Dec 31, 2002 By James Pletcher Jr. 4 min read

For the Fayette Industrial Fund (FIF) it’s about jobs. Adding business parks is part of the future to attract new business and help existing businesses grow.

And, within the next year or so several new buildings will be up and occupied in Fayette County’s newest business park.

It’s too soon to say how many jobs will be associated with the developments.

FIF has been instrumental in financing some of those developments as well as the business parks where they are located.

One of Fayette County’s longest-lived business parks is the Greater Uniontown Business Park on Route 119 north of Uniontown.

Nearly full, the site is home to more than two dozen businesses that employ more than 730 jobs. FIF’s prior incarnation, the Greater Uniontown Industrial Fund, helped found that park and several of the businesses that once occupied it.

But FIF is also looking to the future in the new University Technology Park, a 150-acre site next to Penn State Fayette on Route 119 just north of Uniontown.

The park, the first new area for multiple businesses to be developed in more than 25 years, will initially contain a new Pennsylvania State Police barracks, and a multi-tenant building that will house Benetec Inc., a consulting engineering firm.

In addition to the Greater Uniontown Business Park on the eastern side of Route 119, the tech park joins the Greater Uniontown Industrial Park on Route 51 in Menallen Township, where employers host about 20 jobs, and the Fayette Business Park near Fairchance, which boasts five businesses that collectively will or currently employ about 450 workers.

And inquiries continue to pour in at the rate of 50 or more per year from companies interested in Fayette’s business/industry sites.

“We get about one inquiry each week for the new technology park,’ Bob Opel of Fay-Penn said at a recent meeting.

By early summer 2003, ground will be broken for a new multi-tenant building that in part Benatec Inc. will occupy.

“We are also working with Advanced Acoustic Concepts (AAC) on conceptual drawings of their new building,’ that will be constructed in the park, Mike Krajovic, Fay-Penn Economic Development Council president, said. “Their building appears to be larger than originally anticipated.’

Krajovic said Fay-Penn and FIF are also working with Penn State Fayette “as they continue to expand their campus.’

Developing the tech park will cost more than $6 million. Fay-Penn is selling land in it for $40,000 an acre.

However, that is much less than the $60,000 to $70,000 it cost to develop per acre.

“We have financed the project about half in equity and loans and the balance in state and federal grants. The difference between how much it cost us to develop per acre and how much we are selling it shows one thing, that this type of development is cost-prohibitive for a private developer to do,’ Krajovic said.

“This is why the private sector does not undertake development of industrial parks, because of the prohibitive cost. Companies won’t pay $70,000 an acre.

“This is different than a mall, shopping center or other retail development. In cases like that, companies will pay large amounts for acreage. But to attract manufacturers who will support the local economy, export goods or services, pay local taxes, you have to be able to give them a ready site.’

However, Krajovic said there are areas in the county where industrial park sites can offer land at $100,000 per acre. “But that’s in areas where nothing else is available.

“Here, we have competition for sites.’

But, in addition to what he feels is fair value, the park has other attractive features: its location next to a “Big 10′ university, Penn State, and its proximity in a Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ), which means local taxes can be deferred.

While it is labeled a technology park, Krajovic said the emphasis will be placed on recruiting advanced manufacturing companies.

“This is not going to be just a research park. The park will also have the highest standards in terms of what kinds of buildings can be built there, the landscaping, paving requirements, to make sure it is complimentary to Penn State’s campus.’

Building sites are located along Route 119 in North Union Township. Entry will be at the traffic light by Cavert Wire, with another entry-exit at Penn State.

Krajovic said the site features state-of-the-art telecommunications services. He said that unlimited bandwidth capabilities are available at the site.

Part of the property cannot be developed because Texas Eastern has a gas transmission line running under it. “But we will develop green space along that path,’ Krajovic said, including a path for employees in businesses in the park to use for relaxation and exercise.

The last park to be developed was the Fairchance Business Park, where infrastructure improvements were begun in 1975. Today, there are several businesses in that park, with more planned.