masthead for April 
Table of Contents
Counties & Customers Hear Rail Briefing
Area Firm Responds to Changing Markets
Still Cleaning up from Last Year's Flood
Municipalities to Study Energy Use
Byte-sized News
Calendar of Events

 

 

 

 

 

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SEDA-COG primarily serves the 11 Central Pennsylvania counties of Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Juniata, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder, and Union

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historic Factoid

1972 ─ The Susquehanna Economic Development Association is reorganized as a non-profit foundation.  The SEDA-Council of Governments and SEDA Foundation are established. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1-question Quiz
 
 
What Central Pennsylvania community
 is referred to as the "Birthplace of Governors?"
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Featured Link

Green Infrastructure 

 
Green infrastructure is an approach communities can choose to maintain healthy water, provide environmental benefits and support sustainable communities.  By weaving natural processes into the built environment, green infrastructure provides not only stormwater management, but also flood mitigation, air quality management, and much more. 
 
At a time when so much of our infrastructure is in need of replacement or repair and so few communities can foot the bill, we need resilient and affordable solutions that meet many objectives at once. Green infrastructure is one solution.


Visit this month's featured web site and learn more about the Green Infrastructure options and opportunities available in terms of habitat, energy, community, water, and air. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tweets, of course, don't topple governments; people do (in a few exceptional cases, the Marines and the CIA can do just fine).  Jon Stewart of The Daily Show has ridiculed the mythical power of the Internet to accomplish what even the most advanced military in the world has so much difficulty accomplishing in Iraq and Afghanistan:  "Why did we have to send an army when we could have liberated them the same way we buy shoes?"
 
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SEDA-COG is a publicly funded development organization based in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania and serving an 11-county region. We help the counties ─ and the communities and citizens within them ─ address challenges related to their economies and infrastructure, and we assist them in responding to new opportunities in such areas as energy, technology, market development, transportation, and locally-based resources.

Distinguishing Fact from Fiction

 

Representatives from county and local governments, rail customers, chambers of commerce, and industrial development groups were among the audience at the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority's (JRA) first Rail Customer and County Briefing last month in Williamsport.  As owner of five short line railroads, the JRA provides rail freight service to 95 customers.  The briefing represented another step in the Rail Authority's commitment to economic development in the region.    

 
As for the recent unsolicited offer for the JRA's property and assets, Authority Chairman Jerry Walls said, "It is important to distinguish fact from fiction and this briefing did just that."  The JRA was formed nearly 30 years ago to pursue a dual strategy of public ownership of rail lines abandoned by Conrail, and service to industries through privately operated short line rail operations.
 
Recognized by the World Bank as a model public-private partnership, JRA operations are funded only by freight revenues and property income, not taxpayer dollars.  "The lines continue to exceed federal track standards
Lycoming Valley Railroad engine
The Rail Authority owns five rail lines, including the Lycoming Valley Railroad, shown here.
and have consistently demonstrated service and economic efficiencies," said JRA Executive Director Jeff Stover.  The private short line operator, the North Shore Railroad Company, has been cited for both efficiency and customer service.  The rail traffic base is diverse - companies served include chemical, steel, lime, food, plastics, agricultural, and Marcellus gas-related industries.  In terms of collaboration, the JRA has formed partnerships in recent years with local development agencies, industries, counties, municipalities, Penn College, and private developers.

 
Additionally, 51 grade crossing projects for public safety improvement, in 23 municipalities across six counties have been completed by the JRA, which according to Walls, "...demonstrates the importance of rail freight sustainability and expansion as part of Pennsylvania's transportation legacy, and the value which the JRA offers." 
 
There is virtually solid support among JRA member counties and direct rail customers for maintaining JRA ownership of the rail lines.  Approval from all eight JRA member counties is legally required to authorize a sale of the Authority's property and holdings. 
 
Briefing participants lauded the Rail Authority for its proactive outreach to direct rail customers, member county commissioners, and regional stakeholders.  Similar education and discussion forums are anticipated in the future.

 

Read more about the Rail Briefing.  Learn more about the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority. 

Looking Overseas for New Opportunities
 

It's a fact of life if you're in business ─ markets change.  Today, approximately 45% of PDC Spas' business is international.  The Williamsport, PA company, which has been designing and manufacturing hot tubs for over 50 years, is pursuing sales in nearly 40 foreign countries. 

