Openings, closings marked top business stories in 2024
The year that just expired was a busy one in business throughout the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania.
Over the previous 12 months, the region encompassing Washington, Greene and Fayette counties featured a health-system merger; the impending closure of a Charleroi plant; celebration of a transformative natural gas well; conversion of a harness racing legend’s barn; further expansion of the distilled spirits industry; and two award-winning small businesses.
Here is the Observer-Reporter’s annual list of top 10 business stories.
1. WHS merger
Twelve months after plans had been announced, Washington Health System officially merged with health-care giant UPMC in June. The local facilities were rechristened UPMC Washington and UPMC Greene.
As part of the acquisition, Pittsburgh-based UPMC said it would invest $300,000 or more over 10 years to upgrade facilities at the Washington and Greene hospitals and pledged to contribute to the WHS Foundation.
Four months before the merger was consummated, Brook Ward, president of UPMC Washington and UPMC Greene, said at the annual State of Washington County event: “Health-care economics are affecting most health systems. Most people would not start a business with a 2 to 4% operating margin.
“We have money for a rainy day, but this is monsoon season and it’s raining really hard.”
2. World Kitchen closure
About 270 workers were told in September that the World Kitchen plant in Charleroi would close in 2025, leaving them out of work. The company said it would move operations to Lancaster, Ohio, where 150 jobs would be available.
The company makes Corelle and Pyrex brands of kitchenware and tableware, and has been a longtime employer in the Mon Valley.
State, local and federal officials worked to keep the plant operating in Charleroi, inside a facility the original owner opened 131 years ago. In November, state Attorney General Michelle Henry sought a restraining order to temporarily block relocation of the plant, but the motion was denied.
The first round of layoffs is set for Jan. 27, with the last round scheduled for April 16. April 30 is the target for permanent closure.
3. WVU Medicine lease
The pandemic and its aftermath conspired to create occupancy issues at Southpointe. Then a health-care provider came along to provide relief.
NAI Burns Scalo, a Green Tree-based real estate company, announced in early October that West Virginia University Health System had signed a lease for all four stories of the Fountainhead Building in the mixed-use park in Cecil Township.
Known informally and more commonly as WVU Medicine, the Morgantown, W.Va.-based health system eased concerns related to Southpointe with its decision to expand there.
“They’re really growing,” Jim Scalo, CEO of NAI Burns Scalo, said of the new lessee. He added that WVU Medicine, West Virginia’s largest employer, signed a “very long-term lease.”
4. Renz Well anniversary
The “Shale Revolution” kicked off 20 years ago, and the tee was placed in Washington County.
At the recommendation of company geologist Bill Zagorski, workers from Range Resources returned to Mount Pleasant Township in October 2004, intent on unleashing natural gas from Renz Well via hydraulic fracturing.
The location had shown promise in the past, including small but increasing showings of gas over several days in 2003. Then the showings halted and so did Range.
Nudged by Zagorski, officials at the Southpointe-based company decided to try again. On an October day 20-plus years ago, on their first day back at Renz, workers hit the proverbial jackpot – extracting 300,000 cubic feet of natural gas. At the time, it was the largest fracking operation east of the Mississippi River, where fracking had not been nearly that bountiful.
This led to the so-called Marcellus Shale Revolution, which has helped to transform a national and global industry.
5. Wedding venue
On their second try, Leah and Tyler Frey purchased the stately former home and property of harness racing giant Delvin Miller. Their house, built in 1826, sits on a 40-acre tract off West Pike Street in Chartiers Township, on what is essentially a horse farm.
The deal went through about a year ago and the young couple began devoting themselves to renovating the barn there. You could say they are married to it.
The Freys, assisted by an Amish work crew, are converting the semi-dilapidated structure into an indoor wedding venue named Chariot Events at the Meadowlands. The site will accommodate about 250 to 300 guests.
This is not a new endeavor for the Freys. They have been operating an indoor/outdoor wedding site in Leechburg – Lingrow Farm – for three years.
6. SBA winners
The Pittsburgh District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration oversees operations and operators in 27 counties across the western half of Pennsylvania. When it was time to distribute awards in May, two small Washington County businesses came up big.
Liberty Pole Spirits, a craft whiskey distillery now based in North Strabane Township, was honored as the district office’s Small Business of the Year.
About 15 miles to the west, Elissa Weimer, owner of Paw & Order Dog Training in Smith Township, received the office’s annual Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year Award.
Winning the top award was part of an ongoing transformation of Liberty Pole. In 2023, owners of the 8-year-old distillery relocated their business from West Maiden Street in downtown Washington to the campus they were developing off Racetrack Road. They had acquired property to expand operations and offerings to customers.
Victory went down smoothly for the owners – Jim and Ellen Hough and sons Rob and Kevin. “There are a lot of good small businesses in the region,” Jim said. We were blown away and honored to get this recognition.”
Weimer and her husband, Steve Sentner, own a 22-acre farm and training center in the Bulger section of the township. She served with the Army National Guard for six years and previously did an internship with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
7. Bones Distillery
Liberty Pole Spirits may have left the city of Washington, and left an empty storefront, but it did not take long to fill the space at 68 W. Maiden St. with a familiar set of products.
Glenn Green, an Eighty Four resident with a biochemistry background, launched Bones Distillery in April inside Liberty Pole’s former home. Before opening his new endeavor, Green described it as “a small craft moonshine distillery with vodka products, sippin’ creams and real fruit brandies.”
Green said he initially had difficulty finding a location for the distillery, then found it and worked out the parameters to buy it and build “an entire distillery inside the place.”
8. Hardy donation
The family that launched and still runs an iconic building supplies company has built up a college business department and likely provide a boost to the hospitality industry.
Maggie Hardy, owner and CEO of 84 Lumber and Nemacolin resort, and her family donated $7 million to West Virginia University to develop the Nemacolin Hospitality Innovation and Technology Lab. The so-called HIT Lab, which opened recently, is part of WVU’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics.
The lab is designed to inspire innovation in the hospitality industry. Students, faculty and professionals work together, using cutting-edge tools and software applications to develop, test and evaluate new technologies, while gaining efficiency.
Announcement of the gift was made in November 2023, during Light Up Night Nemacolin.
The Hardy name also is linked to a bachelor’s degree program at the university: Hardy Family Hospitality and Tourism Management.
9. Sarris Candies
For a long time, Frank Sarris had wanted to expand his sweet operation in Canonsburg. “We need production space,” the president and CEO of Sarris Candies said 3 1/2 years ago.
The candy store/ice cream parlor at 511 Adams Ave. was the lone Sarris location in this region, and shelves were getting as crowded with treats as the building was with equipment and customers. You don’t want to turn off patrons and reduce product, so he did something.
In 2021, Sarris purchased a large former industrial building on nearby Meadow Lane that he planned to renovate and use for production and packaging. There were delays, some supply chain-related, but the project progressed. In an October interview, he said numerous pieces of production machinery had been moved into their new home and were fully operational. The rest, he projected, should be in place around Easter.
Sarris signage adorns the rooftop of the refurbished building, which – like the store – is visible from Interstate 79.
10. CTC food truck
In a warm and fuzzy finish to this list, a salute to students at the Greene County Career & Technology Center, who unveiled CTC Eats, a student-run food truck, in April. They did so at the school’s open house in mid-April.
It’s a green and black truck featuring a fully operational commercial-grade kitchen, where students can develop culinary and financial entrepreneurial skills.
Culinary arts students came up with the name. Dan Wagner, CTC’s culinary arts instructor, said CTC Eats was developed in partnership with the Community Foundation of Greene County and several businesses from the area.