The future of more than 218,000 children hangs in the balance as the largest budget cuts in Head Start’s history are being debated by members of Congress. This week, those same elected officials have left the nation’s capital and returned to Pennsylvania’s 6th district to reconnect with local constituents.

Montgomery County Head Start is organizing a stroll-in at Jim Gerlach’s office to protect the 8,131 Pennsylvania children who will no longer have access to comprehensive Head Start services and the 1,873 Head Start staff who stand to lose their jobs. Head Start families, staff and supporters will gather at Jim Gerlach’s office to inform him of the devastating toll budget cuts will have on communities across Pennsylvania.

WHAT: Head Start Stroll-In

WHERE:

Office of Jim Gerlach

580 Main St. Suite #4
Trappe, PA l9426

WHEN: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 1:45 pm

The owner of a home assessed at $168,580, the county average, will continue to pay $454.32 for the county portion of their real estate taxes next year.

The tax rate for the County portion of residents’ real estate taxes will remain 2.695 mills. A mill is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value.

In fact, the 2011 budget maintains the same tax rate for four years in a row and one that is 5 percent less than homeowners were paying on the county portion of their real estate taxes in 2002.

The Commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the spending plan. Commissioners Chairman Jim Matthews and Vice Chairman Joseph Hoeffel voted in favor. Commissioner Bruce L. Castor, Jr. voted against.

The budget reflects a $3.75 million reduction in expenditures that was accomplished by cutting expenditures in nearly every department.

The budget is funded in part through a $15.5 million fund balance appropriation.  The fund balance is essentially an emergency reserve fund that, through careful monitoring of spending and cost cutting, the County will maintain at $24.5 million in 2011.

The report, “Critical Shortages of Precision Machining and Industrial Maintenance Occupations in Pennsylvania’s Manufacturing Sector,” provides details about the manufacturing industry’s need for a skilled and highly trained workforce.

There are 72,000 individuals working in precision machining and industrial maintenance occupations in Pennsylvania. The PA Center for Advanced Manufacturing Careers estimates that employers will need between 15,000 and 17,000 additional skilled workers during the next decade.

“Modern manufacturing has come a long way from the oil-soaked machine shops of the past,” Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development Dr. Robert Garraty said. “Today’s employers need a workforce with the skills and specialized training necessary to operate and maintain increasingly complex, computer-controlled manufacturing systems.”

Joined by Lancaster Workforce Investment Board Executive Director Scott Sheely, Operations Manager Jim Fleischer and Senior Project Manager Jim Eichelberger of Hamilton Precision Metals, Garraty emphasized the need for private-public partnerships that encourage development and delivery of training opportunities tailored to manufacturers’ workforce needs.

Manufacturing contributes an annual economic output of $75.5 billion, accounting for approximately 14 percent of the state’s gross product. The report released today provides wage and employment information for occupations critical to the continued strength of Pennsylvania manufacturing.

“This report lays out some of the challenges that Pennsylvania manufacturers will face over the next 10 years,” Garraty said. “It should be used to help educators, policymakers and employers address those challenges, and to help the state avert an employment crisis in this crucial industry sector.”

The PA Center for Advanced Manufacturing Careers is part of the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board – the Governor’s principal private-sector policy advisor on building a strong workforce development system aligned with state education and economic development goals.

The new report is available online at www.paworkforce.state.pa.us

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Hanger announced that 90 small businesses across the state will receive more than $560,000 in grants through the Small Business Advantage program to reduce energy use and pollution, enabling them to become more competitive.

“Small-business owners face many challenges including how to reinvest their hard-earned dollars,” said Hanger. “In recent years, a growing number of small-business owners have realized that investing in projects that reduce pollution and energy use produce immediate and long-term positive results. Owners can improve their bottom lines, allowing them to make significant investments in their own futures, and the economic and environmental future of Pennsylvania, as well.”

Pennsylvania’s Small Business Advantage program provides small businesses (those with fewer than 100 employees) with 50-percent matching reimbursement grants of up to $7,500 to implement projects that will save at least 20 percent annually in pollution prevention or energy-related costs. Since 2004, the Small Business Advantage Grant program has invested $6.7 million in 1,220 small businesses.

