May 2, 2018 By Mark Soroka for The 4 min read

As Westmoreland County officials work to finalize the county’s comprehensive plan, they are focusing on ways to attract younger people to the area.

“One of our biggest concerns is how fast our workforce is aging,” said Brian Lawrence, deputy director of planning and development for the county. “Westmoreland County is the oldest county in the region and the seventh oldest in the state. And according to projections, Westmoreland County will have a median age of 51 by 2020. The rest of the world is getting younger and more diversified, while we are not. Clearly, there’s a need to attract younger people to work and live in Westmoreland County.”

His remarks came during a Monday presentation at Turkeytown Volunteer Fire Company’s social hall in West Newton, one of several such meetings scheduled throughout the county to engage residents and bring them into the planning process.

Lawrence said it’s essential to attract, develop and retain a diverse and stable workforce so that the county can continue to sustain a healthy economy. To do so, the county must overcome the challenge of building a workforce that will be around for the long-term.

The interactive discussion asked those who attended to rate and rank several key strategies in the plan, which they’ve called “Reimagining Our Westmoreland.” The plan will govern the county’s development and land use for the next 10 to 20 years, and act as a road map detailing a long-term vision and policy agenda for quality of life issues like housing, parks, infrastructure and transportation.

Ultimately, officials said, they want the plan to be a clear answer as to what the county will look like two decades into the future.

The plan addressed seven key objectives, and offered strategies to achieve the goals, including:

n Align workforce, education, employers and entrepreneurship (e.g., assist small businesses and entrepreneurs, leverage local talent and champion skilled labor)

n Discover Westmoreland (e.g., cultivate arts and entertainment, advance agritourism, develop convention spaces, and create a county brand)

n Reposition towns (e.g., direct density, preserve open spaces, provide housing options and cultivate the restaurant industry)

n Connect with parks and nature (e.g., enhance a trail system, increase access to parks and protect natural assets)

n Build healthy and whole communities (e.g., bolster senior housing; go green, invest in beautification and eliminate blight)

n Plug in to the New Economy (e.g., develop high-speed broadband capacity, introduce new technologies and embrace agribusinesses)

n Create transportation choices (e.g., upgrade the infrastructure, enhance transit and increase walkability)

Lawrence asked those who attended Monday to rate and rank strategies, either by using a paper survey or by entering their responses on their cellphone, tablet or laptop. The Department of Planning & Development will review the feedback from all seven of the planning meetings, then present the final draft of the plan in August.

“We can’t do this without you,” Lawrence said. “We want to make sure our solutions are sound and in the best interest of the public. We need to partner with you to make these changes happen at the local level.”

Planning for the new comprehensive plan began in 2014. Final adoption of the plan by the county commissioners is expected to take place in November.

Lawrence emphasized that the county is searching for best practices that will help solve its unique challenges.

“To some extent, we’re looking at solutions that have worked in other parts of the country,” he said. “But it’s important to contextualize those best practices to meet our needs. For example, building a high-speed rail system might not be practical in this area because of the extreme cost and our geography. The feedback we are getting will help us come up with a comprehensive plan that is tailored for our county.”