Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell announced Monday that new state investments for Warren and Erie counties have been approved. The new projects will receive $45 million in state funding and $68 million in private funding and will create more than 400 temporary construction jobs. In addition, the new projects will create more than 325 permanent jobs for local residents.
“It’s so important to make smart investments to spur economic development. When the state invests in a project, private companies or other organizations match or exceed those funds with their own investments,” Rendell said. “These investments are revitalizing communities, creating jobs and opening the door to new opportunities and future growth.”
New Projects Include:
- A $7 million investment through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) into the GAF Bayfront project that will remediate the land where the former GAF Materials Corporation plant was once located. The project will open up new tourism and development opportunities and is anticipated to create 100 permanent jobs and 50 construction jobs. It will leverage $43 million in outside funding.
- A $3.5 million RACP investment to Mercyhurst College that will help develop the Center for Academic Engagement. The new “green” building will house the school’s intelligence studies and hospitality majors and will incorporate laboratory space and state-of-the-art equipment. The project will create 22 permanent jobs, more than 150 construction jobs and will leverage $5.5 million in outside funding.
- A $32 million investment through the Public Improvements Program to help renovate and expand the Louis J. Tullio Arena in Erie. The project will leverage $10 million in private investments and is anticipated to create 145 permanent jobs as well as 125 temporary construction jobs.
- A $2.5 million RACP investment in the Innovate Warren project. This project encompasses a seven-block area and builds on more than five years of work the city has done to revitalize and re-invent the downtown business district and accelerate the opportunity for current and new businesses to prosper. The $2.5 million investment will bring credit and non-credit courses to northwestern Pennsylvania through the development of the Center for Advanced Education, which will teach people about community revitalization and energy. The project will leverage $10.3 million in outside funding and is expected to create 80 temporary construction jobs and at least 60 permanent jobs.
Rendell continued to say that, “Programs like RACP and investments like these have helped to keep Pennsylvania’s construction industry going despite the economic downturn. These investments — and others like it — that we’ve made across the state for the past 8 years have helped to keep Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate below the national average for 91 of the 94 past months.”