Examples of eligible projects include HVAC and boiler upgrades, high-efficiency lighting, solvent recovery and waste recycling systems, and auxiliary power units that help large trucks reduce time spent with idling engines.

The 90 projects in 40 counties will receive a total of $564,291 and leverage an additional $1.1 million in private investments. In the first year, they will have a cumulative savings of $521,782 in operating expenses related to reductions in energy and pollution. The savings include:

* 1.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity–enough to power 130 homes;
* 110,421 therms of natural gas;
* 28,000 gallons of propane;
* 26,000 gallons of kerosene and fuel oil; and
* 40,741 gallons of diesel fuel.

In addition, the projects will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly five million pounds, equivalent to the total energy used by 190 homes or removing 425 passenger vehicles from the roads.

Governor Rendell has initiated several other programs to assist small business owners. The Alternative Energy Investment Act he signed into law in July 2008, created the Small Business Energy Efficiency program, which provides a 25 percent reimbursement grant up to $25,000 to help small businesses acquire equipment or adopt processes that promote energy efficiency. The program has awarded $2.3 million to 214 small businesses.

The Investment Act also created the Sunshine Solar program, which reimburses small business owners and homeowners up to 35 percent of the purchase and installation costs of solar energy technology. To date, this program has allocated more than $44 million to 664 businesses to install solar energy technology. These projects will generate 59 megawatts of electricity, or enough annually to power 7,000 average homes in Pennsylvania.

“These financial incentives have made energy-conserving and pollution-reducing technologies more affordable to a greater number of small business owners in the state,” said Hanger. “These types of projects can make a business more productive and more profitable — a combination that is good for the company, the employees, the economy and the environment.”

For more information, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us or call 717-783-8411.

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- AC Moore has signed a lease for 21,600 square feet and is expected to open in Spring 2011.

- Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet has signed a lease for 6,000 square feet and will join other restaurants, Chili’s, Pizza Hut and Subway at the shopping center.

- GNC signed a lease for 1,600 square feet and will open in December of this year.

Upland Square now has 90 percent occupancy. Current tenants include Target, Giant, Best Buy, Staples, LA Fitness, Bed Bath & Beyond, Petco, TJ Maxx, Five Below and Famous Footwear.

Upland Square is owned by joint venture partners Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc. and Tristate Ventures, LP.

“We are excited to welcome the Collegeville community to our newest store,” said Robert Resnik, Vice President of Sales. “This new store represents a larger commitment to the area and will deliver an inviting atmosphere for customers to shop and view our full line of merchandise in an easy-to-navigate environment. We want to create the best possible shopping experience for our customers” said Neil Goldberg, President and CEO.

The newly-constructed, 50,000 square foot building features a two-story showroom where customers can shop the retailer’s full line of products. Approximately 27 full-time and part-time associates are employed at the new location, including sales teams and customer-care representatives.

About Raymour & Flanigan Furniture

Established in 1947, the family-owned company is headquartered in Liverpool, New York. Across its 7 state footprint, Raymour & Flanigan has 86 full-line showrooms, 9 clearance centers, 13 Customer Services Centers, 4 Customer Distribution Centers and 1 main distribution center.

Now the 7th largest furniture and bedding retailer in the U.S. (Furniture Today 5/26/09) and 5th fastest growing furniture retailer (Furniture Today 6/5/09), Raymour & Flanigan continues its commitment of building the preeminent retail furniture brand in the Northeast and beyond.

For more information visit http://www.RaymourFlanigan.com

Economists Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi estimate the national unemployment would now be approaching 16% without the economic policy actions of the Federal Reserve, the Bush and Obama administrations, and Congress. The effect in Pennsylvania, factoring in population growth, would be an economy roughly 690,000 jobs short of full employment and a state unemployment rate above 14%.

“Our economy is a product of conscious policy choices,” said Dr. Mark Price, Labor Economist for the Keystone Research Center. “Federal policy stopped the economic free fall. And policy choices at the national and state level will powerfully shape the future health of the economy for middle-class families.”

