Top stories of 2022: No. 4 -- Gov't largesse backs redevelopment effort

Eric Poole, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
·2 min read

Dec. 26—EDITOR'S NOTE — This is the second in a series On the top local stories of 2022. Previously, the series discussed the Lake Erie Walleye Trail cheating scandal, including a Hermitage resident, accused of putting weights in fish to make their catches appear heavier.

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The COVID-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact on businesses throughout Mercer County. The economic recovery effort is, likewise, having a significant effect on the county's economy.

In the city of Sharon alone, officials are confronting the matter of how to allocate a once-in-a-century windfall — nearly $14 million. But the potential economic development funding is likely to go well beyond Sharon's city boundaries.

State funding through Gov. Tom Wolf's Action Team is going to help Penn-Northwest Corp., Mercer County's lead economic development agency, expand utility service in part of Greenville-Reynolds Industrial Park. Mark Longietti, then a state representative and now an economic development official in Hermitage, said the $3.5 million state grant announced in November could help the industrial park attract businesses that would add 277 jobs.

Rod Wilt, executive director for Penn-Northwest, said the combination of expanded utility and broadband service in once-remote areas, and Mercer County's low property costs, is likely to spur economic growth as more American manufacturers look to move production back to domestic locations in response to supply chain problems during the pandemic.

Sharon's funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, designed to help municipalities and local businesses recover from business restrictions during the pandemic's worst periods.

By the end of 2022, Sharon had approved grants of about $8.1 million, much of which was disbursed directly to businesses already operating in the city or committed to opening operations in Sharon.

Those projects included $450,000 for JCL Development and Hudson Companies to build student housing at Penn State Shenango, $207,500 for expansion at Quaker Steak and Lube, and $150,000 for Nova Destinations for a new restaurant complex moving to Sharon.

The Nova Destinations project will incorporate a four-story building, with a basement, to offer several different types of dining, drinking and recreation — a 1920s-style speakeasy, an English pub, a live music venue, ax-throwing and an escape room — at one location.