LOOKING GOOD IN LUZERNE COUNTY: Focus on Area Growth and Development

By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.comTimes Leader Staff Writer

During the days of King Coal, Luzerne County benefited from its proximity to New York and Philadelphia. Even with coal all but dead in these parts, the symbiotic relationship between the county and the two metro areas is very much alive.

While the past few decades have been difficult, to say the least, economic development leaders and consultants say that Luzerne County’s location is a driving factor in a reversal of many trends that have hurt the region and many others over the latter half of the 20th century.

“It’s going to take a lot of time to reverse the negative trends we’ve seen the past 40 or 50 years,” said Teri Ooms, executive director of The Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development. “But what we can honestly say is Luzerne County has been improving and growing and I believe that’s what we all want.

“We’re starting to see a reversal of trends. We are doing a lot better that some other Rust Belt communities in the Northeast.”

What Ooms calls “our geography of place” has a lot to do with it.

“We are positioned so our access to major markets is easy,” she said.

Interstates 81, 80 and 476 run through the county. Interstates 84 and 380 are located one county away.

“You are the gateway to the Northeast,” said James Browne, a tractor-trailer driver who heads from Maine to Florida each week, almost always heading through Luzerne County each way. During a lunch stop at the Iron Skillet off I-81 in Dupont, Browne said he makes frequent stops in Luzerne County on his way back to his home base in Connecticut. “You guys send a lot of stuff northeast. It’s amazing.”

The county is home to dozens of distribution warehouses and industrial parks, including those in West Hazleton and Pittston, Jenkins, Wilkes-Barre and Hanover townships. Among the larger tenants: Lowe’s, AutoZone, Amazon.com, FedEx and OfficeMax. A Home Depot distribution center that will create 350 jobs is planned to open in the CenterPoint Commerce and Trade Park in Jenkins Township in the next year.

Dennis J. Donovan, a principal with WDG Consulting in Bridgewater, N.J., is hired by national companies to scout locations. Whenever the metro New York and Philadelphia markets are the targeted destinations for goods, he said Northeast Pennsylvania is eyed.

“You’ve got companies looking at the Northeast marketplace and they’re looking for that hole in the doughnut for ways to cut costs,” Donovan said. Luzerne County offers a hardworking workforce, available land and industrial locations, access to highways and one other very attractive allure.

“Overall business costs are about 10 percent less than those in the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia areas,” Donovan said.

Ooms said local developers and economic leaders saw this potential and started planting the seeds more than a decade ago.

“We’re starting to see the fruits of their labors,” Ooms said, noting the region is not resting on its laurels.

The creation of a new medical school in Scranton, a new School of Architecture at Marywood University and a proposed new law school at Wilkes University will help boost the diversity of jobs in the area, something Todd Vonderheid said is crucial.

Vonderheid, the president of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, said small business incubators, homegrown technology firms and other industries besides manufacturing have been successful locally.

“No longer is it just coal or textiles acting as our predominant employment that provide jobs to a majority of the residents. By having this diversity it made us a little more recession-proof,” Ooms said.

It’s not only what Luzerne County is doing that’s aiding in the growth. It’s also what is going on in other areas that’s helping.

High costs and taxes in the metro New York area are causing a surge in people moving west.

In 2002, for the first time in four decades, in-migration of residents surpassed out-migration for Luzerne County.

Affordability and availability of houses and land, along with a relatively low cost of living and proximity to the New York metropolitan area, has lured residents to the Poconos the past two decades.

Now the westward migration is expanding to Luzerne County.

Ooms said the county finds itself where the Poconos were a dozen years ago.

The New Yorkers are boosting home prices, causing national retailers to give the market additional looks and bringing more discretionary money into the region.

There are negatives too, including higher crime rates and strains on schools and county services.

“But the positives far outweigh the negatives,” said Anthony Liuzzo, a business professor at Wilkes University.

He said sometimes new life and new blood into a community can lead to better things.

At the heart of the growth will be a change in the culture of the county, especially Wilkes-Barre where Ooms projects more activity, more offerings and a bustle not seen in decades.

As Wilkes-Barre goes, said one longtime business owner, so goes the county.

“Wilkes-Barre is the heart of Luzerne County. When it’s damaged or hurt or sick, the rest of the body is affected. When it’s healthy, the whole body thrives,” said Gus Genetti, owner of the hotel and conference center bearing his name.

by the numbers

Population

2000 — 318,555

2007 — 31 1,982

2008 — 31 1,983

Births

2000 — 3,010

2006 — 3,188

2007 — 3,306

Deaths

2000 — 4,482

2006 — 4,058

2007— 4,102

Average Household Size

2000 — 2.34

2006 — 2.33

2007 — 2.35

Per Capita Income

2000 — $25,894

2006 — $31,845

Poverty Rate

2000 — 1 1.1 percent

2006 — 13.3 percent

2007 — 1 1.5 percent

SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau, Penn. Department of Health, and The Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development.