STEUBENVILLE - The area's economy continues to make changes away from the steel industry, according to economic development officials from Jefferson, Brooke and Hancock counties who held a panel discussion at the second-annual Regional Economic Forum held Tuesday afternoon at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 246 Building on North Fourth Street.
The panel included Ed Looman, executive director of Progress Alliance; the Rev. Richard Davis, vice president of community relations at the Franciscan University of Steubenville; Dan Guida, Weirton businessman, attorney and representative of the Weirton Downtown Business and Civic Association; Brian James, general manager of ArcelorMittal Weirton; Lou Stein, executive director of Valley Ventures; and Pat Ford, executive director of the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle.
The event was put together by Progress Alliance, the BDC, Valley Ventures and the Weirton Downtown Business and Civic Association.
Looman outlined projects that have or will establish as many as 360 new jobs total this year and in 2010, including:
A new car line to be added at Wildfire Motors late this year that will include an electric vehicle, a gasoline powered vehicle and a future hybrid vehicle, with 40 new jobs to be created and 95 percent of the vehicles to be made in Jefferson County.
Capital Recovery Systems and its plan to add 30 jobs downtown.
QPI Tools adding as many as 14 jobs during the next year as it grows its product line of hand tools.
Nelson Fine Arts and Crafts, with plans to grow by about a dozen jobs as it moves operations into the former Lincoln School building.
Life Line Hospital at Wintersville with a total of 150 jobs planned.
Aspen Dental, at the Fort Steuben Mall, with 15 jobs planned and a 3,000-square-foot building under construction.
Bulldog Rack at Toronto, with plans to grow to a dozen employees in 2010.
In addition, Looman outlined plans for a new Indian Creek Middle School, the new city hall under construction in Steubenville and the potential for British plastics manufacturer Certwood Ltd. to establish a plant here.
Stein said in addition to clothing stores and the BookMarx store downtown, a gourmet coffee shop soon will open on Market Street. Valley Ventures recently announced it had acquired the Magnone Building on Main Street in Weirton and plans to open a business incubator there. Stein said plans for 2010 include establishing a light industrial incubator and a commercial kitchen that could be used by local food artisans.
Guida spoke of the need for continued improvement to downtown Weirton, but said, "Downtown is alive. It is not dead. It is not Three Springs Drive and it won't have heavy retail, but that doesn't mean it can't be successful in its niche."
He also spoke of his recently published paper advocating economic development be more than about "business friendly" policies.
"That's been used so much I don't even know what it means anymore," he said. "If being business friendly was the answer, everyone would be moving to Weirton."
Instead, Guida said, communities must be "resident friendly" and offer amenities that add to the quality of local life, from recreation to other opportunities. He said it takes a public and private partnership to make that happen. Guida noted the regional relationships that have developed among economic developers is important in that direction.
"Ten years ago, we'd have never been in the same room, let alone have a lunch together," he said.
Ford emphasized that it takes not just cooperation but coordination. He detailed a half dozen grants meant to put old industrial sites to new uses across the region.
Davis said work at the Franciscan University of Steubenville includes the planned completion of its new Franciscan Way main entrance by the end of the year with the lane closure on University Boulevard to end next week, if the weather allows the work to continue at its present pace. He said the university has torn down the old city post office annex but the next steps for development of its property along University Boulevard are a work in progress.
James said ArcelorMittal recently denied the plant's plan for new and more efficient boilers and he expects 2010 to be a continuation of 2009's policies of on-time, quality and price competitive tin. He said the business plan for 2010 is still being formulated, including the plans for volume and operating levels.
(Giannamore can be contacted at pgiannamore@heraldstaronline.com.)
