6 — Indiana Gazette / The Blairsville Dispatch / Shopper’s Guide - Business Indiana - January 2023
Many moving parts contribute to county’s prospects for 2023 ECONOMY: From A-5 with Four Footed Friends, an Indiana-based animal shelter, to provide the cats. “We’ve been fortunate enough to partner with Four Footed Friends for this endeavor,” Brittney Valeski said. “They’ll be providing us cats and kittens, which will also create more room at the shelter for them to help more animals in need.” The café’s hours of oper- ation are tentatively set for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday New Indiana business will combine coffee, feline adoptions See FELINE: A-7 By NATHAN ZISK NZisk@indianagazette.net A new café is looking to provide a space for Indiana cat-lovers and coffee enthu- siasts to drink coffee, play with cats and potentially adopt their next pet. Indiana residents Alex and Brittney Valeski plan to open Dexter’s Cat Café in late spring or early summer on the west end of Philadel- phia Street. The business would operate like a typical café, but patrons would also get the opportunity to play with and adopt cats and kit- tens. The front portion of the space would act as a nor- mal café where patrons can sit down and order coffee, tea and pastries, according to Alex Valeski. The space would include a “special cat room” where customers can pay an admittance fee to spend time with roughly 20 cats and kittens. “Anyone wanting to visit with cats will be admitted to the special cat room for a set period of time,” Alex Valeski said. “This gives each guest a personal expe- rience with the cats.” The café would have free Wi-Fi for customers looking to work online or hang out with friends. But one of the primary goals of the café is to establish a place where people can find cats and kittens they’d like to adopt. “The cat room is perfect for anyone looking to ei- ther spend time with cats or who may be in the mar- ket to adopt,” Brittney said. “One of our main goals is to provide a calm yet fun way for people looking to adopt to meet cats and kittens. ... The idea behind the café is to allow people to visit with cats in a more relaxed en- vironment than a typical shelter visit.” The café would serve Commonplace Coffee bev- erages as well as a variety of teas and bottled drinks. Additionally, the Valeskis are looking to partner with a local bakery to sell pastries. “We really want the focus of Dexter’s to be visiting with cats and potentially getting them adopted,” Alex Valeski said, “but we would love for our customers to be pleasantly surprised by the quality of our coffee and bakery items. We’re put- ting a lot of work into craft- ing a simple yet impressive menu.” The café is also partnering
to an IUP campus that in- cludes its Academy of Cu- linary Arts. There also is the relationship between IRMC and Punxsutawney Area Hospital, under the umbrella of the Pennsylva-
nia Mountains Health Care Network. “Further expansion of IRMC is always on the horizon and at the top of mind,” Wolfe said. “It’s im- portant for us to remain the
sole independent health- care provider in the region and continue to offer the most advanced, up-to-date care.” The IRMC CEO said his hospital has adapted and overcome challenges the COVID-19 pandemic pre- sented to health care facili- ties throughout the nation, and IRMC continues to look for new ways to con- nect with its patients. “We can attract and pro- vide care for patients be- yond those who reside and work in Indiana County,” Wolfe said. “Everything we do is centered around our vision to be the best com- munity healthcare system in the country.” And that covers the mind as well as the body. “As recently announced, IRMC will construct a 31,000-square-foot mental health facility comprised of 44 beds that will care for adolescent, adult and geri- atric patients,” Wolfe said. “Not only will this essential project help us to better serve patients who require in-patient psychiatric care, but also provide new job opportunities in the coun- ty.” Indiana Regional Medical Center is literally across the street from Indiana Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, and Wolfe said IRMC is fortu- nate to have that neighbor. “We support IUP’s intent
to pursue medical educa- tion opportunities,” the IRMC CEO said. “IRMC and IUP have had a longstand- ing relationship to provide students with internships, externships and shadow- ing opportunities in areas such as nursing, dietetics and nutrition and other areas. We continue to look for ways to align our efforts to improve the region.” Fryling said there are many partnerships that are ongoing between IUP and IRMC. “We’re actively working with IRMC on the Residen- cy program, offering sup- port and initiatives to the residents,” the IUP spokes- woman said. “Our biology department chair, Dr. N. Bharathan, was respon- sible for bringing same- day COVID-19 testing to IRMC with IUP equipment loaned to IRMC, and train- ing staff there to do the testing.” The two institutions also are continuing a monthly Rural Health Pulse podcast. And, Fryling said, “IRMC currently has applica- tions available for summer pre-med internships. IUP pre-professional advisers have been promoting the opportunity for IUP stu- dents who are interested in pursuing medical careers after graduation; two IUP students (both from Indi- ana County) secured spots
in summer 2022. Addition- ally, both organizations have teamed up to start planning a new initiative to create a new public health- care apprenticeship for the county.” IUP has its share of out- reaches, including its Re- search Institute, which now serves six other universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Educa- tion, “to help them to ex- pand their work in spon- sored research through a shared service initiative,” Fryling said. As Stouffer noted, in ad- dition to “a top-tier re- search and doctoral uni- versity,” Indiana County is fortunate to have great school districts, a strong Intermediate Unit (shared with Armstrong County), “an exceptional Indiana County Technology Cen- ter,” and a new location for Westmoreland County Community College. “Competition to attract new jobs is fierce, the cost of capital for investments in new facilities and equip- ment is rising, inflation is a factor, all of it, but I do see positive signs that 2023 will be a positive year for Indi- ana County,” the ICOPD/ ICDC director continued. “The CEO continues to have inquiries and oppor- tunities and businesses are seeking our programs and services. All good signs.”
highway between” Indiana and Punxsutawney, Pittman said, as he expressed “a new appreciation” for ties be- tween the two boroughs. Punxsutawney is home
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