HERMITAGE, Pa. – The economic development agency in Mercer County, Pa., uses a multipronged approach to attract new businesses and help existing ones access the resources they need to succeed.
Penn-Northwest Development Corporation was established in 1985, shortly after the exodus of many manufacturing industries from the region.
“A lot of the local businesses got together and they felt like we needed an economic development agency in the county that could really focus on bringing new industry back, trying to replace all the business we lost, so this private nonprofit was formed,” explains Jake Rickert, Penn-Northwest’s associate executive director.
That nonprofit was supported by Mercer County commissioners whose support continues.
“We built this public-private nonprofit and our sole mission is to support our local business community,” the associate executive director says.
At one point its main focus was attracting new businesses. It still does that, but it also devotes time to meeting with business people, hosting networking events, learning about projects that are underway and working to move the county forward, he says.
How It’s Done
The work includes pursuing and luring major new businesses to the region. But those are rare, time consuming and expensive.
“If we’re not doing that, we want to go out, we want to help 100 companies add five new jobs to their business,” Rickert says.
One way that’s achieved is through a revolving loan fund, a low-interest loan program that supports Mercer County businesses that want to expand, add a new production line or buy new equipment.
“If we can kind of be that last leg that can help get their project across the finish line, we love to get involved,” he adds.
Recipients repay the loan and the money goes back into the fund to help another business. Rickert says Penn-Northwest also works with elected officials to find state dollars and state programs to help make the projects planned by businesses a reality.
“It could be anything from some of your horizontal builds, when you’re looking at some of your site prep, site readiness, sewer, your water, your electricity,” he says. “But other times it’s a vertical build, getting that equipment in there.”
Penn-Northwest also helps companies with workforce challenges.
“What we can do to help add jobs is help bring in interns, help offset new hire costs – some of those things that you need, but are very expensive,” the associate executive director explains. “It’s very hard when you add 100 jobs to your plant to get 100 people upskilled efficiently and you kind of lose money until they’re ready to fully produce.”
Penn-Northwest works with the West Central Job Partnership to help companies get their new hires up to speed more quickly, Rickert says.
Most of the roughly 170 members fall into the health care or manufacturing sectors.
“We really love those stage-two companies that are between $1 million and $10 million in revenue,” he explains. “They’re built up, they’re established, but we can offer the networking, the exposure that we can help them with.”
Penn-Northwest staff pop into those businesses often, checking on them and learning about their challenges and their successes. They take that information to state officials to try to help.
Community Asset
Mercer County Commissioner Timothy McGonigle views the organization as an asset to the community.
“They’re our economic development arm here in the county, so they definitely impact the things that we do here in the courthouse,” he says.
Penn-Northwest promotes business and recruits businesses to the region, but it’s also a source of information about available resources, the commissioner adds.
“For instance, when we had the pandemic, they were hands on,” he says. “They were the first ones that came out and offered all our local businesses the information they needed and navigated them to the resources that they were going to need to survive the pandemic.”
Penn-Northwest also helps companies secure grants and loans, directing them to available resources, he says.
Rickert says that if a business plans to expand or to relocate to Mercer County, the best strategy is to contact Penn-Northwest early.
“It’s great when they have a project and they have some numbers and they have an idea of what they really want to do,” Rickert says.
Connections
Organization personnel can go through the company’s plan line by line to determine where and how Penn-Northwest can help. The assistance could be to get a state agency involved or it could be something on a smaller scale like helping to offset new hires’ wages. It also could be larger assistance to offset construction of a new building.
“A lot of times if it’s not a fiscal support that we can do, sometimes the biggest asset that Penn-Northwest can provide to the business community is that we know everybody,” Rickert says.
They may call someone at a state agency, for example, who is familiar with Penn-Northwest and its work.
“Sometimes it’s that extra step, that extra voice, that extra phone call, text message, email and we can kind of help expedite projects or get them in the queue to move faster,” Rickert adds.
One Example
When the Buhl Club in Sharon received a Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant to improve its building exterior, its staff turned to Penn-Northwest for help ensuring they followed the grant’s requirements.
“These RCAP grants are extremely complicated,” says Jason Kmick, Buhl Club’s executive director.
Because it’s taxpayer money, there are many requirements, he adds.
“We leaned 100% on Penn-Northwest to guide us through that process to help us administer the grant, because one of the big things about RCAP grants is you have to actually spend the money,” Kmick says. “They’re reimbursement grants.”
The club, which provides recreational, fitness and educational programs, received two $500,000 grants – one each in two consecutive years. The club had to secure funding, spend it and document how it was used before the state would reimburse the funds.
Rod Wilt, Penn-Northwest executive director, and his team handled communication and document submission with the state to ensure the money was reimbursed to Buhl. Kmick stresses the importance of the club recouping what it had spent.
“We’re not the kind of organization, as a small nonprofit, that could take a $1 million hit or anything like that,” Kmick explains.
And engaging with Penn-Northwest early smoothed the process compared to if Buhl personnel had done the work on their own, he says. Because of Penn-Northwest’s guidance and leadership, Buhl knew to inform contractors upfront about paperwork requirements so there were no surprises later.
The $1 million RCAP grant helped fund the third phase of the Buhl Club’s renovation project. That phase, which is ongoing, involves improvements to the club’s exterior including installation of a playground for its childcare center and improving accessibility, geared at helping seniors.
“It was a pretty big deal that, quite frankly, we would not have been able to do without their expertise,” Kmick says.
Healthy Community
Penn-Northwest’s focus extends beyond purely business. Rickert says the organization supports four pillars: live, learn, work and play.
“Those are kind of our four quadrants of what makes up a healthy community,” he says. “What does it look like to live there, to work there, to play there? So, anything in those quadrants is where we feel like we can have a hand in supporting, we’re usually at the table doing that.”
One of Penn-Northwest’s focuses under the live pillar is housing. Rural Pennsylvania, like much of the rest of the country, suffers from a housing shortage.
“So that’s one of our big focal points here because whether you want more restaurants, you want your business community to grow … you need people,” Rickert says.
Mercer County enjoys the advantage of low housing costs compared to bigger cities, but the cost to build exceeds the market, he adds. Penn-Northwest officers are talking to state officials about ways to bridge that gap.
Regarding the learn pillar, “…we work hand in hand with all of our schools and our colleges, our trade centers on how we can help educate kids and prepare them not only for personal success but success finding a career in the county,” Rickert says.
Work pertains to helping businesses expand and grow and connect them with available resources and for play, Penn-Northwest aids developers of projects aimed at promoting a quality lifestyle.
And Rickert points out that the organization is membership driven. Members significantly influence what Penn-Northwest does, the projects it focuses on and the county’s growth.
“One of the things I’ve always liked about Penn-Northwest is that while we have a nice sized membership for Mercer County, it’s still small enough that anyone can join any time and get connected to a plethora of key players within our region,” Rickert says.
Pictured at top: Jake Rickert, associate executive director of Penn-Northwest Development Corporation, stands in his office inside the Hermitage, Pa., building that houses the organization.
