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Building community partners: DCED director applauds local efforts

By Christopher Buckley cbuckley@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
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Christopher Buckley | Herald-Standard

Johnna Pro addresses the audience at the Charleroi Elks on Tuesday.

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Johnna Pro (seated), southwest regional director for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, is pictured with Debbie Keefer (left), executive director of the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce and Jamie Protin, chamber president. Pro spoke during a luncheon meeting of the chamber Tuesday.

Before joining state government in 2005, Johnna Pro spent 18 years as a journalist, covering the collapse of the steel industry in southwestern Pennsylvania.

“I never imagined that 30 years later, when DCED Secretary Dennis Davin called, my experience writing about the decline of our communities would intersect with my experience in government and lead me here today,” Pro said.

On Tuesday, the southwest regional director for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, spoke during a luncheon meeting of the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce held at the Charleroi Elks.

Pro said the state has various programs designed to help local communities. But the state best helps those communities where people are involved, she said, applauding the efforts of the regional chamber and those who were in attendance.

Pro is one of six DCED regional directors statewide. She oversees nine counties. The office has two local government specialists, a planner and two members of the Governor’s Action Team and works directly with the members of the governor’s office.

“We are your direct connection not only to state government but if you have trouble reaching the federal government,” Pro said.

Pro said Gov. Tom Wolf’s philosophy is “Government That Works.”

“But we also know that government works best when it has great partners in the business community, in the corporate boardrooms, in the nonprofit sector and in the foundations,” Pro said.

“Certainly, the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce has been a great partner and so have each of you in this room,” Pro said. “I can say that because I know that by being involved with the chamber, and by being here today, you’re someone who believes in community. On behalf of Secretary Davin and the governor, I want to say thank you.”

Pro said the DCED makes “impactful investments” in the communities. She noted that the department helped the Charleroi Community Development Corporation connect with the Union of Painters and Allied Trades for a fence painting project at a park built by the Charleroi CDC. The DCED also has provided technical support for local government functions or finances in such local areas as Elizabeth, New Eagle and Monongahela, and now in Monessen. The department is overseeing an early intervention program in Monessen — as it did in Elizabeth — aimed at helping the city avoid Act 47 bankruptcy.

She also noted that the DCED has provided gap funding for large scale economic development projects such as the Hampton Hotel which opened last June in California. Kim Redman, director of sales for the Hampton, present at the luncheon, said the 85-room hotel is “really busy on the weekends and the week days are steadily growing.”

The DCED also provides matching grants and tax credit programs, loans or loan guarantees for specific community goals, such as the multi-phased expansion and renovation of the Noble J. Dick Aquatorium in Monongahela.

Pro said chamber and community leaders must build consensus about their communities’ destinies. She said the valley has many assets such as affordable housing, river access, rails and highways, business districts which are coming back and a dedicated work force.Pro noted that daily her office receives calls from people seeking financial assistance without a plan for improving their communities.

And she highlighted some of the department’s available programs:

n The Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credit Program, which seeks a collaboration between nonprofits and the corporate community. It includes $18 million in tax credits statewide for participating businesses. Businesses in the southwest region received $6.4 million in those tax credits in 2015.

n The Keystone Communities Program, combining various former state programs.

n The Multi-Model Program, used to combined and use with transportation assets such as transit and walking and biking trails.

n Small Business Development Centers.

“You know, a few weeks ago, we unveiled a new state slogan, ‘Pursue Your Happiness,'” Pro said. “I want to salute the Mon Valley Regional Chamber and its membership for helping to create vibrant communities in which residents can pursue their happiness.”

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