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Laura Gitlin is a Senior Managing Director with Baker Tilly Capital, and leads the firm’s East Coast negotiated incentives practice. She has over twenty years of experience providing legal, incentives and location advisory services to private and public sector clients nationwide with a focus on projects in the Tri-State and Mid-Atlantic region. Laura specializes in evaluating, structuring and implementing incentives and financing packages for corporate expansions and relocations, and commercial, residential and mixed-use development projects. Prior to joining Baker Tilly, Laura served as Senior Counsel for over 14 years at Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Company, a location advisory firm, based in Princeton, New Jersey, after specializing in real estate law at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Dan Weaver serves as President and Executive Director of PIOGA effective September 2016.  Prior to serving in this role, Dan led PIOGA's efforts to educate both school students and the public about energy issues for the past five years, including the development of K-12 study course on oil and natural gas that meets Pennsylvania's standards in history, civics and government, economics, and science and technology.  He has represented PIOGA to members of Congress and the state legislature, as well as media sources around the state and nation.

Dan's experience with the Drake Well Museum included 11 years as a Museum Educator and a term as the Manager of the Friends of the Drake Well Museum.  He managed a staff of eight, as well as numerous volunteers that provided tours of the Drake Well and Museum to thousands of visitors each year.  He was also responsible for event planning and fundraising.

Dan was also responsible for the creation the Mobile Energy Education Training Unit (MEET-U). MEET-U is a portable classroom that has traveled over 200,000 miles to provide information about energy to students and the public in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and New York. MEET-U has visited 157 schools since its completion in 2010.

Dan is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University with a B.A. in history.

The winter weather has not slowed down the progress in the Lebanon Rails Business Park in North Lebanon Township, Lebanon County. The Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) is watching the massive building unfold.

In the fall of 2016, a recruitment effort led by LVEDC President Susan Eberly was completed when she enticed the Lebanon Valley Cold Storage and Distribution Center to sign on the dotted line. The Company purchased 22+ acres. They didn't hesitate to start the project and a few days after settlement, they broke ground for their new facility.    

The company is a storage and manufacturing facility for frozen bakery products. They anticipate creating 131 new, full time jobs. The investment into the community and the jobs that will be created will be a great asset for the county. The CareerLink of Lebanon County is assisting with employee recruitment efforts. 

The project was partially funded utilizing the PIDA program and the LVEDC Revolving Loan program. The anticipated completion date for the project is mid-summer.

This March 8th webinar will discuss how local economic development teammates can help you make smart and timely decisions regarding under-utilized or vacant buildings in your community.
 
Webinar Overview: 
Economic Development professionals in small and mid-sized communities are often faced with a situation where various types of properties are “offered” or “assigned” to them for redevelopment; with economic development and community development as the long-term objectives. 
 
In this 60 minute webinar attendees will learn about: 

1. How to leverage and utilize local real estate and technical professionals in the development of a “game-plan” to evaluate the risks and rewards of the property in question.

2. How those local professionals can utilize new market research and technical tools to help you efficiently identify both the realistic reuse opportunities for the building and the market appetite for those uses.

3. Why it is important to develop a well-thought out “exit-strategy” for the project even before you move forward with taking ownership of the building or responsibility for the redevelopment effort.

Perry Heath currently serves as Director of Business Development for R. S. Mowery & Sons, Inc. of Mechanicsburg, where he has been for more than 14 years.  He has more than 35 years of business development, planning, fund development and management experience.  

Mowery provides general construction, construction management and design/build services for major industrial, commercial and institutional projects. Specialties include industrial; warehouse and distribution facilities; private schools and institutions of higher education; senior care communities; medical facilities; auto dealerships; and office complexes. Mowery has provided reliable, high-quality work for local, regional and national clients for over 90 years. For more information about Mowery, visit www.rsmowery.com.  “Mowery … For the Experience.”

A graduate of Carlisle High School with an undergraduate degree from Penn State and a Masters Degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, he is also a graduate of the Executive Management Continuing Education Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business.  Perry has also been a facilitator for Steven Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”.

In November 2013, he was elected to his third four year term as a member of the Carlisle Borough Council where he has served for four years as President.  He is a past board chair of the former Carlisle Area Health and Wellness Foundation (now Partnership for Better Health) and the Greater Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce.  He is a member of the advisory board of The Salvation Army in Carlisle, a member of the Carlisle Rotary - Sunrise Club and a member of the Capital Region Advisory Board for BB&T Bank.

Perry enjoys hunting, Penn State football, and has a private pilot license.

