Nothing escaped reach of pandemic in 2020, even region’s business community
The Allenport Marina restaurant on Main Street in Allenport was one of many of the region’s restaurants who have struggled to maintain their business amid the coronavirus pandemic and the regulations put in place by Gov. Tom Wolf intended to slow the spread of the virus.
Scott Beveridge/ Observer-Reporter
Gov. Tom Wolf
Mylan’s administrative headquarters in Southpointe II
Observer-Reporter
Cumberland Mine preparation plant near Kirby
Courtesy of David’s Limited/
Owners Patsy Calabro, left, and Tom Zimmaro closed David’s Limited, their high-end fashion store, a North Main Street staple for 49 years.
Top 10 local business stories for 2020? We could stop at the coronavirus pandemic and make this a list of one.
That solitary story could be an opus, though, as the first global plague in a century has wrought havoc not only in Southwestern Pennsylvania, but everywhere. It has killed more than 1.7 million people, sickened thousands, upended economies, wrecked businesses, shuttered schools, disrupted sports and given us a tremendous yearning to be free – and unmasked.
Usually, the Observer-Reporter’s annual top 10 business stories includes a smattering of upbeat stories from Washington and Greene counties. And while there have been some positives, COVID-19 has ratcheted down the warm and fuzzies.
So, here we go, Nos. 2 through 10 as chosen by the O-R business department.
2.
Small biz, big pain
Some big-box chains have done well during the plague. But small businesses, especially restaurants, have struggled over the past nine months during shutdowns and restrictions mandated by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.
Many businesses have closed. Paycheck Protection Program loans helped early on, and would help again if the $900 billion stimulus deal becomes law and PPP is resurrected.
Still, the program is largely a band-aid for enterprises that struggled even when restrictions were eased. Businesses, however, have shown resilience and ingenuity by instituting curbside pickup, takeout and outdoor dining, initiatives that could become as commonplace as online retail.
3.
Lost jobs
The pandemic, and only the pandemic, caused unemployment rates to soar from historic lows to outrageous highs.
Washington County’s jobless figure in April was 17.3%, an 11-point jump from 6.3% the previous month, when COVID-19 began to encroach on Pennsylvania. That 17.3% figure, however, was the third-lowest in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area, where all seven counties experienced an increase of 10 percentage points or more.
Washington’s rate a year earlier was 4.1%. The jobless rate in Greene County, which is not in the Pittsburgh MSA, nearly doubled, from 7.6% in March to 14.6% in April.
Greene’s April 2019 figure was 4.8%. Local rates did decline for three consecutive months through October, the most recent month statistics are available.
Washington’s figure dropped to 7.5%, Greene’s to 7.5%.
4.
Pillars pass
Four titans of the Washington County community died over the past four months, all of them worthy of a local, Mount Rushmore-like memorial. Starting Aug. 22, the county lost Dick Cameron, Jack Piatt (Sept, 25), Jim Jefferson (Dec. 11) and Joyce Ellis (Dec. 16).
Cameron, 93, a philanthropist and successful businessman, was a member of a family that for 110 years owned and operated Cameron Coca-Cola, one of the nation’s top Coke bottlers.
Piatt, 92, was a self-made man who founded Millcraft Investments and was the visionary who inspired the creation of Southpointe.
Jefferson, 68, a name Jim Rhone assumed as his on-air identity, was the smooth-voiced news anchor at WJPA Radio for 43 years before his retirement.
Ellis, 68, was the longtime director of the LeMoyne Center in East Washington, who raised up the once-dilapidated center and instituted programs for youth, whom she loved and respected as they did her.
5.
Shale slump
The natural gas industry, a powerful force in Southwestern Pennsylvania a half-dozen years ago, continued to slump nationwide during the pandemic. Overproduction led to a gas glut and continued suppressed prices, forcing some debt-ridden companies to reduce investments or close.
Impact fee figures for 2020 will not be released until June, but the numbers for 2019 – before the COVID-19 invasion – were not good. Gas operations that year yielded $200 million in fees for the state’s 67 counties and their municipalities, a 20% decrease from 2018. Still, Washington and Greene counties remained top beneficiaries of gas production.
Washington got $6.6 million in Act 13 fees, the most of any county, and its municipalities received $11.5 million.
Greene got $4.67 million, fourth among all counties, and is home to the municipality that got the largest fee outlay – Center Township, $1.1 million.
6.
Mylan merger
Growth, officials determined, was the proper prescription for Mylan NV.
The generic and specialty pharmaceuticals firm, based at Southpointe, completed its partnership with Upjohn in early November and began operations as Viatris a little before Thanksgiving. Upjohn, a division of Pfizer Inc., and Mylan had announced consolidation plans in the fall of 2019, which ultimately resulted in an even larger global company.
Viatris’ corporate center is in Southpointe II, in Mylan’s building. Two weeks ago, Viatris announced that it would cut its worldwide workforce of 45,000 by 20% and planned to close Mylan’s former manufacturing facility in Morgantown, W.Va., on July 31, 2021.
7.
Coal hangs in
The coal mining industry is not as relevant as it had once been, especially in the state’s southwestern corner.
Yet, despite lower prices and decreased demand, that fossil fuel is still around – and may get a regional boost down the road. In mid-November, Contura Energy Inc., the owner of Cumberland Mine, said it had reached an agreement to sell the Greene County facility to Iron Senergy Holding LLC, and that the buyer planned to continue operations there.
Also this fall, Consol Energy Inc. said it plans to construct a coal-fired power plant on or near the property of its Pennsylvania Mining Complex. And the company is talking about possible zero carbon emissions.
8.
Bank on it
CB Financial Services Inc., parent of Community Bank, did not stand pat during the pandemic.
The Carmichaels-based institution named John Montgomery president and chief executive officer in August. Montgomery arrived from the St. Louis area with 30-plus years of banking experience, mostly in his native eastern Pennsylvania, with a pledge that Community Bank “also will be a community bank – lower case.”
He succeeded Barron P. “Pat” McCune Jr., who had been serving as interim president and CEO since early January, following Pat O’Brien’s voluntary resignation. O’Brien had previously taken over from McCune, who retired in June 2019.
Montgomery is now in charge of a publicly traded company with multiple offices in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.
9.
Clothier closes
Owners Tom Zimmaro and Patsy Calabro wanted to celebrate a full half-century at their Washington store, then retire. But thanks to the virus, they had to shutter David’s Limited in September, 12 months shy.
“We were hoping for 50, but we’ve been talking about this for a couple of years. The pandemic kind of sealed the deal,” Calabro said.
The two men were equal owners of the high-fashion shop since it opened in September 1971, and presided over a business that, over time, operated from three locations along North Main Street. Zimmaro launched the enterprise and named it after his son.
Calabro, a friend, joined him two months later.
10.
Steelmaker sold
ArcelorMittal, a global steel manufacturer, was sold in late September. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. said it purchased most of the company’s U.S. operations, including its coke-production plant along the Monongahela River in Monessen.
An estimated 180 members of United Steelworkers Local 3403 had worked at the facility, which halted production June 23. The buyer acquired 19 facilities in eight states.