Benton Township, PA -
Chatter and chuckles erupted when a slide lit up the projector screen showing a luxury home for sale - price tag $579,900.
The group of 21 representatives from Chinese window and door manufacturing firms visiting Lackawanna County on Thursday were aghast at the price.
In China, a similar home on an acre-plus would cost maybe $2 million, Crystal Window & Door Systems Project Manager William Chen explained over the noisy room.
The Chinese executives from manufacturing, development, supply and construction firms may be looking to start companies or partnerships in the U.S.
So Crystal Window executives and leaders of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce pitched Northeast Pennsylvania as a fertile place to do business at chamber headquarters.
The group later visited Crystal's Benton Twp. plant, owned by Taiwanese businessman Thomas Chen and his son, Steven.
They arrived over the Labor Day weekend to attend the GlassBuild America trade conference and expo in Atlanta next week, and visited Crystal's flagship plant and headquarters in New York. Another delegation will visit for an identical presentation and tour Monday, Sept. 18.
Crystal leaders envision a manufacturing hub on their 226 acres in Benton Twp., which they will call the Crystal Pennsylvania Business Park, where other supplemental industries for its growing window-making operation could work together, company spokesman Bob Nyman explained.
Crystal bought Benton Twp.'s only industrial property, including the former 336,500-square-foot Northrop Grumman Corp. plant, in 2015.
“To me, the sign of a healthy community is having a mixed community,” said Larry Seymour, Benton Twp.'s chairman of the board of supervisors. “The issue of having manufacturing, in addition to service industries - it's all very important.”
Crystal is the largest taxpayer in the Lackawanna Trail School District. The company does not have to pay taxes under a Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) incentive, but school district Business Manager Keith Glynn said Crystal gives Lackawanna Trail a comparable amount in lieu of taxes.
Crystal's undeveloped property also enjoys the KOZ tax incentive, explained county Economic Development Director George Kelly, and any firm looking to set up there would enjoy the same benefit. Set to expire in 2023, the incentive absolves the company of state and local taxes.
Chamber Assistant Vice President Amy Luyster touted the region's:
