There have been numerous comments to Inside Oil City regarding the Oil Region Alliance’s efforts to promote and market Oil City’s downtown and its regional economic development activity.
That led me to contact Randy Seitz, ORA president and chief executive officer. I asked Randy to take a few minutes and look at the comments and draft a brief reply outlining the ORA’s work and accomplishments from his perspective.
This is what Randy had to say:
John,
Thank you so much for bringing these comments to my attention. First, let me say how proud I am that our headquarters is in Oil City and it is our pleasure to focus some of our attention on downtown revitalization, particularly through the "mainstreet program" and the industrial park. But, the fact remains, that our focus is and must remain region-wide. We must continue to focus on building the economy of the entire region if we are going to be successful on the war against the economy. Job creation cures all ills!
Now to address the specific comments in the blog. I am confused. In the past year the ORA was the catalyst for:
- The Conair Expansion which retained over 150 jobs
- The expansion of FedEx which retained and created jobs
- Latrobe Steel Expansion which retained and created jobs
- We completed the build-out to the BIC 2nd Floor Space and created a marketable opportunity for Oil City
- Secured over $125,000 in grant money to train incumbent workers keeping our constituents employable
- Secured money for a revolving loan fund to help local entrepreneurs
- Attracted New Airline Carrier for the Venango Airport and the marketing to keep it going
- Recruited Vantage Health Care to the region and created new jobs
- And, assisted in the financing of the second Hawbaker expansion since they arrived in 2007.
Please keep in mind that most of this was accomplished at a time when our neighboring communities like Meadville and Erie announced job losses and companies leaving town. We are, as you know, in a recession and most companies are not expanding anywhere, but they are expanding here, and the ORA has been there to help every step of the way.
In addition, in the case of Conair, the ORA put in the funds to save these jobs, along with FICDA and the NWC. Our commitment was $100,000. This was done during a time when our budget is tight. But that is what we are here for. And lastly, during the same time period, as your blogger pointed out, we have done a tremendous job bringing in tourists that spend money in our region and stay in our hotels. This money keeps our retail here.
Please let me know if you need more information.
Thank you,
Randy Seitz
About Me
- John Noel Bartlett
- Oil City, Pennsylvania
- A retired journalist now employed by the Foundation for Sustainable Forests and a member of Oil City Council.
Links of Interest
- City of Oil City
- Erie Blogs
- Foundation For Sustainable Forests
- Friends of Allegheny Wilderness
- Oil City Arts by Joann Wheeler
- Oil City Arts Council
- Oil City Southside Association
- Rebuild Oil City -- Scott Smail
- Venangago-go -- Mike Dittman
- Venango Area Chamber of Commerce
- Venangoland -- Peter Greene
18 comments:
John,
Kudos to you for going right to the source for the ORA. Oil City is fortunate to have them, the Job Service, and Northwest Regional Planning all in their downtown areas. That alone should boost economic development.
I just read through some earlier comments and I don't think anyone on here questioned the ORA's efforts regionally. It's their effect directly on Oil City that is a concern. Of course they have to work regionally. The problem is that with the big consolidation years back only O.C. lost their main economic development agency and also lost the focus it sorely requires.
You gave the ORA the opportunity to point to one success for Oil City that they were the direct "catalyst" for creating. Apparently, they couldn't tell you and that proves the point. I'm not sure but it is my understanding the the consolidation into the West Unit that ORA coordinated resulted in agencies actually LEAVING Oil City.
I'm sure the ORA feels that they can't focus an unbalanced amount of resources on Oil City and they are absolutely correct. That is why the City should re-think who should be directly responsible for Oil City's economic development.
I personally recently purchased a home in Cranberry from a family member and will be moving from Oil City. It's not because I don't like living here. Being retired, I just couldn't afford the taxes and couldn't see any signs of the tax base increasing any time soon. Not in my lifetime anyway.
I still want to see Oil City come back and I applaud the efforts you and others are making.
Conair laid people off last year and required pay cuts. That's sort of like the firms that took tax payer bail out money then paid bonuses, don't you think?
Didn't Fedex just move to another building leaving one vacant? I would think Hawbaker,Latrobe, and the new Fedex building owner could get loans just about anywhere and would have with or without the ORA.
Job training dollars, revolving loan funds, and new spaces - although needed - are not what I would call economic development successes.
I'm just sayin'.....
To the second anonymous and the comment regarding Conair.
Like what Conair did or not in laying people off, etc. the fact is Venango County would have lost that company completely if the ORA did not scramble and put together an innovative package to have them consolidate operations here.
I also think you are selling the ORA a bit short on what they did for FedEx, Hawbaker and Latrobe to locate and/opr expand in Venango County. It's a very competitive world, they could easily have gone to another county. It's a competitive world. If ORA doesn't put together a package someone else will.
