Altoona Blair County Development Corporation

Posted on October 10, 2024October 17, 2024Categories Business in ActionTags , , ,   Leave a comment on Altoona Blair County Development Corporation

Diverting from the tracks

ABJ brings you the story of a remarkable organization that helped transform an old railroad town by getting off the tracks and building a diverse and thriving economy in Altoona, Blair County, PA.

WHEN TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY railroad town Altoona began to diversify its local economy in the 1940s, an organization, then called Altoona Enterprises Inc., led the way to the city’s economic success. Its founding year was 1946 and the organization’s first campaign was called “Jobs for Joes.” Back then, the town of Altoona was what locals referred to as a ‘one-horse town’, where everything was connected to the railroad industry.

Leaving the tracks to diversify

When the Pennsylvania Railroad began massive downsizing, it suddenly sparked a need for diver­sification, explains Matt Fox, marketing manager of the Altoona Blair County Development Corpo­ration (ABCD Corp). In 1996, the organization changed its name to ABCD Corp. to reflect its overall corporate goals of community, economic and workforce development, enhanced quality of life and sustainability of the environment.
While there is still a strong focus on manu­facturing and industrial warehousing, there is a healthy balance in other areas, such as educa­tion, healthcare, as well as light to heavy industri­al and technology suppliers. “Our goal has always been to help facilitate new job creation. We are always looking for ways to diversify the economy outside of manufacturing-based industry,” ex­plains Fox.

Serving as a catalyst for innovation and job creation

ABCD Corp. provides a range of professional development services to its business community, including financing, entrepreneurial support, ac­cess to a viable workforce, assisting real estate development and business expansion. “Through our core development services, we are able to assist companies that are new to the region, en­trepreneurs and small businesses as well as our existing companies to help them grow, expand and succeed,” adds Fox.

The current economic situation has present­ed its own challenges to many cities, and Altoona is not an exception. “The challenge with the re­duced state budget will be a cause for concern in accessing some traditional financing programs,” tells Fox. “For others, the rising energy costs are a concern for our manufacturers especially. We have formed an energy consortium to proactively address these issues to ensure our companies remain competitive, while maintaining a forward-thinking mentality utilizing emerging technolo­gies,” he adds.

Staying true to its historical roots

Blair County is still home to Norfolk Southern’s Juniata Locomotive Shops located in Altoona, which is rated among the highest performing re­pair shops, every year, nationwide. “The history of this area dates back to the founding of the Penn­sylvania Railroad. It was beginning to expand to the west, and Altoona is located where it is today because the Pennsylvania Railroad needed to construct railroad repair facilities at the base of the Allegheny Ridge Plateau—where Altoona is,” tells Pat Miller, executive vice-president of ABCD Corporation.

Business parks a solid strategic decision

In fact, many of Altoona’s real estate develop­ment opportunities link back to former railroad properties. In 2000, the ABCD Corporation real­ized its important role as a catalyst for change in the community. “At that time, our board de­cided to invest in real estate development in correlation with the construction of Interstate 99, which is now complete establishing the I-99 Innovation Corridor. Both business and indus­trial locations were strategically located along the interstate that connects the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the south with Interstate 80 in the north,” explains Miller. “For the next six years, we developed a series of six business parks along the I-99 Corridor.”

“We developed the Walter Business Park and South Altoona Business Park on former railroad property, and most recently in 2006, we acquired and are currently in the process of redeveloping a 300-plus-acre site (the Hollidaysburg Car Shop property),” tells Miller. “In addition to the busi­ness and industrial parks we are pleased that we’ve also been able to redevelop over 22 acres in the heart in the city of Altoona,” he adds.

Moreover, he explains that “because of the decision to make investments into the devel­opment of these business parks, Blair County has been able to attract a number of new busi­nesses, beginning with the 500,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility by Smith Transport, located at the Jubelirer Business Park in Tyrone”

Business Park strategy creates new jobs.

Headquartered and founded in Altoona, Sheetz Inc., one of America’s fastest growing family-owned and operated convenience store chains, is a major partner and investor in Altoona and Blair County. Starting from just one store in 1952, today Sheetz is one of the largest chains in the region with over 365 stores throughout six states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina em­ploying more than 13,000. In 2005, the com­pany was seeking a centrally located place for their 300,000-square-foot distribution facility and through a site selection process chose Claysburg, Blair County. “Because of the fact that we invested in developing the Walter Busi­ness Park in the southern end of Blair County, we were able to attract the business here, just 20 miles from corporate headquarters. Follow­ing that decision, in 2008 Sheetz decided to construct a 140,000-square-foot state-of-the-art food production facility, Sheetz Bros. Kitchen, next door to the Distribution Center,” explains Miller, adding the Sheetz family business is one of several important partnerships.

