Pennsylvania to provide loan for rail-served bulk transfer facility

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on Wednesday announced the state will provide loans to help Altoona-Blair County Development Corp. (ABCDC) and the Greater Erie Industrial Development Corp. Inc. (EIDCO) acquire and develop unused land for industrial parks.

The Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) will provide a $1.22 million low-interest loan to EIDCO to acquire 29.8 acres in Harborcreek Township to develop a bulk transfer industrial facility that would be served by CSX Transportation and East Erie Commercial Railroad. The corporation would provide more than $2 million to develop the site.

PIDA also will provide a $1.5 million loan to ABCDC to acquire and develop 144 acres in Greenfield Township for the last of a series of industrial parks to be established along the Interstate-99 corridor. The company will allocate more than $6 million for site development work.

"My administration's coordination with our regional economic development partners continues to develop and prepare industrial parks to bring new jobs to the state," Corbett said in a press release. "With continued growth in manufacturing and shale-related industries, counties with the established infrastructure are positioned to attract job creation to the region."