John:
We absolutely need the ORA so that when opportunitis come up they will work to find the best spot for the business. Otherwise, you are just hoping that one community would be willing to refer to another if they couldn't find a fit for a potential business.
That being said, every city needs an econmomic development agency to focus just on it and it must have resources to do so. Volunteers can and will only do so much.
You can't be naive and think the ORA is enough for Oil City. In this highly competitive environment it is not going to be. It can't be without being inequitable to other communities it serves.
I say bring back the Oil City CDC. They had resources and assets that were folded into the ORA after making some progress. It's apparent where that got Oil City. Nothing more has really happened here since. Five years is enough time to see that it's not working.
No big deal, we gave it a good faith try, unlike the other communities. The consolidation idea turned out not to be all that effective for Oil City.
Is there another Cindy Linnon out there????
There is no doubt in my mind that Oil City might benefit from a dedicated organization that could draw on ORA as a partner and supporter.
The problem is how do you fund it. The money does not seem to be there.
My understanding is that is one reason the CDC merged into the ORA.
Here's a thought why not our own Chamber of Commerce? We are the only entity in the immediate area without its own Chamber. Much like the CDC our Chamber folded into a Venango entity and where did that leave us? Is there anyone out there who wants to run a Oil City Chamber?
Randy wrote on the bottom of his "take" Thank You. I say thank you Randy and keep up the good work.
Actually, the plan was for the Chambers to also merge into the ORA. They were smart to stay independent. Chambers of Commerce aren't exactly able to take a lead role in Economic Development, as far as business recruitment goes, but really just support their members.
The Venango Chamber still does A LOT to support Oil City. It was an economic decision for them to include Cranberry and others, I'm sure.
John;
Seems to me that a Chamber is supposed to be the first contact for the wide world outside of Oil City, I mean isn't that why the website gets updated so often?
Really though,isn't about time to quit talking about whose job it is? We do that alot and its getting to be like the story of "Somebody". (if you don't know the story I can post it later.)
The City of Oil City, the Venango Chamber, and the ORA should be working in harmony, first contact, follow up and seal the deal sort of thing. What we get is its not my job, they should be doing that, Oil City can't be our only priority.
For all of the talk of a new CDC, and how the old one was successfull, can somebody name some of the successes, I would love to debate that with them.
All the examples sited are in Franklin: Conair, Latrobe, Fedex, Vantage, Airport, Hawbaker, etc.
Nothing was given as an example of new business recruited to Oil City. This may or may not be O.R.A.'s fault but someone needs to be asking why in five years Oil City is not seeing the direct benefit of O.R.A. I realize Oil City residents could very well work at those businesses but if we are to expand our tax base we need activity here also.
What is lacking here? Is it the overall attitude toward new business? This needs to be looked into and if there are issues blocking O.R.A.'s ability to be effective here, work to resolve them. I hardly think anyone at the O.R.A. has a bias towards Franklin.
Is Franklin more business friendly?
Thank you for this forum.
It's hard to keep all the anonymous straight and reply orderly.
But, I'll give it a try.
First, I do think the Venango Chamber, ORA and the city are all working in harmony. Is it perfect harmony? Probably not, but I've not yet found anything that is.
It is absolutely correct that Oil City needs to attract some new businesses. I don't think Franklin is any friendlier, but the location of a couple of the new businesses south of Franklin had a lot to do with transportation linkages, notably I-80.
We do need to hold ORA accountable and I think they are responding.
Unfortunately, there are no magic wands.
I don't see a Chamber of Commerce doing a lot or recruitment of business outside the County. They work to support the ones here and provide a network for developing business.
However, they would be a good source for a redvelopment organization to find leads. I have to wonder if anyone is meeting with the existing businesses here and asking them for leads. They must have some reason for staying here and should be able to communicate the benefits to their suppliers, customers, distributors, etc.
A lot of businesses look to the ORA for what they can do and get for them. I would love to hear how one referred one of their business contacts TO THE ORA resulting in their moving business here.
It shouldn't be all about getting low interest rates, tax abatement, free job training, etc. Sure we appreciate the jobs but imagine if all the existing businesses encouraged others to locate here.
I heard of one, I can't name, that was actually working to build a building here for one of their customers to lease. That is the spirit we need and need to cultivate.
It sounds as if a lot was accomplished at last night's meeting for the Main Street program. I was just looking at the city-data website and they have a forum which discusses Oil City. It's really interesting to see people from elsewhere's take on OC and I think ir might be useful info for the MS program: http://www.city-data.com/city/Oil-City-Pennsylvania.html
John: Now that the news is out that the ORA is moving there should be even greater concern among the residents of Oil City that something must be done. Another building on that prominent corner will basically be empty.
It is very sad and disappointing that we have reached this point where the top redevelopment agency in the County can't afford to rent what has to be relatively cheap space in such an important landmark.
