SELINSGROVE — Officials believe the first-ever Snyder County tax-free property designation will draw more businesses to the area.
They are not alone in expressing cautious optimism. Officials in neighboring counties expressed similar sentiments on Tuesday.
The Pawling Station business park, along Route 522 in Penn Township, was finalized as a Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone on June 29, offering businesses a property-tax exemption for 10 years if they locate there. All five lots in the park are in various stages of negotiations, according to Charlie Ross, president and CEO of the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce. The property is owned by SIDCO, an industrial development corporation managed by the chamber.
On Friday, SIDCO members met to discuss a business that has expressed particular interest in the KOZ offer. Ross said he could not name the business, but that it is local.
“We have been concentrating on light manufacturing and support organizations,” Ross said.
The former Crest Homes building in Milton also is seeing interest from some potential buyers after seven months on the market, according to Maria Culp, president of the Central Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce.
“There is some talk that that building is getting ready to be sold,” Culp said. “To me, that’s a very positive sign.”
In the last three months, Culp said her office has been busier than it has been in three years with calls from businesses interested in coming to the area. Some are looking for a green field, or land where nothing is built, and others are looking for existing buildings, she said.
But a busy office doesn’t mean that everyone in the Valley is going to be employed. There is a process, Culp said, that must be worked through — of forming relationships with builders and site selectors.
Properties chosen for KOZ designations are either under-utilized or vacant, according to Stacy Anderson, program analyst for SEDA-Council of Governments, which serves as the designated zone coordinator for the region’s KOZ.
“It’s a terrific attraction for any business who wants to relocate or expand its operation,” Ross said. The advantages, such as eligibility for grants and the tax exemptions, are tremendous for any industry, he added. “We’re looking forward to implementing it as thorough and as quickly as possible.”
“It’s definitely going to provide more of a marketing incentive for that area,” Anderson said. “Since there are other KOZs throughout the area, it puts them on more of an even playing field with everyone else.”
There are four opportunity zones in Northumberland County: a portion of the Milton Industrial Park, near Milton; the SEEDCO industrial park, Coal Township; the Reed Industrial Park, Paxinos; and the J.K. Silk Mill building, Shamokin; and one in Union County, Great Streams Commons, north of Allenwood.
There are no businesses yet in Pawling Station, where a ground-breaking ceremony was held in 2007. The park contains five shovel-ready lots on 48 acres, equipped with water and sewer, common storm water management systems, three-phase electric, natural gas and fiber-optic cables.
The Keystone Opportunity Zone benefits will be available from Jan. 1, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2019.
SIDCO is pursuing permits through Penn Township and the Eastern Snyder County Regional Authority.
Taking a regional perspective on business growth, Culp said the area has a high-caliber workforce and history with manufacturing that may be attractive in itself to business owners looking to move here.
The region has a strong work force of more than 270,000 within a 20-minute drive, SIDCO reports.
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Business interested in Pawling Station site
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