WAYNESBORO — Waynesboro Hospital expects to break ground later this year for a $16 million expansion project.

The hospital is still finalizing the details, but preliminary plans propose a three-story building that will house physician practices and possibly a walk-in care center.

Melissa Dubrow, Waynesboro Hospital vice president and chief operating officer, said the project is still in the initial planning phase, so no final decisions have been made regarding physician practices potentially moving to the new building.

The new facility, currently scheduled to open in early 2015, would be built at 501 E. Main St., across from the emergency department entrance along Enterprise Avenue.

Including construction, furniture, equipment, and landscaping, the total project cost is estimated to be $16 million.

The hospital is pursuing grant money through the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. Dubrow said the hospital has completed all the necessary paperwork and is waiting to hear if the project has been approved.

Waynesboro Hospital has been in discussion with the borough for several months about a potential expansion project but has yet to submit any formal plans, according to Kevin Grubbs, director of borough engineering services.

Hospital officials said the building will be designed with patients in mind, but will also be part of a strategy to attract new physicians to the area. “We’re competing with many other areas to hire doctors, and offering new facilities will give us an advantage,” Dubrow said.

The hospital plans to break ground for the project in September.

The last major building project at Waynesboro Hospital came in 1994, when the hospital opened a new wing for the outpatient registration, emergency department, diagnostic imaging, and family birthing services.

Dubrow said the project is expected to provide about 150 full-time construction jobs for at least 18 months.

“We expect additional health care jobs to be available as a result of growing the physician practice in the building. Also, we expect new jobs for facility maintenance,” she said.

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Marcus Rauhut can be reached at mrauhut@publicopinionnews.com and 262-4752, or follow him on Twitter @MarcusRauhutPO.

By ROXANN MILLER

roxann.miller@herald-mail.com

9:45 p.m. EDT, June 11, 2013

GREENCASTLE, Pa. —

Norfolk Southern celebrated its new, $97 million rail-truck project Tuesday with a dedication ceremony and a new name for the facility.

Norfolk Southern officials cut the ribbon on the new Franklin County Regional Intermodal Facility at 612 Antrim Commons Drive in Greencastle during the ceremony.

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“This terminal really is one of the landmark economic development projects that has taken place in Franklin County in my (27-year) tenure,” said L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp.

The terminal began operations Jan. 20.

Charles “Wick” Moorman, Norfolk Southern’s president and chief executive officer, said one of the best things about the intermodal terminals is they create jobs and spark economic growth.

“Everywhere we go, when we locate, jobs start coming in. The shovels start turning ground over. Buildings start to go up and all of that starts to make more and more vibrant communities,” Moorman said.

All around the Antrim Commons Business Park where the terminal is located, businesses are emerging, Ross said.

“We anticipate that this park will be arguably the best economic development opportunity in the commonwealth,” Ross said.

A company is building a 1.8 million-square-foot distribution center in Shippensburg (Pa.) off exit 24 in large part because of the intermodal, Ross said.

He couldn’t disclose the tenant, but said the project could mean 963 jobs for the area.

“A big part of their decision making was based on the intermodal terminal being in Franklin County,” Ross said.

They are already having a major impact on the economy, Ross said.

Currently, the intermodal facility employs 100 people at the site.

But Ross and Moorman said thousands of jobs could be created from the business development fostered by the terminal.

Norfolk Southern employs about 4,500 people in Pennsylvania with a $296.3 million payroll, according to company literature.

Its completion is a milestone for Norfolk Southern, Moorman said.

The Franklin County facility is part of the railroad’s Crescent Corridor, a 2,500-mile network of rail and terminals that reduces truck traffic on highways and cuts carbon emissions, he said.

A fully loaded intermodal train takes about 280 truckloads off the highway, Moorman said.

“We think here in Pennsylvania alone, we’ll be diverting almost 800,000 truckloads by the time the corridor is built out. That … saves about 10 1/2 million gallons of fuel a year,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., commended Ross for his efforts in bringing the Franklin County Regional Intermodal Facility to Franklin County.

“It’s good for the environment. It’s good for the highway system. It’s good for the traveling public,” Shuster said. “It’s really great for the economy because if we have an efficient, modern system ….that’s the way we stay competitive in the world.”

Not only will thousands of jobs be created, but trucks will be taken off the roads, making it safer, he said.

Franklin County Commissioner Bob Thomas, who serves on the I-81 Steering Committee, echoed Shuster’s sentiments.

