On Monday, January 7th, Bloomsburg Town Council agreed to table voting on a proposed ordinance which would regulate “obstructions” after the Chamber and Downtown Bloomsburg Inc. expressed concerns. Both organizations and several other businesspeople in attendance felt an ordinance is unnecessary and would deter business growth in the Downtown. DBI with work with the Town to better promote existing guidelines and with businesses to address concerns over the next few months.

The ordinance would increase regulation of “obstructions” in the sidewalk rights-of-way in the “Downtown area”, which the ordinance defines as Main Street from West to East and East from Main to 7th Street. The ordinance would replace current guidelines which are in effect. The Chamber’s Board of Directors sent a letter to Council in late December urging them to table the ordinance and work with Downtown Bloomsburg, Inc., the Chamber’s subsidiary, to address this issue in a collaborative and positive way. Chamber President Fred Gaffney expressed to Council that a possible daily fine of $25 to $600 would be perceived as a threat to businesspeople looking to invest in the Downtown.

Following considerable discussion, Council agreed to table discussion until the April meeting of the Town’s Community and Economic Development Committee meeting. In the interim, DBI will obtain the existing guidelines from the Town, distribute them to all businesses in the Downtown and discuss specific areas of concerns with those business owners.

Campbell Printing Co. was selected at random as the October Business Spotlight winner. As a result, their business will receive an article featured both in E-Biz and on the Chamber’s website.

 
Campbell Printing Co. was formed in the 1940s by Harry Campbell. Originally located on 3rd and Spruce Streets in Berwick, it would later move to Monroe Street where it is located today. John and Sharon Getty purchased the company in 1974 and it’s remained in the family for the last 38 years.

 
Campbell Printing is the only full service printing company in the immediate Berwick area and its customers show their appreciation by being repeat buyers and by advertising through word of mouth. The current owners, Matthew and Jocelyn Getty, continue to carry out business with the same work ethics that were present when the company first began.

OPTiMO Information Technology LLC was selected at random as the August Business Spotlight winner. As a result, OPTiMO receives an article featured both in E-Biz and on the Chamber’s website.

OPTiMO is a technology solutions provider that was founded in April 2008 by Michael Miguelez. Since then, the business has grown to include sixty full time employees with offices in Bloomsburg PA, Wilkes-Barre PA, Vienna VA, and the Washington DC Metro district. Business has steadily increased over the years and in 2012, Miguelez was awarded the Greater Susquehanna Keystone Innovation Zone (GSKIZ) Entrepreneurial Achievement Award.

What sets OPTiMO apart from other technology firms in the area is the wide variety of services that they offer. Their clients range from Fortune 100 companies to regional nonprofit businesses. Services provided include: Enterprise Software and Application Development, Application Modernization, Business Process Engineering, Program and Project Management, IT Operations, Digital Forensic and eDiscovery, ERP Systems, and much more. Additional information can also be found at www.optimo-it.com.

Below is the  latest travel information for the Route 11 resurfacing/reconstruction project in Berwick.

PennDOT’s contractor (Barletta Materials & Construction, Inc.) will be closing the Berwick-Nescopeck River Bridge this weekend to reconstruct a section of Route 93 between the bridge and Front Street (Route 11 northbound). The bridge will be closed Friday evening, June 15 at 10 p.m. and reopened to traffic by Sunday evening, June 17 at 10 p.m.

A signed detour will be implemented using Route 339 (Broad Street in Nescopeck) to Route 2028 (Market Street in Mifflinville) to Route 11.

This work is the second of three stages designed to reconstruct the Market Street intersections with Front and Second streets. It should be noted that this work does not have the final layer of blacktop applied yet. That phase will happen at a later date after reconstruction of the third stage (right-hand lane of Second Street at Market Street) is completed. That work has not yet been scheduled.

Paving to Begin this Saturday, June 9th on Market Street in Berwick

In early May the Chamber held a Road Construction Update Meeting in Berwick. Peters Consultants Inc. and PennDOT attended this event and informed businesses on the current state of the project as well as the anticipated paving schedule.