In the center’s annual State of Working Pennsylvania report, researchers note that the public debate has shifted from boosting the economy to closing the federal deficit. However, the report finds, two deficits of another kind are far more threatening to the economic recovery: a jobs deficit and a deficit in the buying power of the middle class.

“The federal deficit is the wrong enemy,” said Dr. Stephen Herzenberg, Economist and Executive Director of the Keystone Research Center. “Our economy will recover only when we put Americans back to work and pay them a fair wage.”

Federal Policies Avoid Second Great Depression but Challenges Remain

Federal policy actions taken in the wake of the Great Recession have worked by stabilizing an economy that was on the brink after the recession took hold, the report found.

Before passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in early 2009, Pennsylvania was losing nearly 30,000 jobs per month. By contrast this year, job growth has returned to the Pennsylvania economy, which added 64,000 jobs during the first half of 2010.

More recently, Congress’ extension of federal Medicaid assistance to the states and additional school funding to preserve teacher jobs have averted the further loss of as many as 12,000 jobs in Pennsylvania.

Despite the success of ARRA and other measures, Pennsylvania’s economy faces an enormous jobs deficit that requires further policy action. Current projections put the state’s unemployment rate at a high 7.2% in 2014 – a full seven years after the recession started.

In July, Pennsylvania was nearly 300,000 jobs short of full employment and had an unemployment rate of 9.3%.  To close this jobs deficit by July 2015, the Pennsylvania economy would have to produce 7,900 jobs a month – a rate of job growth more than three times larger than the average job growth that occurred during the last economic expansion.

Middle-class families are also struggling with a deficit in buying power, after decades of stagnant wages, the report found. This deficit prompted many working families to borrow against their homes or take on risky loans that helped precipitate the Great Recession. When the housing bubble burst, it took $8 trillion out of the economy, prompting massive job losses.

The wage deficit is a product of decades of stagnant wages for working families. In Pennsylvania, over the past 15 years, productivity grew by 43%, while the inflation-adjusted hourly wages of college- and high school-educated workers barely budged.

Had wage distribution remained as equal as it was in 1979, full-time, year-round workers would be earning between $2,800 and $3,750 more per year today. Two-earner, middle-class families would be making between $5,600 and $7,500 more per year – more than most Pennsylvania families pays in state and local taxes.

A Need to Shift Focus

The jobs and wage deficits pose far more immediate problems for Pennsylvania families than the federal debt and deficit, which has dominated public discourse during this election cycle, the report concludes.

Despite the contributions of ARRA, economic growth has stalled again in recent months and unemployment remains stubbornly high. Cuts in state and local government are reducing economic demand that much further.

“We have reached a moment of truth,” Dr. Price said. “Anything less than stellar employment growth over the next several years will be an unmitigated disaster for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania families. Our policymakers need to make averting this disaster Priority No. 1.”

View the full report at: http://keystoneresearch.org/sites/keystoneresearch.org/files/state-of-working-pa-2010.pdf

The Keystone Research Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that promotes a more prosperous and equitable Pennsylvania economy.

Blox has 65 skilled employees manufacturing the modular units and 11 administrative employees. It has eight projects either underway or contracted to begin over the next three years and projects it will add another 57 employees during that time.

The company is eligible to take an additional $50,000 in loans for every 15 jobs it adds to its Pottstown facility up to a maximum of $250,000 in calendar year 2010.

The Commissioners also gave a $50,000 grant to Brooks Instrument for the company to upgrade its headquarters on West Vine Street in Hatfield.

Brooks Instrument manufacturers high-precision flow meters, pressure meters and other measuring devices. It employs 204 at its Hatfield facility and will move 113 high-skill jobs from Texas over the next two years.

The Montgomery County Commissioners awarded $50,000 grants to these two companies that will create jobs under the County’s Economic Development program.

