The Butler Transit Authority board voted in August to apply for up to $2.6 million to purchase up to four new buses to increase the number of trips available in the five local routes.

The application is being made to the state Department of Transportation, which will rule on whether or not to grant the $2.6 million request.

John Paul, executive director of the transit authority, said Friday, Aug. 30, that he will request a study from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission which will help determine how much money the authority will need. Paul said the transit authority has six buses for the local routes, and additional buses would not only give riders more frequent route departures, but could expand routes as well.

“Right now they make trips about every hour; if we could put a bus out in between, then service people would be able to use it every half hour, which would drive ridership and add convenience,” Paul said. “I’m going to look at morning and afternoon service to East Butler, and then use those buses midday and later in the day to have expanded service locally.”

Paul said he does not know how long it will take for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission to complete the study, so it may be a while before the authority actually submits its funding request to PennDOT.

According to Paul, more time options for trips has been a frequent request from riders of the local service.

“That’s always been a request here for the service,” he said.

View the full article at butlereagle.com.

The Armstrong County Business Retention Office, headed by George Skamai, along with Armstrong County Commissioners, John Strate, Anthony Shea and Pat Fabian, initiated their 2024-25 business tours.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) spearheads this overall effort; the SPC is the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the 10 county area in Southwestern Pennsylvania that helps counties, including Armstrong County through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), their inclusive cities, municipalities and townships access over an estimated $39B in state and federal transportation and economic development funding has been allocated to the region through 2045.

The Armstrong County Commissioners and Planning office wants to go one step further with these visits and identify opportunities to expand and grow the business within the county.

For the first round of business visits, the Armstrong County team visited Growmark FS LLC, Custom Design Monuments and 84 Lumber.

Growmark is located at 656 Tarrtown Road, Adrian, PA 16210.

Nestled along the west side of the Allegheny River, the current business evolved from its predecessor, Agway in 2004.

The Growmark brand offers professional farmers, as well as the weekend gardener various seed and fertilizer products.

The company receives it bulk product deliveries by both rail and truck and then distributes them to their clientele.

The majority of the clientele are in about the 50-radious of the business.

The Adrian Growmark typically has about 12 employees on the payroll, with the main position needed being CDL drivers.

The current manager, as well as long-time employee, Keith Pollock, has served at Growmark since 2007 just after his graduation from Penn State with a degree in Agronomy.

One of the unique services offered is soil testing to create a customized fertilizer blend for the soil type and crop to be planted, for optimal results, thus reducing the need to purchase any unnecessary product.

Besides the normal crops such as corn, soy, rye, wheat and vegetables, cover crop seeds are also sold for winter soil preservation, and to support rapid regrowth of natural gas and pipeline construction locations.

Orders for 2025 crop seeds are now being taken as the areas farmers finalize their 2024 crop harvests.

Crop protection products are also sold; these products are used for weed control and improving plant health.

For more information about doing business with the Adrian Growmark, folks may review product line at URL https://www.growmarkfs.com/Agronomy/Ag-Locations/Location-Detail/kittanning-pa or call at 724-543-1101.

Custom Design Monuments is located at 399 Butler Rd., Kittanning, PA 16201.

Co-owner, Jennifer Johnson, and her husband, Andrew, are a caring couple, along with their team of professionals who take pride in helping families navigate through some of their hardest times in life’s journey.

This family owned business is a labor of love that started with Jennifer’s father, Tim Stennett, in 1979. Mr. Stennett (Feb. 14, 1953 — Aug. 29, 2024) worked at the business until his retirement in 2010 handing the reigns over to his daughter, Jennifer, and son-in-law, Andrew.

Custom Design Monuments has a business footprint that covers all of Western Pennsylvania, as well as a sub-contract with the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese.

The business offers a large product line of finely crafted monuments and markers designed using traditional and laser etching.

A popular service provided is pre-planned monument orders.

Jennifer said, “pre-planning is a great way to help the family members left behind to know one’s exact wishes”.