 

"If you had told me 20 years ago that 45% of our business would be international, I would have been

PDC Spas
PDC Spas began in 1957 as Plastic Development Company.

very surprised," says Tim Martin, the firm's Vice-president of Sales and Business Development, "But PDC's domestic market has matured.  The significant opportunities for growth are overseas." 

Underscoring Martin's assertion is the agreement his company has worked out with Yachting World, a Japanese distributor of yachts and other luxury items.  Negotiations with Yachting World were in the works for well over a year and involved Pennsylvania's Authorized Trade Representative in Japan and SEDA-COG's Export Development program, which has been working with PDC since 1995, offering trade counseling and technical assistance. 

 

As PDC and Yachting World worked out their agreement, SEDA-COG provided introductions among company representatives, travel details, and information about electrical standards.  Last fall, representatives from Yachting World came to Williamsport for three days to learn about selling, servicing, and maintaining PDC's spas, and SEDA-COG secured a Japanese language interpreter, facilitating communications between the two companies.

 

Area firms wishing to learn more about global marketing opportunities are invited to contact SEDA-COG, and begin developing their export sales potential.  Companies may call Noelle Long, the Program Director at tel. 570-524-4491; e-mail [email protected]

 

Read more about about PDC Spas.  View photos on Facebook.  Learn more about SEDA-COG's Export Development services. 

National Volunteer Group Helps with Flood Cleanup in Local Communities

 

Volunteers from the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) spent much of March in four Pennsylvania communities, assisting with flood-related cleanup efforts.  They worked on the Susquehanna Warrior Trail, community parks, and other public places in Berwick, Bloomsburg, Shickshinny, and West Falls.  Extensive damage occurred last fall due to flooding, resulting from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. 

 

The assistance was secured through the Susquehanna

Test Track Par, Berwick
Cleaning up from the flood in Berwick's Test Track Park.

Greenway Partnership (SGP), in partnership with the Appalachian Coal Country Team.  Erin Pierce, Program Coordinator with SGP said, "I expect their work will inspire others to volunteer with the Greenway and their local community to help improve public parks and river access areas."

 

The volunteer team ─ 11 young men and women from six states ─ spent time in downtown Shickshinny, picking up litter and cleaning the streets.  They spent two days along the Susquehanna Warrior Trail, removing mud and restoring the riverside trail.  For four days in Berwick's Test Track Park, they cleaned the riverbank and removed litter and brush.  They assisted with recovery work in Bloomsburg's Town Park, which has been closed to the public since the flood, and worked on riverbank cleanup and local playground restoration in
West Falls.

In addition to the municipalities, the volunteers received support from area churches, restaurants, boy scouts, and a retired teachers group. 

The Appalachian Coal Country Team began operations in 2001 and is supported by a partnership including the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, AmeriCorps VISTA, and local community improvement and watershed groups.

 

Read more about the volunteers from NCCC.  View photos on Facebook.  Learn more about the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership.

Energy Use and Cost to be Analyzed
for Ten Local Governments

 

The West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund (WPPSEF) has provided a $105,000 grant to the SEDA-COG Energy Resource Center (ERC) to help local governments in ten municipalities develop energy management plans.  Each of the ten is within West Penn Power's service area.  They will be provided with utility bill analysis to identify how much energy they use, and how and where they use it.  Specific priority action items to reduce their consumption and costs will be recommended. 

 

Three of the municipalities will receive further assistance from the Energy Center to secure and partialllogoy finance comprehensive energy analyses of facilities that use industrial processes, e.g., water and wastewater treatment facilities.
 
Joel Morrison, WPPSEF Executive Director, said, "Our funding of this activity will provide participating municipalities in our twenty-three county service area with a roadmap to better understand their energy use within their facilities and to prioritize actions to reduce their operating costs."
 
SEDA-COG's Energy Center has been doing municipal utility bill analyses for five years.  "As a direct result of our technical assistance", said ERC Director Stacy Richards, "Bellefonte, Lewistown, Granville Township, and many other municipalities in the SEDA-COG region are saving their residents money by significantly reducing their facilities' energy use.  Last year our clients reported they had shaved $257,650 off their annually utility bills, at today's rates, by reducing 2.16 million kilowatts of electricity.  As rates increase over the years, so will their continued energy savings."
 
