Economic Growth Ticks Up in Mercer County

GREENVILLE, Pa. – Mercer County has seen a significant uptick in economic growth over the past few years, the executive director of Penn-Northwest Development Corporation told attendees at the organization’s 2024 annual meeting.

“We here in Mercer County, and especially at Penn-Northwest, are creating a lot of excitement about Mercer County across the region,” Rod Wilt said at the Wednesday morning meeting at Thiel College. “We know all of you are making opportunities for us to grow.”

Penn-Northwest earlier this year surveyed members and found that manufacturing, health care, education and the service industry remain the county’s largest employment sectors. The period referenced in the survey covered from January 2023 through May 2024, the period emerging from the pandemic.

Of those who completed the surveys, 49% reported a net positive increase in financial performance; 32 of them reported they remain steady; and 19 reported a decline.

“Overall, we can say that the state of our local economy is relatively strong,” Wilt said. 

The survey also queried about the perception of Mercer County economic development and if respondents believe Penn-Northwest is a quality economic development organization.

“And surprisingly, 93% of the respondents held a positive view of what we’re doing at Penn-Northwest and, most importantly, nobody issued a negative response,” he said. 

Penn-Northwest generated 21 new industry leads last year and responded to another roughly 20 requests for proposals, Wilt told the crowd. Penn-Northwest personnel also coordinated four site tours, which led to two new companies locating to the county.

“We assisted 27 local companies with increased investment and employment, providing another $7.5 million in direct technical, financial, workforce and other financial support,” Wilt noted.

He added that last week, thanks to area legislators and the governor’s office, $7 million in grants was announced for Mercer County.

Wilt also pointed out that Penn-Northwest’s Future Leaders and Homegrown Initiative was awarded $100,000 in grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Those groups focus on retaining young people in the region.

The executive director said the organization believes the county is a great place to live.

“I appreciated historians in the crowd who can tell us everything about where we’ve been, what happened and how,” Wilt said. “But we in this room, we’re the futurists.” 

They look at what they can do to create an environment that attracts people who have left and gets people who are here to stay. The repopulation effort also involves no longer telling young people that they have to leave the area to advance in their careers.

Next year marks the organization’s 40th anniversary, and its executive director said after the meeting that work will continue on several projects.

“We have been diligently working on funding a lot of the regional asset capital project grants that we’ve been awarded over the last year or two that will lead to a lot more vertical development in the county,” he said. “A lot of these things take time and they’re just coming through the funnel, and I think in 2025 we’re going to see a lot of that money get put in the ground and into these buildings and new equipment in the county.”

The first priority is to follow through on the money that’s been announced in the past year or two to “get it working in 2025,” Wilt said.

He listed the Lindy Paving Group that recently constructed a recycled asphalt plant in Mercer County as one example.

“We have Advanced Power and Energy, which is moving to a new facility in the Greenville Reynolds Development,” Wilt added. 

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office recently announced a $1 million grant for Alpine Springs Revive and Recovery Center, an addiction treatment facility. That company is building a new center in Jamestown that Wilt estimated will be an $8 million to $10 million facility.

“We really want to bring home some development to our 206-acre site in Mercer,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of uptick. … And then, finally, in the city of Hermitage, the community development program at the [former Shenango Valley] mall site. We’ve got a full slate of exciting things coming up.”

The morning meeting also recognized members with awards for their support and involvement:

• Lifetime Achievement Award: Scott Free, First National Bank, and Scott Kalmanek, Joy Baking Co.
• Homegrown Award: Nick Pochiba, Axias Wealth Advisors.
• Improvement Movement Team Champion Awards: Nathan Koble, National Fuel, and Jim Bombeck, Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce.
• Make It In Mercer County Local Industry Impact Award: Zekelman Industries.
• Make It In Mercer County New Industry Impact Award: WestWinn Urban Ag.

Pictured at top: Rod Wilt, executive director of Penn-Northwest Development Corporation, speaks during Wednesday’s event.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.