PEDA recognizes that ongoing professional development is an essential component of continuous quality improvement. The intent of these scholarships  made available through the generosity of FirstEnergy Corp. and Team Pennsylvania Foundation – is to make conference attendance available to 2 economic development professionals aged 40 or under whose organizational budgets would otherwise prevent them from participating.

Are you passionate about the snowmobile and ATV industries in PA and interested in sharing your professional insights regarding the future of existing and proposed regulations, standards, policies and practices? 

PEDA has been invited to provide advice to the DCNR Secretary and we’re seeking members interested in playing a role for further consideration. For additional information, contact Josh Skopp at jskopp@wannerassoc.com.

Clearfield County - Continental Carbonic

Continental Carbonic will construct a 45,000-square-foot liquid carbon dioxide facility as well as purchase equipment to operate a dry ice manufacturing facility in Clearfield, Clearfield County. The company will enter into a long-term land lease from Pennsylvania Grain Processing, LLC which will transfer the carbon dioxide gas through a dedicated pipeline from its ethanol fermentation process to Continental Carbonic. The company has committed to make a multi-million-dollar investment in the project and to create 60 new, full-time jobs over the next three years and retain 10 existing positions.

“Pennsylvania Grain Processing is exactly the type of high quality, high integrity strategic partner we look for when we expand our business,” said John Funk, President of Continental Carbonic. “They have an outstanding record of operating their plant safely, reliably, and profitably. We also want to thank the Clearfield community and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Governor’s Action Team, who have worked very hard to provide the economic framework to make this project successful and have welcomed us so warmly.”

Continental Carbonic received a funding proposal from the Department of Community and Economic Development that includes a $60,000 Pennsylvania First program grant, $200,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits to be distributed upon creation of the new jobs, and $27,000 in WEDnetPA funding for employee training. The company has also been encouraged to apply for a $3 million low-interest loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority.

The project was coordinated by the Governor’s Action Team, an experienced group of economic development professionals who report directly to the governor and work with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania, in collaboration with Clearly Ahead Development.

“We definitely thank Continental Carbonic for bringing this opportunity to us,” said Rob Swales, CEO of Clearly Ahead Development. “We’ll continue to work diligently and do what we can to help ensure this opportunity becomes a reality.”

Continental Carbonic Products, Inc. (CCPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Matheson Tri-Gas, is a leading producer of dry ice and liquid carbon dioxide. CCPI presently has eight dry ice manufacturing facilities and 32 distribution locations east of the Rocky Mountains.

For more information on Continental Carbonic, visit www.continentalcarbonic.com.

For more information about the Governor’s Action Team or DCED visit dced.pa.gov.

MEDIA CONTACTS: 
Jeff Sheridan, Governor’s Office, 717.783.1116
Lyndsay Kensinger, DCED, 717.783.1132

#10: Economic development agencies know their communities - all of the local information that you can't get from data tools. EDOs know who just laid-off, who closed, who expanded, who has training programs and dollars. 

#9: International support (investment and trade) through the Office of International Business Development (OIBD) - don't speak the language? No problem

#8: Labor interviews with existing companies - EDOs have the connections and the contacts to make this happen.

#7: Facilitation and introductions to the approving agencies, boards, and municipalities, supply chain, customers, and elected officials.

#6: Incentives - everyone wants them, but not everybody knows how or where to access them - workforce training, tax credits, low interest financing. There may also be soft local incentives which include start-up marketing and new hire assistance, paid accommodations for executives and trainers, membership in Chamber, trade organizations, young professional groups....

#5: Economic developers may be aware of sites that aren't on Loopnet, CoStar, or word of mouth from your peers. 

#4: Help with permitting at the local and state level - economic developers can advocate for the project - High priority economic development projects for the community. Also, economic developers will typically get the phone call when a project runs into permitting trouble.

#3: LERTA, TIF, KOEZ, KIZ, MTF, BIOS, RACP, CDBG - Oh need some help with the acronyms? EDOs know them all.

#2: Economic developers roll out the red carpet for prospects.

#1: Economic developers understand the importance of confidentiality and maintaining the integrity of site selection. They help you get the deal done.

Don't forget. Nov. 4th is the early bird deadline for the Dec. 5th-8th 2016 Economic Development Course in PA. https://bedcpa.org/

The Economic Development Course in Pennsylvania has served the needs of full-time economic development practitioners and those involved in economic development in a secondary way. The course draws participants whose background range from the seasoned professional to the beginning practitioner. Participants learn theoretical and practical approaches to economic development.

The Economic Development Course in Pennsylvania is accredited by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). The IEDC is the nation's largest membership organization for economic developers. The course is considered the equivalent of the IEDC's Introduction to Economic Development Course, and serves as a requirement to sit for the Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) exam.Show less