“We applaud this effort to help make our community stronger for the future, that our future will be brighter, that more people will be living here and with good-quality jobs,” he said.

Copyright © 2013, Herald Mail

CHAMBERSBURG — Winebrenner Theological Seminary has purchased the former Scotland School for Veteran’s Children in Greene Township.

The seminary, based in Findlay, Ohio, plans to hold classes in the chapel this fall, once the Pennsylvania Department of Education grants final approval to the program, according to Dr. David Newell, vice president of the seminary’s Pennsylvania initiatives. The seminary aims to increase enrollment in five years to 500 students.

The $1.8 million property transferred from the state to the seminary on Thursday, nearly six months after the seminary made its initial $180,000 down payment.

“We are grateful and humbled by the outpouring of support from the community,” Newell said. ” We began the process with the conviction that God was calling us to the location, and moved forward in each phase as an act of faith. We are grateful for the encouragement, support and generosity of the many donors from the area and across the country. We are also thankful for the Home Missions Council of the Eastern Region of the Churches of God, and Orrstown Bank for their commitment to the vision and ministry of WTS.”

The seminary has plans to reuse of four of the 70 buildings on the 166-acre campus north of Chambersburg. Others are to be rented. The campus includes classroom buildings, cottages, a track and gymnasium.

SSVC, inspired by the plight of orphans of Civil War veterans, opened in 1895 as the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ Orphans Industrial School.

About 285 children lived at the school when it was closed in June 2009 to save money. It employed 138.

7:53 p.m. EDT, June 6, 2013

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. —

The Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority has approved a $970,731 loan to support the construction of a 46,100-square-foot facility for Stouffer Mechanical Contractors LLC, the Franklin County Area Development Corp. said Thursday in a news release.

The building will be built along Opportunity Avenue in the Cumberland Valley Business Park near Chambersburg.

In addition to the PIDA loan, Columbia Bank has agreed to lend $1,154,031, bringing the total project cost to $2,124,762, according to the release.

The project will result in the retention of 33 existing employment positions while creating 28 new jobs over the next three years, according to the release.

Stouffer Mechanical Contractors is a mechanical contractor specializing in HVAC and plumbing services.

Established in 1999, the company is family owned under the management of father Jere Stouffer sons Shane and Jared Stouffer.

With the construction of the new building, Stouffer Mechanical Contractors will be consolidating operations at one location. The company owns an 18,500-square-foot building and leases a second 15,000-square-foot building, each of which is in the Cumberland Valley Business Park.

The consolidation will create more efficient administrative and production capabilities.

“The expansion of Stouffer Mechanical Contractors is further evidence of the growth taking place throughout the quad-state/south-central Pennsylvania region,” Mike Ross, president of Franklin County Area Development Corp. said in the release.

“SMC is locally owned and managed and with this expansion is committed to future growth in Franklin County. The FCADC has been privileged to play a role in obtaining PIDA financing to support the project,” Ross said.

Construction is expected to begin in July, with completion expected during the first quarter of 2014, Ross said in the release.

Created in 1956, the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) provides low-interest loansto local nonprofit industrial development corporations (IDCs) for eligible businesses that commit to creating and/or retaining jobs. PIDA funds can be used only to support real estate acquisition and/or construction.

Copyright © 2013, Herald Mail

Vacon Inc. is affirming its commitment to production in Chambersburg.

The Finland-based manufacturer will begin fully producing a line of alternating current drives in Chambersburg that previously used components made in Finland and then shipped to the U.S. for assembly and distribution.

“This is a big step for us in North America because our customers like to see the products built in their own homeland.” said Tom Doring, president of Vacon North America. “We have lots of customers come through here. We’re very excited about this.”

Vacon makes AC drives, which are used to control the speed of motors. The drives are used in building automation, marine and offshore, mining and metals, water and wastewater, and renewable energy industries.

Mike Hennessey, director of Operations and Services, Vacon, Inc., celebrates the production of the company’s 10,000th AC drive during a ceremony Wednesday at the Nitterhouse Drive plant. (Public Opinion/Markell DeLoatch)

Doring said local manufacturing is critical to success in North America, allowing shorter delivery times and quicker customer response times.

Employees at the Chambersburg plant celebrated the milestone Wednesday, along with another major milestone for that product line – 10,000 of the units have been produced in the U.S. to date.

“We decided we’re going to put some significant capital investment in to bring on some additional manufacturing, and clearly that’s a significant step up,” said Mike Hennessey, director of operations and services. “You can see the pace and the activity picking up.”

Vacon employs about 100 people in Chambersburg.

