MERCER COUNTY

State identifies 12 ready-for-business sites

Anyone looking for a place to set up business has a few select sites to choose from in Mercer County.

Under a new Pennsylvania initiative, six locations in the county comprising 12 sites were designated SelectSites/SelecTech-Sites for mar- keting to businesses. Pennsylvania developed SelectSites to compete with neighboring states and bring locations available to the market quicker.

The program cost $350,000 with the state kicking in $165,000 and the remainder coming from corporate contributors such as utilities, railroads and telecommunication companies.

Throughout the state, 102 sites were selected from nearly 200 that applied -- which means the county nabbed more than 10 percent of all sites.

A site can be as big as an entire industrial park or as small as a single lot within an industrial or technical park.

All the sites will be given priority marketing by the state and be listed in a database available to businesses.

Unlike other state and federal programs where political wrangling is used to win spots, this program took politics out of the game. The state’s Department of Community and Economic Development hired Fluro Global Services to pick the sites. Operating out of Greenville, S.C., the firm is a leading consulting company in choosing locations to house businesses.

"Politics didn’t play here,’’ said Larry Reichard, executive director of Penn-Northwest Development Corp. "If you didn’t meet the criteria you didn’t make the list.’’

In announcing the local sites at a news conference Thursday morning, Steve Kohler, director of the Governor’s Action Team agreed it was Fluro who called the shots. The news conference was held at Greenville-Reynolds Development Corp.’s Reynolds East Business Park, which snared five of the sites.

"They (Fluro) went out to sites and said ‘it ain’t going to make it,’ ‘‘ Kohler said.

Locations could be disqualified for lack of access roads, utilities or available labor force.

As Mercer County’s lead development agency, Penn-Northwest oversaw applications to the state. Everyone agrees compiling the applications was a painstaking, grueling process. Each location’s application could be more than three-inches thick of documents giving details as minute as projected SAT scores of a local school district.

One quality in common with all sites is that they’re ready, or nearly ready, to immediately house a business. Getting selected could mean doors will be opened wider for state funds to develop a location, Kohler said.

"This adds validation to the process,’’ he said.

DCED will list sites on the Internet and Penn-Northwest is expecting to have information about local sites on its Internet site, scheduled to debut Nov. 1.

More sites can be added in the future with the next round scheduled for spring 2001. Getting on first though is a coup, said State Rep. Michael C. Gruitza, D-Hermitage.

"I see this as another tool for Mercer County,’’ Gruitza said.

On the net:

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