Upbeat Economic Partnership Annual Meeting
LOCK HAVEN – The Clinton County Economic Partnership had its annual membership meeting Wednesday night and reports from meeting participants were nearly all upbeat.
Partnership President/CEO Mike Flanagan said the third manufacturing machine and building at First Quality Tissue should be ready for a start-up early next year. The addition of the third machine is expected to result in another 185 jobs at the Castanea Township facility. He said Renovo Energy Center officials continue to seek funding for the nearly $1 billion project at the Renovo Industrial Park but offered no timeline for a start-up date.
Flanagan said two Bald Eagle Township plants are undergoing expansion: Avery Dennison with a $23 million expansion to two existing buildings plus construction of a new reactor. The adjacent Croda operation is doing a $35 million expansion.
He also reported that three “out” buildings at the former Woolrich Woolen site have been sold to a local firm, RAM Warehousing LLC; Woolrich’s main mill remains on the real estate market, no sales price listed. The nearby water treatment plant is for sale at $200,000 and the Woolrich Brayton Lodge in Gallagher Township is on the market for $899,000.
Lootcrate in the old Piper Aircraft manufacturing facility has filed for bankruptcy, Flanagan said, and will likely shut down by the end of October.
Flanagan said the county unemployment rate in July was 4.7 percent, compared to 5.2 percent a year ago.
Guest speaker was Daci Killinger, Cooperative Education Coordinator with the Keystone Central School District. She said the school district this school year has more than doubled the participants in its Career Technology Center by opening participation to ninth and tenth graders. Last year with just juniors and seniors, there were 200 participants; this year the number is 450, including students from both Central Mountain and Bucktail High Schools. There was also word the school district is working towards establishing an apprenticeship program with First Quality.
The annual meeting also saw the re-election of five sitting operating board members. Elected without opposition were Darlene Weaver; M & R Contracting, represented by Jim Russo; Dan Harger, UPMC, represented by Jeff Johns; and the Renovo Community Trade Association, represented by Gary Gregory.