A few years ago, Vacon acquired the drive business from TB Woods Inc. and, along with it, a facility on Black Gap Road. The company opted to stay in Chambersburg and build a new facility on Nitterhouse Drive, which now serves as its North American headquarters.

The new building allowed Vacon to expand the range of products and production capacity.

Business from the former T.B. Woods segment now represents only a portion of the production at the Chambersburg factory. According to Doring, business has grown eight-fold, both in terms of revenue and volume.

Marcus Rauhut can be reached at mrauhut@publicopinionnews.com and 262-4752, or follow him on Twitter @MarcusRauhutPO.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. —

Lt. Col. Bryan Fowler will assume command of Letterkenny Munitions Center at 10 a.m. June 6 in a ceremony at Letterkenny Army Depot, making him the first military commander of the Munitions Center.

Fowler will replace Ed Averill, who served as the director and will continue working for the Munitions Center as the civilian executive assistant to the commander.

Fowler, originally from Atlanta, most recently served as chief of plans and integration in XVIII Airborne Corps’ G-4 office at Fort Bragg, N.C.

The ceremony will be hosted by Col. Linwood Clark, commander of the Crane (Ind.) Army Ammunition Activity.

The Munitions Center is a tenant on Letterkenny Army Depot, and falls under the command and control of Clark as part of the Joint Munitions Command.

The Munitions Center makes up approximately 16,000 acres of the depot’s 18,668 acres, and is responsible for the storage, maintenance, shipping and demilitarization of ammunition and missiles. Over the last few decades, the center has become one of the premier Defense Department tactical missile maintenance centers for all of the armed forces, and for many of the missile systems is the sole maintenance site.

Copyright © 2013, Herald Mail

waynesboro@herald-mail.com

10:31 p.m. EDT, May 1, 2013

WAYNESBORO, Pa. —

The Waynesboro Borough Council has established a tax abatement program designed to stimulate economic development.

On Wednesday, the council approved a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Abatement (LERTA) program and a map of eligible commercial and industrial properties. The council’s efforts mirror ones in neighboring Washington and Quincy townships.

The Waynesboro Area School Board and Franklin County (Pa.) Commissioners will be asked to extend similar tax savings, officials said.

Owners of designated properties may apply for LERTA benefits if they make improvements to the properties.

They are eligible for tax savings for 10 years.

Eligible properties in the Borough of Waynesboro include the area around Johnson Controls/Frick, the downtown business district and the Waynesboro Mall. Also included are a section of West Main Street near the borough line, the property around Waynesboro Ice & Cold Storage, and buildings currently or previously associated with Wayne Tool Co., Landis Machine Co. and Landis Tool Co.

The council debated for a few weeks over which properties to include.

LERTA only affects improved portions of properties. Under LERTA, for example, if $100,000 worth of improvements are made on a $200,000 property, the owner could only pay full real estate taxes on the $200,000 — not $300,000 — for several years.

In the borough, an applicant can apply for benefits anytime within the next 10 years. He or she would pay 10 percent of taxes on improvements in the second year, 20 percent in the third year, 30 percent in the fourth year and so on.

Copyright © 2013, Herald Mail

@MarcusRauhutPO

FRANKLIN COUNTY – The county is considering a tax abatement incentive for a potential distribution center that could create nearly 1,000 jobs.

An unnamed Fortune 500 company is looking for a location to build a new distribution facility, and a site near Shippensburg is in the running.

Southampton Township in Franklin County and Shippensburg Area School District have already approved a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Abatement Act incentive for the proposed site on Olde Scotland Road.

L. Michael Ross, president of Franklin County Area Development Corp., and Michael Alderman, Liberty Property Trust vice president, director of leasing and development, asked Franklin County commissioners Tuesday for a similar incentive.

“We think the LERTA benefit is absolutely essential to our efforts to recruit the current project,” Ross said. “The LERTA benefit is becoming increasingly used for major projects along I-81 and I-78, and for our developers to compete with other sites, that benefit is becoming increasingly crucial.”

Commissioners did not make a decision Tuesday.

“I have some reservation but can’t turn my back to 1,000 jobs,” Commissioner Bob Ziobrowski said. “I recognize time might be short, but we’re not prepared to make a decision today.”

The company wants to open the facility in summer 2014 and needs to decide soon where to locate.

“This has everyone’s attention,” Alderman said. “We will be managing this very deliberately and making sure they get on schedule.”

The company expects to create 963 jobs with many wages around $18 to $25 an hour, according to Ross.

