$1 Million Grant Announced for Starpointe Development

The next phase of the nearby Starpointe Business Park will be paid for in part through a $1 million state grant.

The Washington County Council on Economic Development will begin work on the next phase of the business park, which will turning 225 acres of brownfield into more than 100 acres of business-ready land that will include utilities and high-speed Internet.

The news was announced Thursday by state Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, and state Rep. Jesse White.

“This grant is an investment in the future of Washington County’s working families,” Solobay said. “With gas exploration fueling local economic growth, industrial infrastructure projects will help diversify the job base and sustain long-term growth.”

The grant comes from the Department of Community and Economic Development’s Infrastructure Development Program, which works to restore former industrial sites into clean, modern business centers.  WCCED estimates that the project will create 500 jobs with an average wage of $15 an hour all the sites are sold by 2017.

“Coming out of the recession, our priority must be building momentum for continued job growth,” White said. “Some of the people who will be working in this business park are only high school or middle school today. We want to make sure that if they are ready to work, jobs will be there for them.”

The prior stage of the project contained smaller sites for businesses, with a maximum size of eight acres.  The next phase is expected to create sites as large as 46 acres and leverage $41 million in private investments.

"This grant is critical to our continuing effort to attract employers and employment opportunities for Washington County residents,” said Dan Reitz, WCCED’s interim executive director. “We appreciate the support of our local lawmakers who understand that targeted public investment will generate millions more in private investment in our community."