Working together with Sheetz, Inc., ABCD Corp., as an organization, established a synthetic lease to build the facilities, which are wholly-owned and then leased back to Sheetz. “We serve as the investor/developer on their behalf. These two projects in the southern end of the county now represent employment for close to 800 individu­als,” tells Miller.

Devorris Center a hub for local businesses

“The investment in our business park strategy has resulted in creation of well over 1,000 new jobs to the community. We see that as being one of our major successes,” tells Miller proudly. “An­other project that we’re very proud of is what is called the Devorris Center for Business Develop­ment,” says Miller. The 35,000-square-foot build­ing is located in the South Altoona Business Park and was constructed by ABCD Corp. “It is a multi-tenant facility and it serves as an incubator for small businesses. Today, the Devorris Center is completely filled; we have nine businesses here, as well as a number of local economic develop­ment and business service providers, such as the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, the local SCORE chapter, the Small Business Development Center at St. Francis University, and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners headquartered out of Penn State University.”

These local service providers do their coun­seling in the centrally located facility. “We’re very proud of that investment, as it was one of the first incubators created in the city when we developed the South Altoona Business Park. Again, it was a former 22-acre railroad property and in this case there were existing environ­mental concerns that were remediated and now a former Brownfield site is a viable business park,” tells Miller.

Penn State University a key driver for Downtown Altoona

Once a thriving destination for retail, Downtown Altoona struggled for many recent years trying to attract new business opportunities, as the trend of retailers moved from the urban center. This changed about 10 years ago, when ABCD Corp. invited several local universities to a meeting to discuss the idea of creating an educational center in the downtown hub. “The concept was simple; these universities could rent space from us in order to support their off-campus and continuing education programs,” says Miller, adding Penn State-Altoona was the first to take an interest.

Soon after, ABCD Corp. discovered an ap­propriate space and drafted a lease with Penn State Altoona. “We bought the building, rehabili­tated it to their specifications and initially, they brought their continuing education programs into the downtown, as well as their staff and administrative support,” tells Miller.

“Because of the success of that venture, Penn State Altoona renewed the lease and shortly thereafter, bought the building from us,” tells Miller, adding Chan­cellor Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry also realized the role that Penn State Altoona played in terms of acting as an engine to jump-start other economic development opportunities in the downtown. This partnership has been another key driver for economic development in Altoona, particularly in the downtown.

Since then, ABCD Corp. has redeveloped a 30,000-square-foot space for classrooms, as well as a nursing lab, broadcast studio and commu­nications lab and more administrative support for Penn State Altoona. ABCD Corp. acquired a vacant building redeveloped it to Penn State’s specification and this past fall they opened the new classroom space. PSU Altoona purchased more property to redevelop on their own, bringing their Alumni relations and development office to the downtown area.

Renewed interest in downtown leads to future developments

ABCD Corp. and Penn State-Altoona are about to announce the development of yet another downtown project, which will bring more activity to its urban core.

“The Penn State Altoona rela­tionship has lead to potential inquiries of other developers in the area that will support student activities,” explains Miller, adding the renewed interest in Altoona’s downtown is an encourag­ing sign. A new restaurant scheduled to open in the spring of 2010 and two local investors have acquired an old, vacant property, once owned by Sears and Penny’s department stores to re­develop into a commercial and student housing area. “All this synergy happening now is directly related to this unique relationship with Penn State Altoona and its commitment to the down­town,” adds Miller. The combined Penn State Altoona-ABCD Corp. partnership represents close to $10 million in total project costs, and that’s not including the fourth project slated to begin this coming spring.

Altoona Regional Health System

Blair County’s largest healthcare provider, the Altoona Regional Healthcare System, is ready to inject a multi-million dollar investment into the re-development of a hospital facility in Down­town Altoona. The ARHS currently has the Al­toona Hospital in the downtown and is planning renovations to this main campus, as well as acquiring new space. In addition, recently ARHS purchased a formerly enclosed mall that was underutilized and now is undergoing a major transformation from a retail space to a major medical center, now called the Station Medical Center. “They have already completed first two phases of redevelopment; it will become the second major medical center associated with the Altoona Medical Health System in Downtown Altoona,” says Miller.

Looking to the Future

With the Altoona-Blair County Development Corp. leading the way and collaborating with a multitude of economic development partners and businesses, this region stands ready for continued success.  The work ethic, persistence and pride that was forged from Altoona and Blair County’s rich railroad history carries through today and into the future. AB

www.abcdcorp.org