadband, there’s the highway mileage, includ- ing the work done on U.S. Route 119 and state Route 85, the latter a country road from Kittanning to Plum- ville and Home, the former a highway stretching south to north across the coun- ty, to Punxsutawney that is a new part of Pittman’s 41st Senatorial District (as well as the heart of Smith’s two-county 66th Legislative District). “That 119 corridor is very much a heavily traveled
and prioritizing matching funds to secure these dol- lars to partner with internet service providers to expand local service to unserved and underserved areas of Indiana County.” One ISP, Salsgiver of Free- port, has been awarded a $2.3 million contract, in the first phase of what eventu- ally will be a $7 million net- work of such internet con- nections across the county. “This can only be done through public-private partnerships and funding,” Stauffer said. “If you want to attract business and attract new families, you have to have broadband,” Hilliard said. “For the most part, in White Township and Indiana Bor- ough, it is fine, but we have people looking outside those areas.” The chamber of com- merce president applaud-
each and every community, terrific institutions, all posi- tioning Indiana County to have opportunities to com- pete for new private sector investments and family sus- taining jobs!” Stauffer also is in the fore- front of a bid to expand broadband service through- out the county. “The Indiana County Commissioners, Sen. Pit- tman, Reps. Struzzi and (Brian) Smith (R-Punxsut- awney), along with our fed- eral delegation, all believe that broadband is no longer a luxury, but an economic and quality of life necessity,” the ICOPD/ICDC director said. “If anything positive comes from COVID-19, it is the realization that funding for broadband expansion has been lacking. Indiana County has been aggres- sive in seeking out state and federal broadband funding
of businesses that have discussed expansion and creating new jobs, adding square footage to their facil- ities,” Hilliard said. “Those are conversations we are having as well.” Stauffer said ICDC is an affiliate member of the Indi- ana County Center for Eco- nomic Operations, along with the chamber of com- merce, IUP and the Indiana County Tourist Bureau. “We work cooperative- ly to deliver economic and workforce development programs and services,” Stauffer said. “As you see from county commissioner meetings, there are various grants that are both applied for and awarded through- out the year. These are im- portant in terms of prepar- ing business park sites and other infrastructure proj- ects in order to compete for new job opportunities and business attraction and ex- pansion. The ongoing work that has occurred in the last couple years through COVID-19 among our CEO affiliates in collaboration with our federal, state and local elected leaders has laid the groundwork for positive outcomes. I am confident that 2023 will be bringing several positive outcomes and am looking forward to upcoming press releases and announce- ments, including business attraction (new to Indiana County), business expan- sion and business start-up activities.” Among IUP’s contribu- tions to business develop- ment is the Small Business Development Center. “The SBDC is still alive and well while helping hun- dreds of small businesses in the community,” Fryling said. “There are a number of success stories on the web- site. Again, not only does this help businesses suc- ceed, it gives our students great real-life experience while interning or hold- ing a graduate assistant- ship on campus and within
See ECONOMY: A-6
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