As the son and grandson of coal miners, state Sen. John Yudichak said he will always appreciate Luzerne County’s anthracite heritage and the rich history and strong work ethic it fostered.
But mining also left a negative environmental legacy that set back the county, requiring more work to make the land usable and attract investors, said Yudichak, D-Nanticoke.
After decades of reclamation and infrastructure enhancements, Yudichak believes the county has finally redefined its image in the eyes of major corporations, many that now have a presence here.
“I’ll always be proud of mining families that built this region, but you have to build a new future — a very diverse economic portfolio for Northeastern Pennsylvania — that will help us weather any storm,” Yudichak said. “It can’t be based on one industry.”
The Interstate 81 corridor that runs through the county is booming, but not only with e-commerce and logistics, he said.
The Hazleton area recently experienced “three big wins” in manufacturing with synthetic wood manufacturer Highwood USA’s expansion to a Hazleton building, IRIS USA’s 500,000-square-foot plastic manufacturing facility under construction in the Humboldt Industrial Park in Hazle Township and the Hershey Company’s $60 million expansion of its Kit Kat manufacturing line, also at Humboldt.
Distribution growth
Earlier this month, Yudichak and a contingent of officials celebrated an announcement that Lincoln, Nebraska-based e-commerce company Spreetail.com will occupy a new 610,000 square-foot building along Kosciuszko Street across from Luzerne County Community College in Nanticoke, with plans to start fulfillment team members at $16.50 per hour.
Established in 2006, the company will hire 50 employees this year and expects to employ 120 by 2021. Spreetail.com offers a “simple and enjoyable way” to shop online for home, garden and backyard products, a release said.
The new $40 million fulfillment center is tentatively expected to open June 1.
It was the second tenant announced for Missouri-based NorthPoint Development’s 322-acre Hanover 9 Industrial Park, which falls in both the city and Hanover Township. Chicago-based True Value Company said in February it will occupy most of a 1.4 million square-foot distribution center also under construction and set to open this fall. Two more buildings are planned at the site, which has become accessible due to the new $90 million South Valley Parkway, officials said.
NorthPoint also brought Chewy.com, Adidas and Patagonia Inc. to its first 172-acre project in Hanover Township known as the Hanover Ridge Trade Center, and it is working on a third development with three structures planned on 173 acres it purchased along Dundee Road in the township.
Yudichak had said Spreetail.com’s investment is the largest single economic development project in the city in four decades, noting the last was the community college construction.
Most of the land NorthPoint is developing had been mine-scarred and partially reclaimed and prepped by the nonprofit Earth Conservancy. The nonprofit spent more than $9 million filling deep mine pits and contouring the unattractive Hanover Ridge site visible from 81.
Meanwhile, Mericle Commercial Real Estate continues to attract tenants to its CenterPoint Commerce and Trade Park in Jenkins and Pittston townships, which also was on former blighted coal mine land. The park now houses 51 tenants employing nearly 6,000, with plans to expand to 10,000 jobs when the park is fully built out over the next decade, its website says.
Revitalization efforts are underway in all four Luzerne County cities in Yudichak’s district, he said — Hazleton, Nanticoke, Pittston and Wilkes-Barre.
In downtown Wilkes-Barre, for example, Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies expanded its corporate headquarters through the purchase of the office tower at 39 Public Square. McCarthy Tire also is housing its corporate headquarters in the city, he said.
“It really is a remarkable time, where there are job opportunities as far as the eye can see in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” he said.
County view
Years of work by Earth Conservancy and others has been invested to get to this point, said county council Chairman Tim McGinley.
“As a result, land is now available at reasonable costs, and we’re seeing major developers coming into the county to use those sites for mass distribution,” McGinley said.
Other businesses are benefitting from the warehouse growth, McGinley said. For example, a local propane dealer has expanded operations primarily because the forklifts at Chewy.com are propane-powered, he said.
“That’s the stuff that happens, and people don’t see it because it is not publicized,” McGinley said.
To compete with other areas, the county and other taxing bodies have approved tax breaks for many of the major projects.
These properties will generate significant new real estate tax revenue down the road when the breaks expire, McGinley said. Some of the breaks also are structured to apply only to new structures, not the land, and taxing bodies had received no payment from the tax-exempt Earth Conservancy, he said.
As the development increases, the demand for workers with specific skills is rising and will largely be met by customized curriculum at the community college, McGinley said.
“That’s going to help our job market,” McGinley said.
County Manager C. David Pedri said county officials have made economic development a priority, largely through the community development office.
Last fall for example, the county awarded $1.85 million in community development funding needed for a $4.1 million extension of White Birch Road in the Humboldt Industrial Park. That extension is required to proceed with a $20 million, state-funded extension of Route 424 so the two roads can connect, providing secondary access to the growing park.
The Humboldt park has nearly 60 tenants and more than 10,000 workers, officials have said.
The county community development office also provides funding for business development and training programs and low-interest business loans, including a $1 million loan to Kris Jones for the acquisition of the former Berkshire Hathaway GUARD property on South River Street in Wilkes-Barre, which is slated for a business accelerator and numerous high-growth businesses, Pedri said.
“Luzerne County continues to be a strong supporter of a regional economic development strategy because that is the best way to promote the many positive attributes of the county,” Pedri said.
Returning home
Yudichak predicts increased competition for employers will bump up wages and said the county now offers more job opportunities for workers at all levels — college graduates, those who have learned a trade and high school graduates who are not pursuing advanced education or training.
He said he has heard numerous cases of natives who have returned to this area because they can now find family-sustaining jobs, including some in the pharmaceutical industry now working at CVS Caremark in Hanover Township.
The “economic wave” will continue, Yudichak said, because national companies are “paying attention” to the growth here and the unified welcoming they are receiving from officials at all levels.
“We’re building a regional economy and not trying to pit one section of the county against another,” Yudichak said. “We sell the whole county and are going to bat for the entire region.”
