SEPTEMBER 2004
Tied In (cover)
Wanted: Quick
Sites and Skills
Erie Still Coming Back
Churn High in Lehigh
Almost There
in Bethlehem
Historic Period in Philadelphia?
Downtown Scranton Project One of
Many in Region
for Aventis Pasteur
Pittsburgh Takes
Bio Route
Request Information
PENNSYLVANIA SPOTLIGHT
Erie Still Coming Back
Brownfield redevelopment continues
to be high on the priority list across Pennsylvania, with Gov. Rendell's
latest budget allocating $40 million over four years to clean them up.
Those funds back structural changes to the state's Land Recycling program
that include a new Brownfield Action Team within the state Dept. of
Environmental Protection, charged specifically with expediting permitting
and approvals for reclamation projects. Another key part of the package
is a
memorandum of agreement with the federal EPA that will free owners of
successfully remediated sites from several types of federal enforcement
actions.
Upticks in precision manufacturing and aerospace have meant an uptick in tool and die orders, and that's reason enough for a thumbs up in Northwest Pennsylvania, long known for its strength in the industry. In Erie, several major Interstates intersect with an airport expansion, a Great Lakes port and rail infrastructure to create a not-so-virtual nexus of infrastructure. So the region may be the ideal test case of how infrastructure improvements can bring corporate projects.
Just five years ago, nearly a third of Erie's employment was in manufacturing, but a brownfield program was implemented in 1996 by the Greater Erie Industrial Development Corporation. The City of Erie has blended this program with Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZs) and other benefits to help take the reins of its own redevelopment. And given the fallback in manufacturing over the years, there is no shortage of experienced, skilled labor.
So says Hoop Roche, president and CEO of Erie Plastics, based in Corry, Pa. He's also the head of the newly formed Manufacturing Competitiveness Coalition, formed at the behest of the Erie County Civic Coordinating Committee.
"The goal is to retain our industrial base and try and move us into better technology areas and manufacturing processes we can defend," Roche tells Site Selection. "Old Rust Belt manufacturing has been commoditized and has gone overseas, and Erie is a very heavy manufacturing-oriented community. So we need to nudge all these old Rust Belt guys, including myself, into the technology areas."
Roche has seen the region's tool and die industry lose some of its small players, but win in some respects by establishing niches and special processes. His own firm has done the same, with a concentration in consumer packaging that includes growing business with the pharmaceutical sector and a partnership with fellow Pennsylvania company Alcoa in making caps for the bottled water industry. Company production takes place at plants in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Hungary.
That business has been largely unaffected by the overseas exodus, but that didn't stop Roche from composing a letter to President Bush asking for a more level playing field for small business vis-a-vis the Chinese. He says the apparent administration tack is "absolutely open and free trade, without prosecuting violators."
But a summer 2004 trade mission to China convinced Roche that it's also more complicated than many realize.
"It's like being in America -- I was stunned," he says. "There are so many Fortune 500 companies there it's hard to do something against China, because it would be against our own companies."
As for his state's business climate, Roche says he received good support for his own company's expansion a few years ago, to 430,000 sq. ft. (39,947 sq. m.) of floor space and 35,000 sq. ft. (3,252 sq. m.) of corporate space. At the same time, he says there are plenty of hidden advantages that the region doesn't promote enough. One is plentiful water. The other is plentiful manpower, and a lot of support for recruiting and training. And although the sheer number of state programs can be daunting to navigate, he says the regional consolidation of Erie economic development organizations from three into one has made it clear sailing for prospects.
Erie's I-90 corridor now is home to seven business parks, including the 200-acre (81-hectare) Knowledge Park on Penn St.-Erie's campus, founded in 1999.
Roche was named after the Thoroughbred Hoop Jr., which won the 1945 Kentucky Derby. The race's official account says the horse "responded with much energy when called upon and won with something left." Roche hopes the same holds true for his company and the Erie County community.
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GE Transportation Systems
occupies 550 acres (223 hectares) in Erie. Its locomotive and
rail service business
befits a metro that has just added a $9-million intermodal transportation terminal (left). |
Upticks in precision manufacturing and aerospace have meant an uptick in tool and die orders, and that's reason enough for a thumbs up in Northwest Pennsylvania, long known for its strength in the industry. In Erie, several major Interstates intersect with an airport expansion, a Great Lakes port and rail infrastructure to create a not-so-virtual nexus of infrastructure. So the region may be the ideal test case of how infrastructure improvements can bring corporate projects.
Just five years ago, nearly a third of Erie's employment was in manufacturing, but a brownfield program was implemented in 1996 by the Greater Erie Industrial Development Corporation. The City of Erie has blended this program with Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZs) and other benefits to help take the reins of its own redevelopment. And given the fallback in manufacturing over the years, there is no shortage of experienced, skilled labor.
So says Hoop Roche, president and CEO of Erie Plastics, based in Corry, Pa. He's also the head of the newly formed Manufacturing Competitiveness Coalition, formed at the behest of the Erie County Civic Coordinating Committee.
"The goal is to retain our industrial base and try and move us into better technology areas and manufacturing processes we can defend," Roche tells Site Selection. "Old Rust Belt manufacturing has been commoditized and has gone overseas, and Erie is a very heavy manufacturing-oriented community. So we need to nudge all these old Rust Belt guys, including myself, into the technology areas."
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Corridors and Research
In the Center |
Roche has seen the region's tool and die industry lose some of its small players, but win in some respects by establishing niches and special processes. His own firm has done the same, with a concentration in consumer packaging that includes growing business with the pharmaceutical sector and a partnership with fellow Pennsylvania company Alcoa in making caps for the bottled water industry. Company production takes place at plants in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Hungary.
That business has been largely unaffected by the overseas exodus, but that didn't stop Roche from composing a letter to President Bush asking for a more level playing field for small business vis-a-vis the Chinese. He says the apparent administration tack is "absolutely open and free trade, without prosecuting violators."
But a summer 2004 trade mission to China convinced Roche that it's also more complicated than many realize.
"It's like being in America -- I was stunned," he says. "There are so many Fortune 500 companies there it's hard to do something against China, because it would be against our own companies."
As for his state's business climate, Roche says he received good support for his own company's expansion a few years ago, to 430,000 sq. ft. (39,947 sq. m.) of floor space and 35,000 sq. ft. (3,252 sq. m.) of corporate space. At the same time, he says there are plenty of hidden advantages that the region doesn't promote enough. One is plentiful water. The other is plentiful manpower, and a lot of support for recruiting and training. And although the sheer number of state programs can be daunting to navigate, he says the regional consolidation of Erie economic development organizations from three into one has made it clear sailing for prospects.
Erie's I-90 corridor now is home to seven business parks, including the 200-acre (81-hectare) Knowledge Park on Penn St.-Erie's campus, founded in 1999.
Roche was named after the Thoroughbred Hoop Jr., which won the 1945 Kentucky Derby. The race's official account says the horse "responded with much energy when called upon and won with something left." Roche hopes the same holds true for his company and the Erie County community.