Overall there was frustration from the businesses due to the lack of communication involving the project.  The Chamber is currently working with PennDOT as well as other media outlets to help communicate where paving will be taking place and the detours. This information will be posted on the News Section of the Chamber’s homepage as well as the Chamber, Berwick Borough, and McBride Library Facebook Pages.

 You are welcome to share the paving updates on your Facebook page or if you would like to post information on your website or other media outlets please contact Kim Rinehimer at krinehimer@columbiamontourchamber.com or call 784-2522.

Below is a tentative Berwick paving itinerary for the upcoming week. The Chamber encourages you to visit businesses in Berwick to show your support for the community! To find Chamber members in Berwick click here.

 The paving project is set to begin in Berwick this Saturday, June 9th with stage 1A.

 Paving:Tentatively June 9-15 reconstruction of Market Street between Front and Second Streets will take place as well as reconstruction of the left lanes of Front and Second Street near Market Street.

 Detour: A detour of Market Street will be in place via Pine or Vine Streets.

By Fred Gaffney, President, Columbia Alliance for Economic Growth

Recently, the Columbia County Industrial Development Authority (CCIDA) and Columbia Alliance were seeking approval to bring significant tax incentives to the new Columbia County Business Park in Scott Township, Columbia County. Designation as a Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone (KOEZ) would have been a significant tool in marketing the Park by maximizing the competitiveness of the site in relation to the 3,700+ KOZ/KOEZ acres currently available in surrounding counties. Authorization was required by the County Commissioners, Central Columbia School Board, and Scott Township Board of Supervisors. Last Wednesday, Press Enterprise ran an article predicated by the Supervisors’ vote. There were two issues in the article that need clarification.

The article incorrectly stated that “38 acres in the park are designated for industry. The rest is reserved for commercial business.” No acreage or parcels have been designated for specific use. The entire parcel is zoned light industrial. In Scott Township, this zoning designation also permits commercial uses. In the applications to the State and Federal funding agencies for this project, it was suggested that, due to the situation of the parcel at the interchange, up to 12 acres might be utilized for traditional interchange commercial development. Therefore, my statement was that the park could have no more than 12 acres of traditional highway commercial use. The Press did print a correction on this issue. The goal of the CCIDA and Alliance is to create higher-wage, higher-density job opportunities, not offer competitive advantages against existing local employers.

Additionally, two of the Scott Township Supervisors questioned why the CCIDA and Alliance “waited until now to spring the idea on them considering the project’s been in the works for years.” Authorization for new KOZ/KOEZ applications is by legislative action. PA Senate Bill 1237, which authorized new applications, was only passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor in mid-February of this year. We learned of details of the latest authorization on February 28th. Following that, the CCIDA and Alliance Boards discussed the opportunity and decided to move forward with the request for authorization by the taxing bodies. Our solicitor then had to draft the language of the resolution and PILOT agreement with consistency between the Township, County, and School District. We may have been able to get the information to the Township a meeting or two sooner, but the idea was first discussed with the Supervisors at their April 24th meeting. At the May 8th meeting, we again discussed and attempted to address any of Supervisors’ concerns by the meeting on the 22nd. The article accurately noted that there is a June 1 application deadline. In no way did the CCIDA and Alliance intend to blindside the Supervisors with this request.

The Commissioners voted to authorize KOEZ designation at their meeting on May 3rd by a 2 to 1 vote. The Central Columbia School District approved the measure at their meeting on May 7th by an 8 to 1 vote. The PA Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) requires approval by all local taxing bodies impacted, so the Business Park cannot be included in SEDA-COG’s central region application with the Township Supervisors’ tie vote of 2-2 last Tuesday.

While disappointed in the final outcome of the KOEZ proposal, the CCIDA and Alliance plan to aggressively market the site with a goal of attracting quality, long-term jobs opportunities once construction is completed in the coming weeks. The Park was developed without an initial prospect of incentive programs, and while there are other options to be discussed, the Boards remain optimistic about the success of this project.