Donation to aid Connellsville businesses

The Fayette County Cultural Trust received the first portion of a $100,000 donation that will serve to redevelop the Connellsville downtown area and provide assistance to local small businesses.
FirstEnergy Foundation, the charitable branch of FirstEnergy Corp., presented the trust with a $25,000 check July 17 at a ceremony at the Connellsville Canteen. The trust will receive $25,000 a year for four years from the foundation.
Trust President Michael Edwards said that although a board meeting has not been held to discuss how the money will be spent, the funds will likely be used to continue several programs to improve business in Connellsville.
“It will be used to continue downtown revitalization in downtown Connellsville,” Edwards said. “It’s good — especially as a nonprofit — to know that that money will be available. It will allow us to really do some planning as to how to best utilize it.”
The money will allow the trust to continue to hold classes in conjunction with Seton Hill University’s E-Magnify program to help local business owners improve their businesses, said Edwards. The classes cover topics such as business planning, human resources and online marketing.
The trust will also continue to sponsor other business-related programs, such as its Lunch and Learn series, Business Blitz and financial boot camp.
Edwards said the grant “strengthens the ties between the nonprofit and the for-profit” and is “a step forward in strengthening the community.”
“That we’ve been able to reach out to a corporation of that scale and for them to recognize our work,” he said, “it’s a great contribution to the organization and the Greater Connellsville area.”
Edwards said the funds could also be used to further an ongoing beautification project in Connellsville and a facade program through which the Trust provides matching grants to businesses to improve their signs and storefronts.
The grant was recommended by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development through its Strengthening Communities Partnership program, an initiative to concentrate private investment and help address disparities still present in many of the region’s communities.
Edwards said that while the trust is already partnered with UPMC, TriState Capital and Somerset Trust Co. through the partnership program, FirstEnergy was also interested in assisting the trust. The foundation’s donation is not associated with the program, but the process was aided by the Conference.
“It wasn’t a specific request,” said Edwards. “They just saw our plan and thought the $25,000 would help us achieve it.”
FirstEnergy’s operations in western Pennsylvania include the Bruce Mansfield Power Plant and Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport, along with its West Penn Power and Pennsylvania Power electric utilities, which serve more than 850,000 customers, including about 70,000 in Fayette County.
“FirstEnergy has a strong history of supporting community development organizations in western Pennsylvania and we are proud to support the work being done by the Fayette County Cultural Trust to assist with investment and job creation in Fayette County,” said Jim Lash, president of FirstEnergy Generation, and an Allegheny Conference on Community Development board member.
“Through grants such as this one, FirstEnergy is committed to doing our part to help build strong, vibrant communities in areas that we serve.”