Writer: Eleana Terán
4 min read September 2022 — County leaders in the Greater Pittsburgh region are confident in their ability to attract new businesses, develop talent and foster development as the region continues on its upward trajectory, with some counties experiencing projects of a magnitude not witnessed in decades. In interviews with Invest:, Don Myers, commissioner chairman of Armstrong County, and Diana Irey Vaughan, commissioner chair of Washington County, discussed why their counties are well positioned for further economic growth.
Don Myers
What are some important developments ongoing in the county?
Right in our RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park, we secured a deal that we had been working on for a little over a year. There is going to be a residential development of roughly 100 homes in the front end of the park. These are paired villas and townhouses between $300,000 to $400,000 each. We are also working with Brunk Industries. They have signed on with our Technology Center II building for some office space, and they are also looking to possibly take up two 30,000-square-foot buildings that we are going to be erecting soon through our RIDC partnership. These will be for manufacturing-type jobs.
All of this is pretty exciting news for us in Armstrong County. This land has been vacant for a long time, and this housing development is the first of this size in over 40 years. When you have a declining population, you need to have good housing developments that attract a skilled workforce. We are elated about the significant levels of recent economic development activity going on in the area, attributable to the restructuring that we have done.
Diana Irey Vaughan
We’re doing a lot of exciting things. One involves an online auction company that has expanded and taken up the old Macy’s building at the Washington Crown Center mall. We are now their second-largest location in the region.
Washington County also has several wineries and distilleries that have been opening over the past few years, including Mingo Creek craft distillers. They make a product called Liberty Pole Spirits. They’ve been ranked among the Top 10 distilleries in the commonwealth and they are undertaking a new facility. It’s for a distillery tasting room and a buried storage rack house. It’s going to be 15,000 square feet.
What industries are you hoping to see more activity from in Armstrong County?
Myers: We want to see industries and companies come here that provide good, family-sustaining wages. We want these to be jobs in which workers can afford to have a nice, comfortable life. Those are what we look for. In manufacturing many of them do offer just that — competitive wages and benefits. Some of the activity from technology companies and what they are developing in places such as Pittsburgh with autonomous technology and robotics, is going to spin our way as well because they lack available land.
The RIDC partnership is something that Armstrong County never had, connecting us to that southern Pittsburgh region. Our own tech-intensive landscape is going to spur from there. RIDC is now marketing our park, and we’re very excited about what’s to come.
Available grants have allowed us to keep prices down. Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grants that come from the state level have helped bring in infrastructure that can lower the cost for these companies, and we’ve been highly successful in going after those grants. For instance, we received a $1 million grant for our two 30,000-square-foot buildings that offset the cost of those buildings, which in turn will lower the lease.
What differentiates Washington County from other regions in Greater Pittsburgh?
Irey Vaughan: Washington County has the lowest county tax rate in the region. We haven’t raised taxes in 12 years. ACT 13 monies have allowed us to complete a multitude of county-specific capital projects that have kept us from needing to incur debt and use direct county tax dollars. We’ve been able, through local Share Account dollars that are generated from the Meadows Racetrack and Casino, to invest in and reinvest in our county for infrastructure, job training, community benefit and economic development.
So, we are uniquely positioned. We’ve had an opportunity to invest more in our county than other outlying counties. That’s been an opportunity we’ve had that others have not. We get approximately $6 to $7 million a year and the multiplier impact has been tremendous from that investment.
Where does the local small business community stand today?
Myers: Compared to pre-pandemic levels, the health of Armstrong’s business community is definitely in comeback mode. Something that we and everybody face is the shortage of employees, which hinders companies and growth. Part of it comes down to a significant portion of the baby boomer era retiring. COVID-19 pushed them out and they have not come back to the workforce. With that, companies are rebuilding and reshaping how they do things, with some companies transitioning to relying on automation. For companies, switching to automation is less costly than waiting for new employees.
What is the landscape for education and workforce development in the county?
Irey Vaughan: We have a very strong working relationship with our workforce investment community. Our joinder is made up of Greene County, Beaver County and Washington County. We have been successful at receiving a lot of grants that are allowing us to train the workforce.
Right now, our unemployment rate is very low. We have an abundance of funds to invest in training and we are actively going after individuals to retrain the workforce. Our group does workforce forecasting. So, when we’re meeting with employers, we’re constantly receiving updates on their projections so we can present that to the communities, unemployed and individuals. We’ve been very aggressive with career fairs and in partnering with our high schools and our middle schools. We’re starting to get younger children on a path of thinking about their future.
What is your outlook for the county’s economy over the next two to three years?
Myers: With the things we have in motion — expanding business and industry, housing development, tourism — we are undergoing economic growth. We recently acquired the Kiski Junction Bridge, which is a key component in completing the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail. Through grants that were applied for in the county, the acquisition price was $3.5 million. It is a key asset for us as far as tourism goes. We are pushing and supporting our local tourism industry to attract more people to the county. The Kiski area has been stagnant for quite some time, yearning for economic growth. That trail that connects those across the river to Freeport is a major key to completing that trail, which could become a catalyst for the area. Our efforts that have been in the works on all fronts for the last year and a half are paying off.
Irey Vaughan: Washington County is extremely well positioned to continue the growth that we’ve seen over the last decade, especially with the two new opportunities at our Fort Cherry Development and Cool Valley industrial parks. We’re now going to open up more properties that will allow the relocation of new businesses to come in with new job opportunities.
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