DCED: New Pennsylvania State Investments Will Help Businesses in Schuylkill, Allegheny and Erie Counties to Expand, Create Jobs

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Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development

Jul 09, 2010, 11:11 ET

Low-Interest Loans Attracting $11.4 Million in Private Investments

HARRISBURG, Pa., July 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New state investments will help an international company in Pottsville grow and enable companies in East Pittsburgh and Erie to expand and create new jobs, the Department of Community and Economic Development announced today.

"Strategic investments that help companies grow and expand are a solid investment for the commonwealth," DCED Secretary Austin Burke said. "This type of capital assistance provides companies with vital resources for growth that creates jobs and revitalizes communities throughout Pennsylvania."

The Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority's approval of this combined $6.5 million in funding on July 8 will leverage $11.4 million in private investments.

One of the approved projects is worth $5.2 million and will allow EEG Inc., a cosmetology company founded in Pennsylvania in 1936, to renovate an existing building and construct a new building on an adjacent property in Pottsville.

The new facilities will serve as EEG's regional and national headquarters for its cosmetology schools, enabling the company to consolidate several outside offices, retain 210 employees and create 159 new jobs within the next three years.

EEG's $2 million, 15-year loan carries a 3.75 percent interest rate and was applied for by the Schuylkill Economic Development Corp.

The PIDA board also approved:

A $2.2 million, 15-year loan at 3.75 percent to The Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania to renovate the East Shop building in East Pittsburgh. The $5.6 million project will allow RIDC to rehab various buildings for sale or lease in the Keystone Commons in order to convert the complex into a multi-use urban industrial center. The company is expected to create at least 75 new jobs.

A $2.2 million, 15-year loan at 3.75 percent to T S K Partners Inc. (doing business as McInnes Rolled Rings), which manufactures forged steel seamless rolled rings for use in the oil and gas, textile machinery, steel fabrication, pulp and paper, and aerospace industries. The $7 million project will allow the Erie-based company to expand its existing building, retain 67 employees and create 20 new jobs within the next three years. EIDCO Inc. sponsored the project.

PIDA provides capital for infrastructure acquisition, creation and renovation, primarily for manufacturers, industrial developers, research and development firms, agricultural processors and employers looking to establish national or regional headquarters in Pennsylvania.

For more information about economic development initiatives in Pennsylvania, call 1-866-466-3972 or visit www.newpa.com.

Media contact: Theresa Elliott, 717-783-1132

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development