                  
|
DEMOGRAPHICS
|
Median
Household income:
|
$50,900 |
| Civilian
Labor Force: |
20,000 |
| Employed: |
19,200 |
| Unemployed: |
800 |
| Unemployement
rate: |
4.2% |
| Population,
2005 estimate: |
37,546 |
| Percent
change from previous
2005 census: |
1.8% |
|
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TOP
EMPLOYERS
(latest
data as of Q1 2003):
|
1.
Wood Mode
2. Dept. of Public Welfare
3. Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp.
4. Susquehanna University
5. Selinsgrove Area School District |
| Source: Data
is from the local
chamber of commerce. |
|
Square
miles: 331
County seat: Middleburg
No. of corporate
parks: 2
Transportation: Those
traveling through Snyder
County can use U.S. Route
11/15 and 522.
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DECISION
MAKER
Jan Wilson
Interim President/CEO
of the Greater
Susquehanna Valley
Chamber of Commerce,
effective Nov.
1.
|
 |
Wilson
was appointed to her position
at the Greater Susquehanna
Valley Chamber of Commerce’s
(GSVCC) regular board of directors’ meeting
on Tuesday, Oct. 17, and succeeds
Kurt Kissinger who made the
decision to leave the non-profit
world and enter private industry.
She will serve until the spring
of 2007, when a new president/CEO
will be selected to take the
post.
Wilson joined the chamber in
2005 as senior project manager.
She managed the coordination
of the capital campaign, and
construction for the Business
Center Partners’ Building
Project – the new chamber
business center, Made in the
Valley, on Rtes. 11 & 15
in Shamokin Dam.
Prior to joining the chamber,
Wilson worked at Sunbury Community
Hospital as director of marketing
and community outreach. Before
that, she was the director of
development and community relations
at SUN Home Health Services.
“I am very pleased to continue
my association with the chamber
in this highly-visible role,
and welcome the opportunity to
assist with this transition,” said
Wilson.
“
The chamber is fortunate to have
Jan in the interim president/CEO
post during this important time
in our organization. She will
help to keep the organization
moving forward. I think she will
do a terrific job and I look
forward to continuing to work
with her,” said Janet A.
Tippett, chairwoman of the board
of directors.
Wilson – who formerly served
on the chamber board as Region
III vice president, and past
chair of Special Events, Public
Relations, and Ambassador Committees – is
a past board member of the Union
County and Snyder County United
Ways, the American Heart Association,
and the Union County Community
Foundation. She was honored with
the GSVCC’s 1998 Outstanding
Leadership – Member of
the Year award.
A graduate of Dickinson College,
Wilson is a member of the Lewisburgh
Sunrise Rotary Club, the Valley
Players, a board member of Allenberry
Playhouse, and president of the
Allenberry Professional Theatre
board.
“The chamber’s board of
directors is beginning the process
of selecting and hiring its new
president/CEO by determining
the key competencies and characteristics
necessary to take the chamber
to yet another level,” said
Tippett. “Members, the
board, and others have been asked
for their input. The board will
determine these traits before
sitting a search committee. A
nationwide search is expected.” ~PBC |
|
| PROFILE |
|
Working
together – Moving
forward
By Brian E. Bassett
The
Greater Susquehanna Valley
Chamber
of Commerce (GSVCC)
and its economic development
affiliates – Susquehanna
Industrial Development Corp.
(SIDCO), and Sunbury New Enterprises
Expansion Drive Inc. (SNEED) – work
together to realize projects
that will ensure business expansion
and retention.
Pawling Station Business Park
GSVCC, along with SIDCO, and
the help of Sen. John Gordner
(R-109) and Rep. Russ Fairchild
(R-85), secured a $2.4 million
grant and low-interest loan
package to develop Pawling
Station Business Park. The
grant and loan package was
approved at the Nov. 16, 2205
meeting of the Commonwealth
Financing Authority.
