Developers cautious on impact of cracker plant locally

Nov. 17—Development groups gave the same answer on what the local economic impact will be from the newly completed ethane cracker plant in Beaver County: "We don't know."

Shell, owner of the $6 billion plant along the Ohio River near Monaca Pa., said Tuesday that it has begun production.

The sprawling complex will turn natural gas, much of which will be extracted from the Marcellus Shale field that runs under the ground in western Pennsylvania, into plastic pellets for wide range of uses.

The plant is along Interstate 376, less than an hour of driving time from the I-376/80 interchange in Mercer County, which raises the prospect of ancillary local development.

Yearning for offshoot businesses from the Beaver County plant isn't the question, said Rod Wilt, executive director of Penn-Northwest Development Corp., Mercer County's lead economic-development agency. Rather, it's how to entice them with a meager supply of a crucial resource — people.

"We didn't have enough people to fill jobs slots here before the cracker plant began production," Wilt said. "We have more economic development going on here than there are people to fill those jobs."

There's evidence to back that up.

Mercer County's unemployment rate in October, the latest month available, was 4.5%, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry.

Economists generally view full employment, where just about anyone who wants a job can get one, in the 4% range. But that doesn't include people working at low-paying jobs seeking posts with better pay and benefits.

A major obstacle in attracting people to the area is a lack of good housing stock, Wilt said.

"Right now the grade for us in available houses is an F," he said.

But Beth Black, Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce's executive director, sees potential.

"We're close enough to the plant that we attract people to live here," Black said.

And something else is in play. There's a reluctance among local developers to boast the plant will bring oodles of jobs. Similar past pronouncements on regional projects fell flat on their face.

In 1992, Pittsburgh International Airport opened a new 1.82-million-square-foot terminal complex. It was hailed as a job-creating engine with surging new businesses lining all the way up to Mercer County.

That surge never happened. USAir ditched its hub at the airport in 2004, which crushed passenger volume. American Airlines acquired the airline, once based in Pittsburgh.

Construction is underway on a $1.4 billion smaller terminal at the airport. Based on the experience, developers aren't predicting a significant increase of jobs.

At the same time, the region sought to extend what was then Route 60, which today is I-376. There was a highway gap between West Mayfieldini Beaver County and New Castle. Years of lobbying for the state to fill the space came with promises of business growth along the entire stretch from the airport north to Shenango Township in Mercer County.

The gap was filled and in Nov. 20, 1992, opened as a toll road. There was development — but nothing close to expectations. But the road eventually became part of I-376, which gave Mercer County three interstates, which has been a major asset.

When operating a full capacity next year, the cracker plant will employ up to 700, Shell said.

People like Jim Cardamon are being cautious about over-promising on how many jobs it will create locally. Cardamon is coordinator for the Shenango Valley Enterprise Zone, which offers low-interest business loans.

"I can't remember the last time I had a conversation dealing with the cracker plant," Cardamon said.

The non-profit organization is ready to help the business community that involves the plant, he said.

"But we haven't had anyone come to us with a project that involves the plant," Cardamon said.