The SEDA-COG Energy Center will complete utility bill analyses for the four municipalities within its region:  Lamar Township, Clinton County; and Gregg Township, Millheim Borough, and Patton Township, all in Centre County.  The other six will be done by the Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission, and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. 

Read more about the grant from WPPSEF.  Learn more about the SEDA-COG Energy Resource Center. 

Byte-sized News . . .

 

A $500,000 competitive Community Development Block Grant has been approved for a water project in the Clinton County village of Farrandsville.  Lock Haven Suburban, a private company previously received a million dollar H2O PA grant for construction of a water system, and the CDBG grant will be used to extend lines from Lock Haven Suburban to the old Whiskey Run Water Authority's system, which serves Farrandsville.  Increased water pressure and levels will also allow for provision of water service to 20 homes currently served by highly contaminated wells.  SEDA-COG prepared and submitted the CDBG grant application on behalf of the Clinton County Commissioners and Colebrook Township Supervisors.

 

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Financing has been provided through SEDA-COG for the purchase of an existing long term care facility in Juniata County, Pennsylvania.  Robin and Randal Naylor are purchasing North Ridge Center Personal Care, a 24-bed assisted living facility in Fayette Township.  In addition to the $98,100 loan through SEDA-COG, financing for the purchase includes M&T Bank and borrower's equity.  The Center currently has 12 full-time employees. 

 

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The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded an additional $1,032,450 in TIGER II funds to the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority (JRA).  Last April a $10 million TIGER II (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) was awarded to the JRA, of which $6.7 million was used for projects involving 200 miles of track improvements and bridge rehabilitation in four counties.  Many were related to Central Pennsylvania's Marcellus-related natural gas industry.  The final $3.3 million of the $10 million grant was made available in the fall of 2011, allowing the JRA to undertake projects in Northumberland, Williamsport, and along the Susquehanna River in Union County. 

 

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The Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), carried out by SEDA-COG and PennDOT, provides municipalities with free or low cost training on roadway maintenance and safety issues.  Courses have now been scheduled through July 12. Click here for a complete list of courses, course descriptions, and other LTAP information.

 

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Over 65 individuals attended our Energy Resource Center's March 9 breakfast seminar ─ Loyalsock Township's Journey to Owning Solar.  The Township, located in Lycoming County, has been operating a solar energy system at its municipal building since December 2011.  The Energy Center's next breakfast seminar ─ Fueling your Future with Energy Innovation ─ is Friday morning, April 13 from 7:30 to 9:30.  Representatives from Geisinger Health System, Danville; and Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove will share their institutions' experiences in meeting energy management challenges.  The seminar will be held at the Country Cupboard Restaurant on Route 15, north of Lewisburg.  Registration is $25 and includes breakfast.  Individuals may pay and register online at the Energy Center's web site.  Click on the "Events" tab.  For more information contact Frank Migneco at tel. 570- 524-4491, or e-mail [email protected].   

Upcoming Events & Activities

 

Energy Seminar ─ "Fueling Your Future with Energy Innovation"

Lewisburg ─ April 13

 

Energy Seminar ─ "Agricultural Energy Management Plans"

Milton ─ April 10 & 11

 

Export Seminar ─ "Stay on Target with Export 101"

Lewisburg ─ April 4

 

Government Contracting Seminars

Bellefonte ─ May 23 

Chambersburg ─ May 8
Harrisburg ─ April 5, 11a, 11b18, 20, 25
Harrisburg ─ May 1, 16
Lock Haven ─ May 18
Williamsport ─ April 16
York ─ April 23

 

Planning Seminar ─ "The Official Map"

Camp Hill ─ April 5

 

Roadway Maintenance & Safety Training for Municipalities

Bellefonte ─ April 3 

Berwick ─ May 15

Lewisburg ─ April 17

 

SEDA-COG Board of Directors

Lewisburg ─ April 25

 

SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority

Lewisburg ─ April 11

 

SEDA-COG Rural Planning Organization

Lewisburg ─ April 13

 

Small Business Conference ─
"The Entrepreneurial Edge"

Harrisburg ─ May 16 

For further information or questions about The SEDA-COG Report, contact Steve Kusheloff, Manager, Public Information, tel. 570-524-4491, ext. 7217; or e-mail [email protected]