If we knew that there was an overall strategy or goal in place for Oil City, one might feel more encouraged but, as always, we still have a disjointed, scatter shot approach with little co-ordination among the stakeholders. Planning should have been done 5 years ago and most likely should have originated from the ORA.
Without a clear direction or goal for this City we will continue to spin our wheels while the buildings and homes deteriorate and collapse around us.
The move of the ORA makes sense, especially from their perspective.
They own the Wachovia building, and it is now far from full. That meant they had a building with vacancies, costing them money. They can eliminate that by moving in, which not only eliminates the current drain on their budget, but cuts long-term operating costs.
Rembmer, they are not moving out of town, but keeping a downtown office building filled.
I certainly understand your concerns about the Transit. I desperately want to see it full and successful. We need it.
We are working to come up with a cohesive, coordinated plan for the downtown through the Main Street Program. All we can do is try and to keep plugging away.
John: Most comments about Oil City's lack of vision and planning aren't and shouldn't be directed at you or other new members of Council.
All I would ask is that you continue to do what you can to change things. Don't let yourself be in a situation where you look back five years from when you took office and realize that no true progress was made.
One has to wonder why when things really went south for O.C. someone didn't step up and say "this is what we need to do to turn this around and this is our plan to do it".
I don't like to point to Franklin but someone there did just that and they are leaps and bounds ahead of us in terms of creating a beautiful and inviting downtown district.
Say what you will about the Arts Initiative here, at least those involved had the guts to say "something needs to be done and we are going to give this a try".
John,
Thanks for opening this forum. It provides a great opportunity for discussion and perhaps clarification. As the Director of the Venango Chamber, I think I can speak to the chamber's perspective on business growth and attraction in Oil City.
While chambers of commerce do play a role in inviting, welcoming and supporting new business as well as existing business, we rely heavily on the partnerships of several other agencies in the community. These include the the Oil Region Alliance, the Northwest Commission and the local municipalities, in this case the City of Oil City and others. I won't elaborate here on the specific activities of the chamber but strongly encourage those who aren't familiar with the Venango Chamber to drop by our office, visit our website www.venangochamber.org or speak with a chamber member to learn more. In fact we are Oil City's chamber (in addition to the other communities in Venango County), but believe that businesses and communities will not thrive if they act alone. It is imperative that we recognize the strength of working together. If we deny the fact that we work, live, shop and educate across we region we are destined to fail. The decision for the Oil City Chamber to become a regional chamber was driven by our business members, at the time predominately Oil City businesses. Surveys of chamber members since the merger show that the businesses overwhelmingly continue to support this approach.
That said, it is also critical that within each community there be efforts to identify specific challenges and opportunities. It is then up to those closest to the situation to engage others who can address the issues at hand. It should include members of that community but likely will include others from outside the immediate community. On a personal note, I do not live in Oil City but have been very involved in multiple projects in OC for over 20 years, in addition to Franklin, Rocky Grove and Cranberry.
In reference to what is being done to bring business to Oil City (and the region), I can promise that each of the organizations I have referred to is working each and every day to attract and retain business. Some days are easier than others! The question was asked “Is anyone meeting with existing businesses?” We meet with businesses every day and continually seek input. Each of us serve as a touchpoint for businesses looking to locate here. I think it's accurate to say that we each evaluate what the prospects needs are and then refer to each other as is appropriate. We work as a team, but even then don't always have the resources we need to attract every business. We continue to look for ways to do it better.
I am always happy to talk with anyone about the Venango Chamber's strategies and invite those reading this blog to call 814-676-8521 or stop by 41 Main St, Oil City. I would enjoy sharing how every member of the community can play a part in business attraction, but let's save that for another day.
Susan Williams
Executive Director
John -
We are nearly six months into '09. I wonder if anything has fallen into ORA's lap that Randy can take credit for?
From what I hear he is going to have to work harder than he probably thought at getting some mileage out of Main Street.
There is the building in Oil City that he found a tenant for this year - the ORA!
It reminds me of the jobs SAVED or created that the Obama administration is touting. No one ever attempts to quantify what was really achieved and what is purely make believe. Most thinking people know it's all smoke and mirrors.
The best thing the ORA could do now is to use their influence to get our region more of the stimulus pie. We might as well, our children will be paying for it too. If anything we might be able to get some of these old buildings down before they fall down. They might not be "shovel ready" now but they will be soon.
I would love to know what all those business development people working do there day after day. Probably attend a lot of meetings about tourism.
John - I just read the June ORA newsletter. There is nothing in it but tourism, history, art classes, etc. That is what this agency is evolving into. It is absolutely ridiculous that given all the tax payer dollars spent on salaries there that they have NOTHING to report or inform business owners about what they are doing to assist them. NOT ONE THING. Typical government funded wasteful agency. Where is their board?
The MR. WHISKER's event is coming up though!!!!
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