Pawling Station Business Park,
a 48-acre site in Penn Township,
is in the final engineering
stages, and is expected to
break ground in the spring
of 2007. It will feature three-
to six-acre shovel-ready lots
with storm water drainage – and
is a top economic development
priority in the chamber’s
2005-06 strategic plan.
“
Right now, these are the first-available
shovel-ready sites for manufacturers
to move into [in Snyder County],” said
Owen Heller, manager of economic
development for the chamber. “They
are critical to future growth.
We hope to attract small manufacturers
in our target market, and expect
to create 300 to 500 new jobs
with this project.”
An 18-member volunteer task
force has been assembled to
oversee the construction of
Pawling Park. The task force
includes Gordner and Fairchild,
community leaders with a wide
range of economic development
experience and skills – an
accountant, lawyer, land developer,
engineer, surveyor, and two
bankers – along with
chairmen of the Snyder County
Board of Commissioners, Penn
Township Board of Supervisors,
and Township Municipal Authority.
Kreamer Wastewater Treatment
Plant
The Kreamer Municipal Authority,
along with the GSVCC, and help
from Gordner and Fairchild,
secured a $2.6 million grant
and low-interest loan package
to construct a new wastewater
treatment plant in Middle Creek
Township, Snyder County. The
water-treatment capacity will
rise from 90,000 gallons per
day to 165,000 gallons per
day – an 80 percent increase
in capacity.
The new plant is expected to
help Wood-Mode Inc., and Apex
Homes Inc. create 210 new jobs.
Expansion of those businesses
was previously limited by the
aging plant’s inadequate
capacity to handle wastewater.
“
I was glad to assist the Kreamer
Municipal Authority in meeting
with local and state economic
development organizations to
facilitate applying for state
grants. This grant and low-interest
loan package is a win-win for
the community and the commonwealth,
as it will lead to job creation,
business expansion, and a cleaner
environment,” said Fairchild.
“As the prime sponsor of the
law that created the water
and wastewater infrastructure
improvement program for economic
development in 2004, I am very
pleased that this funding will
be used to expand production
and employment at these important
Snyder County manufacturers,” said
Gordner. “The Kreamer
Municipal Authority and SIDCO
prepared a first-class application,
and the result will be more family-sustaining
jobs for our area.”
“This project actually affects
five area manufacturers, including
Wood-Mode and Apex Homes,” said
Heller. “Also included
in this project is 7,300 feet
of low-pressure, two-and-one-half
inch sewer force main with
grinder pumps, to serve Apex
Homes, Inc. The 80 percent
capacity increase in wastewater-treatment
will also prove to serve future
growth in all five area manufacturers.”
Custom Building Systems LLC
GSVCC and SNEED worked together
to help Custom Building Systems
LLC in Middleburg. They secured
slightly more than $1.2 million
in low-interest, fixed-rate
financing through the Pennsylvania
Industrial Development Authority
(PIDA), on Feb. 1 in Harrisburg.
This loan was used to help
defray the cost of the former
Thor American Plant. The project
is expected to create 120
jobs.
“We’ve been very fortunate
to have had strong support
from the community and local
officials in the Greater Susquehanna
Valley. Without their support
and help with the infrastructure
and loans, these three projects
would have gone nowhere,” concluded
Heller.
Some facts excerpted from a
GSVCC news release: “Over
the past seven years, the GSVCC
and its economic development
affiliates, SIDCO and SNEED,
have facilitated several business
expansion and retention projects,
providing access to more than
$6 million in incentives to
retain and/or add more than
1,000 jobs at such firms as
Custom Building Systems LLC,
United Stone Veneer, Runnerless
Knits Inc., Dinosaw Inc., Furmano
Foods, and Tulpehocken Spring
Water.” ~PBC
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©Copyright
2007 King Publishing, LLC
1305 West College Avenue • State College, PA 16801
814.867.2222 |
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