Governor-elect Ed Rendell is in the midst of a series of economic development meetings in nine regions throughout Pennsylvania. Our region, the Southern Alleghenies, is comprised of Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset Counties. Representatives from municipal, county and state government, labor, private industry and economic development agencies were invited to attend the two-part summit. I was on the invitation list and participated.
The first get together was on December 19 at the Holiday Inn Johnstown. The second was on January 3rd at Saint Francis University in Loretto. The first event was a brainstorming session led by facilitators who extracted major issues of concern for the region. Those issues were comprehensive enough to include the interests of at least all six counties, some, had statewide appeal. The Governor-elect’s staff along with the Team Pennsylvania Foundation reviewed the issues we identified and prioritized them. At the second meeting, speakers presented six of the major topics to Governor-elect Rendell.
During the presentations at the second event, Ed Rendell queried the presenters with more detailed questions and opened the floor for others to add to the discussion on the matter at hand. Four hours in a snowstorm went by pretty quickly.
The expected subjects of local interest: I-99, Routes 219 and 56, Westvaco, Norfolk Southern and other well publicized problems were certainly presented. In addition, more general subjects, that often affect our area much differently than others in the Commonwealth, were discussed. Those included work force development, consolidation of municipalities and school districts, volunteer fire company funding and staffing, economic development marketing campaigns, tax reform and a host of others.
Governor-elect Rendell appeared interested in the issues presented and asked for supplemental information on a few. Hopefully, this exercise will prove to make an impact on his policies and the way services and funding are delivered from state agencies to the people of our region. Hopefully, our input will count.
