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Region appears to be rebounding economically

By Paul Paterra staff Writer ppaterra@observer-Reporter.Com 3 min read
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The 10-county region appears to be rebounding to pre-pandemic levels as far as economic development is concerned.

That was one of the key takeaways from the 15th annual Pittsburgh Region Business Investment Scorecard, released last week by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its affiliate the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance. This year’s scorecard details business investment activity that was announced in 2021 – including capital investment and new and retained jobs.

“Companies again are investing in the region,” said Jim Futrell, vice president of market research for the Allegheny Conference. “What I think is even more encouraging is … new companies moving into the region. That number nearly doubled between 2020 and 2021. Companies are once again looking to open and operate new businesses across the country, and specifically southwest Pennsylvania.”

The scorecard is the result of the Allegheny Conference teaming with its economic development partners in the region to compile a comprehensive inventory of business investment “wins.”

Futrell said the counties of Washington, Greene and Fayette reported some good numbers in 2021.

“Washington always tends to be among the more active counties,” he said. “We saw 28 total announcements this year, which was about double from the year before. Greene tends to be a little quieter, although the announcements from there, doubled too from two to four and Fayette remains steady at two. It’s a nice rebound within those three counties”

The Washington County scorecard listed 18 investment projects, including Innovative Electronics developing a 50,000 square foot building at the Starpointe Business Park in Burgettstown, which could expand to 100,000 square feet. The job impact for that project is 220 jobs, and the capital investment is $5 million.

The county’s score card also listed 10 development projects.

Greene County lists three investment projects and one development project. The investment projects include Iron Senergy, which has a total job impact of 700 jobs and a capital investment of $50 million.

Fayette County lists two development projects including a 105,000 square foot building at the Fayette County Business Park, with a capital investment of $7 million.

Across the 10-county region, the report noted 215 total deals in 2021, up from seven in 2020. More companies also have plans to add or retain employees, according to the report, and there was $3 billion in combined capital investment, which has happened five times in the past six years.

In 2021, there were 65 development deals, down 14 from 2020, but the report noted the number was still above the 15-year average of 56.

Additionally, there were 8,405 new jobs created in 2021, the highest number since 2011.

The average number of new jobs per investment project was 56.3. This is driven by at least 500 new jobs at four projects, including Iron Senergy in Waynesburg.

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