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An explosion on the BP operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed eleven crew members on April 20, 2010, sparking the greatest environmental disaster in United States history. In combination with the Texas City Refinery Explosion and the Prudohoe Bay Oil Spill, this marks the third serious incident involving BP in the United States in the last five years. Current estimates put the amount of oil being discharged from the broken well at above 1,050,000 US gallons per day! There are over 400 different species of animals living in the area affected by the spill. 330 sea turtles and 39 dolphins have been found dead within the spill area (NOAA). BP is operating oil skimmers and other cleanup tools to try to remove oil from the water and Louisiana is building oil containment berms to halt the spread of oil. Experts are uncertain what effect, if any, these efforts will have.

View what your town would look like here.

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Governor Rendell said 46 school districts will receive more than $600 million in bonds made possible through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The ARRA program will save the districts – and taxpayers — an estimated $513 million in financing costs.

“These funds will help put people to work on vital construction projects, save energy costs and help improve educational programs – and the attractive financing will save the taxpayers more than half a billion in financing costs,” Governor Rendell said. “With federal help, we lowered costs and are helping our districts make these terrific improvements. It’s what the Recovery Act is all about.”

Governor Rendell said the school districts – a mix of large and small, rural and urban — will use the special financing toward projects that will reduce their energy or water consumption, construction that will enable a district to boost its kindergarten, pre-K or upgrade early childhood education, or give more students access to science, technology or engineering lab settings.

The 46 school districts have plans for 101 projects which meet those priorities; 63 projects will reduce energy or water consumption; 28 will improve early childhood education facilities and; 27 will increase access to applied learning labs.

Pennsylvania’s allocation for the Qualified School Construction Bonds was $602 million – the sixth largest allocation in the nation. Under the program, the federal government pays essentially 100 percent of the interest on the QSCB bonds, which are issued under the recovery act’s Build America Bonds program.

“We went one step further to decrease the costs,” Governor Rendell said. “For the first time in the commonwealth’s history, we’re doing one single bond issue, which means that rather than 46 school districts each paying their own bond counsel and underwriting, the Public School Building Authority will handle the function for all of them at once.  It means that each district will pay just a small portion of the one-time cost for the bond work.”

Governor Rendell was joined today by representatives of four districts receiving the funds: Lancaster, Palmyra, Donegal and York.

Below is a list, by region, of school districts eligible for QSCB funds, and the amount (in thousands):

Altoona/Johnstown Area: $14,214
Clearfield Area – $1,965
Harmony Area – $9,700
Glendale -$2,549

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Area: $125,177
Scranton – $59,627
Stroudsburg Area – $17,000
Wilkes-Barre Area – $800
Williamsport Area – $32,750
Wyoming Valley West – $15,000

Greater Philadelphia:  $83,242
Downingtown Area – $28,303
Great Valley – $999
Lower Moreland Twp – $1,000
Norristown Area – $15,600
Radnor Township – $1,500
Southeast Delco – $15,750
Upper Darby – $5,090
William Penn – $15,000

Lehigh Valley: $20,666
Allentown City – $5,666
Conrad Weiser Area – $15,000

Northeast: $28,852
Carbondale Area – $15,000
East Stroudsburg Area – $1,220
Hazleton Area – $10,370
Panther Valley – $2,262

Greater Pittsburgh: $153,444
Big Beaver Falls Area – $1,638
Cornell – $476
Duquesne City – $645
East Allegheny – $15,000
Farrell Area – $810
Jeannette City – $1,715
McKeesport Area – $15,000
New Castle Area – $15,000
Peters Township – $770
Pittsburgh – $50,503
Sharon City – $15,000
South Fayette Twp – $16,887
Washington – $20,000

Northwest: $30,505
Corry Area – $2,901
Erie City – $22,078
Otto-Eldred – $5,526

Susquehanna Valley: $146,310
Donegal – $17,000
Harrisburg City – $9,194
Lancaster – $55,281
Lebanon – $15,000
Mahanoy Area – $2,235
Palmyra Area – $15,000
Purchase Line – $8,000
York City – $24,600

Statewide total: $602.4 million

For more information, visit the Department of Education online at www.pde.state.pa.us. For more information about how the commonwealth is investing federal Recovery Act funds to benefit Pennsylvania residents, visit www.recovery.pa.gov.

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