Appearing in the Route 422 Business Advisor June 2023 Edition, submitted by PAED”s Executive Director, Peggy Lee-Clark.
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Recently, Pottstown Area Economic Development’s (PAED) Executive Committee hosted a tour for Montgomery County Leadership and Staff. These opportunities not only serve to highlight all that is right with Pottstown but, also serve as great reminders of the progress that is being made in the revitalization and reimagining of Pottstown.
For many decades, Pottstown’s industrial and manufacturing businesses brought much success to the Borough. Over time, those same industries shifted, or closed, leaving behind land and buildings that became abandoned sites, and ultimately environmental concerns. Today’s investors are managing everything from air quality testing and soil sampling, to securing professional plans, exploring funding through grant programs, clean up, construction and utility upgrades… the list is long and the timelines require patience and perseverance. As I have often shared, “This is a marathon, not a sprint, and some days it’s a slog.”
On the tour we made multiple stops and met with developers and employers. The first stop on the tour took us to meet Jay Lankford on the site of the future ReStream Energy Plant. There the group had a recap of where the development is in the process. It will be the first major project under the 2018 Keystone Employment & Economic Plan (KEEP) administered and developed by PAED. The Plant will use a green gasification process that produces virtually no emissions or other environmental consequences to produce pipeline-ready renewable diesel, while keeping 200,000 tons of waste out of landfills. At this point, the group is on target to begin moving dirt this summer(2023). The project will not only bring numerous construction jobs during the development phase but, once operational, will require approximately 110 full-time employees.
After leaving Keystone Boulevard, we headed East to Industrial Boulevard. There we made a stop at 215 South Washington. The former Pottstown Plating Works. It is almost unrecognizable. After the former owner left the environmentally contaminated site to decay and his bills unpaid including years of taxes, there seemed to be no future except for the property to continue to remain a liability and a symbol of a long-forgotten industry. The public entities and creditors were never going to see that money, they had become only numbers on pieces of paper. Through the vision of a local investor and the collaborative work of the Borough of Pottstown, Pottstown School District, Pottstown Sewer Authority, Montgomery County, Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority and PAED, the property is now environmentally remediated and has been producing tax revenues since 2021. The current owners are working on obtaining a tenant which would have the ability to produce 50 jobs by its second year after relocating to Pottstown. They continue to improve the property both structurally and aesthetically.
The last formal stop on the tour was the Pottstown Industrial Complex aka, the partial footprint of the former Bethlehem Steel Facility. The uniformity of the Complex from the outside disguises the diversity of the innovative industries that are currently operating or are under construction to operate in the near future in the massive interior spaces. Tenants who occupy the more than 800,000 square feet are drawn to the site because of what it can provide. The Industrial Complex has the benefit of high ceilings, heavy power capability, cranes and rail. When so many places like this have been leveled throughout the region for office parks and housing developments, Pottstown is lucky to have this competitive advantage. The group heard about and visited three of the newest tenants. Toggle makes products out of rebar which then are delivered to variety of construction projects including cell tower locations. They do this through a combination of using robotics and employees skilled in tying rebar. APW Turf Management uses Italian technology to remove, recycle, and maintain sports turf fields. This ecologically friendly technology keeps sports turf from simply ending up in landfills at the end of their lifecycle. Dowa Holdings Company from Japan is also using green technology like many of the companies highlighted on the tour. At their location in Pottstown, they will recycle metal in the production of catalytic converters.
The afternoon wrapped up with a stop at The Alley on High Street. We took a peek at what will be The Alley’s Kiki indoor expansion. It will allow the successful venue to operate year-round and during inclement weather. As we all started departing, all agreed that things are going in the right direction and we need to keep the positive front and center.
PAED is committed to working alongside responsible investors to re-imagine, convert, and redevelop these same location sites for tomorrow’s economy. These projects and properties all have a variety of complexities. One such challenge is bringing older historic buildings into today’s code compliance. PAED developed a proposal with input from developers, design professionals, and builders to suggest a DCED grant program for similar boroughs throughout Montgomery County. The funds would be for assisting owners with improvements to the buildings. That proposal has now been expanded to include the entire State and we look forward to its introduction in an upcoming legislative session. Environmental clean-up is a comprehensive process, requiring guidance from county, state, and federal departments. PAED is grateful to all who are contributing to economic development of Pottstown. – Peggy Lee-Clark, Executive Director, Pottstown Area Economic Development