Penn-Northwest
Development Corporation

Local Contact:
Penn-Northwest Development Corporation
Contact:
Brad Ehrhart
Title:
Assistant Director
Mailing Address:
151 North Diamond Street
Mercer, PA 16137
Telephone:
724.662.3705
Fax:
724.662.0283
E-Mail Address:
behrhart@penn-northwest.com
Web Site:
www.penn-northwest.com

This state program is available to eligible businesses that, within three years from a negotiated start date, create 25 or more jobs or increase employment by 20%. Every new full-time job will result in a $1,000 tax credit that the business can use to pay a number of state business taxes. To be counted as a new full-time employee, each new employee must earn an hourly wage of at least 150% of the federal minimum wage, excluding benefits. For more information on this program, please go to the state's web site www.inventpa.com.

Penn-Northwest Development Corporation is a private, non-profit economic development agency. The corporation has been serving the economic development needs of Mercer County, Pennsylvania and the surrounding area since 1985. Supported by public and private memberships, Penn-Northwest is governed by a forty-eight member board of directors. Penn- Northwest taps into the expertise of its board and of the state, regional, and county economic development service providers known as TEAM PENNSYLVANIA to formulate solutions that meet the needs of individual companies and Mercer County.

Penn-Northwest Development Corporation markets Mercer County, Pennsylvania as a location to locate, start-up, keep and grow businesses that import cash into our community. To attract these establishments, Penn-Northwest builds and maintains a network of real estate professionals in Pennsylvania and Ohio to develop leads. TO keep and grow firms, Penn- Northwest established a systematic industrial / manufacturing outreach call program in 1988 to identify individual company needs and issues affecting Mercer County's economy. Penn- Northwest specializes in identifying and packaging business assistance programs for manufacturing and industrial establishments.

Penn-Northwest established a strategic alliance with Gannon University's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to provide technical assistance to existing and prospective small businesses. The SBDC provides answers to general business questions, business-planning assistance, and financial and marketing analysis. The Gannon University SBDC representative in Mercer County is based at Penn-Northwest Development Corporation and they can be reached by calling 724-662-3705 or by e-mail at gannonsbdc@penn-northwest.com.