His second summit on economic development throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, brought Governor-elect Ed Rendell to St. Francis University in Loretto to learn what the needs are for this part of the state.
“We’ve planned nine economic summits regionally throughout Pennsylvania,” said Rendell. “This helps us get input from labor leaders, business leaders and officials at the local and state level about what they are looking forward to concerning economic development priorities.”
In a region that has been hit hard by the closings of the Norfolk Southern Car Shop in Hollidaysburg, C-Cor Electronics in Tipton and Westvaco in Tyrone, economic development is a priority.
“Economic development is the most pressing issue facing Pennsylvania,” said Rendell. “I am going to ask the legislation to pass the most aggressive economic development bond issue. For those bonds to be effective, we have to learn the local priorities.”
In his two summits thus far, the incoming governor has learned about some of the state programs that need changed or fixed.
“We’ve spent over four hours talking with local leaders about a wide range of issues,” said Rendell. “They range from workers training, to proposed infrastructure to aid for rural communities.”
Throughout the campaign for governor, the republicans painted Rendell as a governor for Philadelphia.
When asked, how can you show the people of Central Pennsylvania that you are a governor for the entire state, Rendell was frank in his answer.
“I plan to be fair to every part of the state,” Rendell said. “It’s easy for me to say now and many people can shake their heads, but in three weeks when I am the governor, I will be able to act in the best interests of the Commonwealth and be judged on my actions.”
Rendell believes that the completion of Interstate 99 will help the development of the region.
“Anything that increases the ability to get goods to people faster helps economic development,” said the governor-elect. “The link up or I-99 will open up economic development in the area. People will be able to get goods in and out so if there is a factory or distribution center that is looking to re-locate to this area will be linked with a first class transportation center.”
The Daily Herald asked Rendell when it comes to a cabinet, is he looking at the possibility of asking Secretary of Agriculture Sam Hayes to stay on?
“We are looking at every incumbent,” said Rendell. “The first announcement was to keep the current fire commissioner on. Some of the incumbent cabinet secretaries have moved on already. I am looking at Secretary Hayes and many others to fill the many spots in our cabinet.”
Tyrone Mayor Patricia Stoner attended the summit and believes a lot was accomplished.
“I think the seminar was excellent,” said Stoner. “You listened to other municipalities who share a lot of the problems that our community does. This covered a lot of issues to enhancing economic development of this area.”
One way to help would be a change in the way that Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZ) work.
“It is tough for our community to compete when you have KOZ’s in Antis and Snyder Townships,” said Stoner. “We talked about improving KOZ’s, making it more attractive for businesses to locate in this area and the possibility of assisting businesses with more state help.”
Stoner believes that Rendell will work for the entire state, not just Philadelphia.
“We talked about how to improve this regions economic climate,” said Stoner. “This is geared toward the “T” of the state. We talked about a certain level of consolidating our efforts and got our ideas on the table.”
This summit was a follow up to a meeting on December 19 with Rendell aides and local business and local elected officials.
“There was a priority list that came from the December meeting,” said Stoner. “One of the things that made that list is re-opening the Westvaco plant. We need to work on a regional strategy to address the econimical issues that have been effecting our area. The Governor-elect was genuinely interested on what is happening here in Central pennsylvania.
Rendell has seven more summits scheduled before being innaugarated as Pennsylvania’s governor.