“The expectation is they will draw from the local labor shed, so you’re realistically looking at a location from Carlisle to Hagerstown as a primary area where they will attract their basic work force,” Ross said.

The building would be about 1.8 million square feet – about the size of 31 football fields – and would easily be the largest distribution center in the region.

About six years ago, Liberty Property Trust purchased the 182-acre property on Olde Scotland Road near Exit 24 of Interstate 81.

Over the past few years, Liberty worked with a number of prospective companies to build there, but for various reasons the projects did not pan out.

“This time, we seem to have a very active interest in a large multi-national company,” Alderman said. “They seem to be in the final decision. They’re down to two sites. We don’t know the other one in Pennsylvania, but we have a feeling it’s located in the eastern half of the state. We’re clearly in a competitive situation.”

According to Alderman, there are only about half a dozen sites in Pennsylvania that can accommodate a building of this size. All have some form of tax abatement incentive, such as LERTA or Keystone Opportunity Zone, he said.

“Before the financial crisis, Pennsylvania had limited incentivized sites. Something happened in the financial crisis. There was pressure from southern states,” Alderman said.

LERTA incentives provide incremental property tax breaks over a 10-year period.

In March, the school district approved a LERTA zone with a 120-day window to take advantage of the incentive. Though the company has not made a final decision, Southampton Township has already approved a land development plan for the building, should the company decide to build there.

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Marcus Rauhut can be reached at mrauhut@publicopinionnews.com and 262-4752, or follow him on Twitter @MarcusRauhutPO

Date:   04/09/2013 10:33:07 AM EDT

CHAMBERSBURG – An India-based manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders plans to open a facility in Chambersburg, bringing at least 74 new jobs to the area.

Wipro Infrastructure Engineering expects to be operational in Chambersburg by the end of the year, according to Eric Olson, general manager for North America.

“Wirpro is putting their footprint where their customers are. That’s the primary reason for that location,” he said. “Our commitment in Chambersburg is going to be $10 million in capital investment. It will create 74 jobs. Those jobs will be local. They will be hired around the surrounding areas.” The company is a major supplier to Volvo Construction Equipment, which has its American headquarters nearby in Shippensburg.

Gov. Tom Corbett announced the project during a South American trade mission financed by Team Pennsylvania Foundation. Franklin County Area Development Corp. is also represented on the trade mission.

Wipro is based in Bangalore and has 13 other manufacturing facilities across India, Sweden, Finland, Romania, Brazil, and China. The Chambersburg facility will be the company’s first in the U.S.

The company makes hydraulic cylinders used in material and cargo handling, construction and earth-moving, agriculture, and mining equipment. Olson said the company picked Chambersburg because of its proximity to major original equipment manufacturers.

“Obviously we’re very excited about the announcement today and the impact it will have on Franklin County and our ability to support our core manufacturing and diversified manufacturing base,” said L. Michael Ross, president of Franklin County Area Development Corp. “This is a significant capital investment.”

FCADC and the governor’s office worked with Wirpro to select a site for its first North American facility.

FCADC recently acquired the former Olson & Olson facility at 1101 Sheffler Dr. in the Chambers 5 Business Park and executed a five-year lease with Wipro.

Ross said the total project cost is approximately $11.7 million, which includes the FCADC building purchase of $1.675 million.

Though headquartered in India, the company has established a supply chain relationship with Volvo CE in Brazil through its subsidiary RKM Equipamentos Hideaulicos.

Ross said the expectation is that by establishing a Pennsylvania operation, the supply chain relationship can be replicated in support of Volvo’s Shippensburg production.

Volvo cut the ribbon to a $100 million expansion last month at its Shippensburg plant, which produces machinery used in construction.

“Volvo is encouraging their suppliers to move closer to their facilities,” Corbett said in a conference call with media Tuesday.

The 10-day trade mission, privately funded by Team Pennsylvania Foundation, includes stops in the Brazilian cities of Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro, along with Santiago, Chile. Corbett is leading a delegation of Pennsylvania businesses, tourism and university leaders and economic development groups.

“The trade mission has proven successful, not only with today’s announcement, but it facilitated introductions with other Volvo suppliers,” Ross said. “The goal is to have them consider similar Franklin County/Pennsylvania investment strategies as announced by Wipro Infrastructure Engineering.” Corbett said there will be more announcements coming out of South American trade mission.

Marcus Rauhut can be reached at mrauhut@publicopinionnews.com and 262-4752, or follow him on Twitter @MarcusRauhutPO.