Oct 11, 2023 By Jeff Kotula 3 min read

The Washington County Chamber of Commerce developed its economic development plan, “Washington Forward,” as a straightforward initiative to highlight areas of importance to our business community and provide direction to our elected leaders as they consider policies and actions that might affect the businesses of our county.

The first tenet the plan highlighted was “Maintaining a Diverse Economy” and the importance of cultivating a variety of industries to provide career opportunities, maximize growth, and safeguard against economic downturns. However, as the economy evolves, we cannot stand still while the world changes around us. We must be willing to take additional steps by investing in new development sites and our downtown areas.

Washington County has long been a center of economic activity in our region, but our competitive edge is lessening due to a diminishing inventory of pad-ready industrial and commercial properties. It is true there are dozens of available sites in our area, but the majority do not meet the needs of the modern industrial or commercial user. And while we have promising inventory on the horizon with the Fort Cherry Development District and Brockway Glass Redevelopment projects, there remain many underutilized properties and brownfields that could use investment and redevelopment. To capture vital investments and job opportunities, we must prioritize the creation of pad-ready sites and assist our development partners as they make investments in our community. Fortunately, we have the capacity to do so. In our recent history, a visionary public-private partnership created Southpointe, which prepared the county for decades of growth. Our county elected officials and business community should consider this opportunity to form another bold new partnership between the public and private sectors to foster the next renaissance of industrial and commercial growth. Perhaps this time we can look to the Mon Valley region or Interstate 70 West Corridor for inspiration and investment.

These developments will provide us with a larger body of properties, but we should also focus on the heart(s) of our communities – our downtowns. To reinvigorate them, we must support programs that assist investors in modernizing these areas, catalyzing thriving main streets to attract both residents and businesses. Our county and local governments must fully engage in these downtown efforts as well provided resources or incentives targeted at reimagining our downtowns. We may also need to rethink how we utilize programs such as the Washington County Local Share Account by committing a portion of those dollars to pilot programs that will concentrate dedicated resources to multi-year efforts aimed at revitalizing downtowns across the county.

Washington Forward is looking to the future and how we can work together to create it. But we cannot grow if we are not investing in ourselves and supporting our development partners and downtowns. The Washington County Chamber of Commerce believes our county’s future is starting now but we need to prepare the foundation.

Jeff Kotula is the president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Promotion Agency.