Andrew said another part of their business is replacing, repairing, and sometimes placing a new monument for the first time, on an existing grave site.

For more information regarding Custom Design Monuments products and services, visit customdesignmonuments.com or call 724-543-6159.

Nestled just behind the PENNDOT/Social Security building, 84 Lumber is located at 169 Butler Road, Kittanning, PA.

The manager of the Kittanning location, Matt Spangler, has been at his current post since January 2024.

Matt’s newness to the store however, does not mean that he is new to the profession.

Matt is a seasoned 84 Lumber manager, who’s last assignment was in Texas for the previous five years working his way up the ranks.

Prior to his Texas assignment, Matt worked at 84 Lumber in southern Pennsylvania for several years.

The Kittanning 84 Lumber store caters to both contractors and walk in customers, with approximately 70% of their clientele in the contractor space.

Matt said the Kittanning store has approximately eight to 10 employees on staff, which include Customer Associates, Sales and Management personnel.

Matt said 84 Lumber offers a Manager Trainee program for folks looking for new opportunities and careers.

For additional information regarding the Kittanning 84 Lumber location and its product and service lines see https://84lumber.com/store-locator/store-detail?storeId=260 or call 724-545-6284.

Over the next year, the Business Retention Team via the auspices of the IDC, and Commissioners will travel to all parts of the county to visit the county’s various businesses.

Businesses interested in being considered as part of these visits may reach out to the county’s Business Retention Office lead George Skamai at 724- 548-3397 | gjskamai@co.armstrong.pa.us

View the full story at leadertimes.com.

Five years after its biggest enterprise was opened there, a major expansion may be taking shape with the help of state and federal development funds in the Windy Ridge park in White Township.

A grant awarded to Indiana County in May will be utilized to aid development of about a quarter of the property on the southern end of the Oakland Avenue business district, following action Wednesday by the Indiana County Board of Commissioners.

That action was requested of the county commissioners by the Indiana County Office of Planning & Development.

“Access Roadway Projects proposes a public-private collaboration with the Indiana County Development Corporation, a 501©6 non-profit with project administration by (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) District 10, proposes design, permitting and construction of two access roads of approximately 550 feet (0.11 miles) and 300 feet (0.06 miles), respectively, and related infrastructure to support the 210-acre Windy Ridge Business and Technology Park,” said Byron G. Stauffer Jr., executive director of both ICOPD and ICDC.

“When complete,” Stauffer continued, “these two access roads will serve five development lots totaling 55.202 acres.”

At the juncture of state Route 286 (Oakland Avenue) and U.S. Route 422, and not far from an interchange with U.S. Route 119, Stauffer said the park is in a strategic location, “geographically located to be a regional job center to support office, manufacturing, distribution and an array of other growth industries.”

However, little seems to have happened since Urban Outfitters opened a fulfillment center there in October 2019, that services that company’s digital customers across the United States.

According to the Urban Outfitters urbn.com website, the location was designed with efficient and ergonomic processes crafted to handle the company’s brands of furniture and large footprint items.

“The ICDC has received a number of inquiries for the subject property,” Stauffer told the board, “However, the lack of adequate access roads has been challenging.”

The way toward those access roads may have gone through a couple stops in Harrisburg, and apparently will need another stop in Washington, D.C.

As announced by Gov. Josh Shapiro in May, ICDC is receiving $1 million out of more than $10.6 million in PA SITES (Pennsylvania Strategic Investments To Enhance Sites) funding.

The governor’s office said PA SITES funds will be used there for engineering, environmental cleanup, demolition, and the construction and site preparation for a 500-foot extension of a roadway to Lot 21 and an intersection connecting to Lot 1.

Additionally, DCED said, funds will be used for street lighting, utility facilities, signage, sanitary sewer, storm water management, and erosion and sediment controls.

ICDC later secured additional funding, this time $1 million from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. Stauffer said that $1 million will serve as matching funds for the first million.

Also with approval from the commissioners Wednesday, ICOPD will seek to file an application for $475,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission Access Road Program.

