B.I.D.A. Pilots Economic Development Partnership with Private Columbia County Property Owners

10.04.2021

Berwick, Columbia County, PA - Berwick Industrial Development Association, Inc. (B.I.D.A.) a leader in economic development focusing on industrial development and manufacturing, is excited to pilot a program that will provide property owners in Columbia and Southern Luzerne Counties an opportunity to learn about economic development initiatives.

Northeast Pennsylvania is becoming a hot spot for business and industry for a number of reasons, one of which is location, location, location. With our region having close proximity to both Philadelphia and New York, we are in a location that allows transport of product within three hours to most major ports, international airports, and highly populated urban areas.

B.I.D.A. is truly working smarter not harder in trying to address growth and development while focusing on business retention efforts concurrently. Kelly O'Brien, Executive Director for B.I.D.A. warns, “We, in the economic development industry, must be cognizant of the challenges that our business and industry is facing today, ‘a workforce pandemic'”, as recruiting new business would mean more competition in the human resource area for all businesses”, Ms. O'Brien warns of haphazardly recruiting outside entities to start or move their business to our area.

“Our goal has always been business recruitment and job creation. This must now be looked at with care as we cannot fill the hundreds of jobs that are open in the Berwick area alone, not considering the tens of thousands of jobs unfilled in the NEPA region as a whole.” Ms. O'Brien and the Board of Directors at B.I.D.A. which is chaired by Dan McGann are truly dedicated to providing diverse opportunities to our constituents which is also focused on private citizens and how they can play a role in the development of our area.

Specifically, B.I.D.A. is targeting property that has been classified as Commercial, Commercial Warehouse, Vacant land 5-10 acres or more and/or Industrial and has sent letters inviting those property owners to attend the meetings.

The next Property Owners' Information Session is scheduled for Tuesday, October 26th, 2021 at noon, choose to attend either in person or via Zoom. However, you must register in advance of the meeting, seating is limited, and the zoom meeting link will only be forwarded to those that have registered before Monday, October 25th.

If you own property in one or more of those classifications and did not receive a letter from B.I.D.A., please do not hesitate to contact our office to register by calling (570) 752-3612 or email us at info@bida.com and list the subject line as “Property Meeting”.