Published: June 14, 2007 10:31 am      

Catalysts for our future

Area projects can lure businesses, jobs

While land preparation moves full speed ahead on the Greater Johnstown Tech Park in the city, JARI is busily expanding its Johnstown Business Park in Richland Township.

It’s the kind of positive news our economy needs and seems to be getting more of lately.

In both cases, these projects translate into new businesses and more jobs.

Those spearheading the efforts are to be congratulated, encouraged and supported.

Groundbreaking for the Kernville tech park is tentatively scheduled for the first week of July, according to Robert Gleason Jr., chairman of Conemaugh Enterprises, an arm of Conemaugh Health System. He’s also board vice chairman of Memorial Medical Center, also a part of the Conemaugh network.

Meanwhile, Johnstown Area Regional Industries used the recent startup of its Phase II expansion at the Richland park to announce that Phase III is already in the works.

Talk about optimism.

Talk about planning.

“To respond appropriately to companies seeking to establish an office in our region, we have to have the land available,” said Dan DeVos, CEO of Concurrent Technologies Inc. and JARI chairman.

In other words, a lot of companies looking to build here don’t want to deal with time-consuming land acquisition and infrastructure preparation.

With that in mind, JARI has entered an agreement to buy an additional 65 acres beside the park for Phase III development.

JARI chief Linda Thomson said the price tag for the land is $850,000 and that efforts are under way to secure state and federal funding.

We’d be much happier if she were announcing that the funding was coming from local, nontaxpayer sources.

In a similar effort, a local contractor is putting in a new road at the North Star Industrial Park off Route 30 in Jenner Township.

“It will open three lots that will front Route 30,” said Jeff Silka, executive director of the Somerset Economic Development Council. With water and sewage available at the 66-acre park, the site will become more attractive to businesses, officials say.

Large projects such as those happening in Kernville, Richland and Jenner Township are breeders for our future – they lure other, sometimes related, businesses and industries, and with them people.

Enjoy the good news.