The Windy Ridge access road plan was one of several actions sought by ICOPD that the commissioners approved Wednesday.

One was approval of a resolution that recertifies that the Indiana County Revolving Loan Funds, inluding the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act Revolving Loan Fund, are being operated consistent with existing Economic Development Strategy and in accordance with the policies and procedures contained in the administrative plan.

“This is a housekeeping item required semi-annually by the (U.S.) Economic Development Administration,” ICOPD Deputy Director for Economic Development Angela Campisano told the commissioners. “Our Economic Development Strategy is embodied within the document, ‘SmartMoves for a Changing Region,’ which is developed by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and endorsed by EDA.”

ICOPD Deputy Director for Community Development & Housing David Morrow had three items to present for approval by the county board, two of them for the Dixonville Commons building project:

• A contract agreement with Crane Masonry of Indiana for a wall repair project in the amount of $73,250, to be covered by Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program and Platinum Visual Solutions funds.
• A contract agreement with Byler Roofing Service of Ebensburg for removal of existing roof materials in the amount of $54,810, also to be covered by RACP and Platinum Visual Solutions funds.

Third was a $6,227 change order in the contract with Sheesley Electric for the YMCA of Indiana County Locker Room Renovation Project, to be covered by YMCA and RACP funds. It brings the total contract for that work to $116,227.

Stauffer also had two other matters for the commissioners’ consideration:

• A grant application for up to $1 million in Local Share Account funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development for a new entrance road into the county’s Buttermilk Falls Natural Area in West Wheatfield Township, accessing a parcel that once was a retreat for the family of the late television personality Fred Rogers’ maternal grandfather and includes the McFeely Trail.
• An allocation of $100,000 in liquid fuels money from PennDOT District 10 for Center Township, to partially offset eligible project costs for the Lucerne Mines Road Resurfacing Project. Stauffer said the total estimated project cost is $455,000.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) and the Local Government Academy (LGA) are proud to announce Chris Blackwell, Director of Planning at the Municipality of Penn Hills, as the recipient of the 2025 Joseph A. James Award. The Award is given annually to an elected or appointed official in Southwestern Pennsylvania in recognition of a lifetime of exemplary governance or management.

The award is named for the late Joseph A. James, Ph.D, who was a noted scholar at the University of Pittsburgh and a lifelong advocate of intergovernmental cooperation and professionalism in local government.

SPC Executive Director Rich Fitzgerald and LGA Executive Director Joy Ruff presented the award to Blackwell at Penn Hills’ council meeting on February 17th – his final meeting after more than 30 years of service to the people of Penn Hills.

“Chris Blackwell has long been a regional example of how one dedicated public servant with a strong team can yield tangible results for residents in Southwestern Pennsylvania.” said Fitzgerald. “From skate parks to trails to thousands of permits for new construction, Chris has had a hand in every exciting development in Penn Hills for the last three decades”.

“Local Government Academy is proud to partner with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission to recognize the service of Chris Blackwell, who we have worked with over the years through our Municipal Intern Program.” Said Ruff. “As a municipal planner, Chris exemplifies the spirit of a public servant and has been committed in his efforts to mentor young professionals. We thank Chris for his service to Penn Hills, his dedication to the planning profession, and his work promoting excellence in local government.”

“Penn Hills is extremely proud that this award was given to a Penn Hills resident and staff member,” Said Scott Andrejchak, Municipal Manager for Penn Hills. “The award reflects the work Mr. Blackwell accomplished in our community and how his colleagues view his professionalism and contributions to local government in western Pennsylvania.”

Media Inquiries: DJ Ryan
Cell:  412-478-1928 
DJRyan@spcregion.org

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About Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission:
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) is the federally designated metropolitan planning organization (MPO), local development district (LDD), and economic development district (EDD) that serves 10 counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The organization’s coverage area includes Allegheny including the City of Pittsburgh, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties. It keeps the region connected and moving forward by helping to plan for its future. It is responsible for planning and prioritizing the use of state and federal transportation funding and establishing economic and workforce development priorities for the region.

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