Category: Projects
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Look Ma, We Won!!
Published first on the Progress News, May 16, 2022 We are absolutely delighted to announce that the ORA’s Redevelopment program has been selected to receive another EPA Community-Wide Assessment (CWA) grant! We were one of only six applicants selected in Pennsylvania for this round, so we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have made the cut. Our first… Read more
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Intro to Agroforestry
Published first on the Progress News, April 18, 2022 Given the importance of agriculture to our state’s economy, it’s no surprise that a fair bit of agricultural activity is included in redevelopment planning, especially in rural northwestern PA. We’ve talked a fair bit in the past about opportunities with solar farming and hemp farming, and today… Read more
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Midspring Project Update
Published first on the Progress News, April 11, 2022 With daffodils beginning to bloom all around us, it’s official. Spring is really, truly here, regardless of how many snow flurries we might still get! And with spring comes the much-anticipated return of suitable weather conditions for our boots-on-the-ground projects. As always, in the brownfield redevelopment world, especially, physical… Read more
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Expanding Our Focus
Published first on the Progress News, March 14, 2022 As we have gotten our regional Redevelopment program off the ground, our first focus areas have been Emlenton and Oil City, where the ORA already had significant on-the-ground presence and property. Now, as our program has matured, our capacity has increased, and the first few priority sites… Read more
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Superfunds: Super Scary, but Super Rewarding!
Published first on the Progress News, February 28, 2022 With spring just around the corner, I’m starting to get excited about the upcoming season of on-the-ground works, with projects kicking off or starting back up in Oil City, Reno, Foxburg, Emlenton, Grove City, and probably more! It will be a busy year for Redevelopment, to… Read more
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An Engineering Perspective
Published first on the Progress News, February 14, 2022 When the ORA acquired the former Fuchs property in Emlenton, we were fortunate to partner with the skilled Environmental Engineering team at Moody & Associates. With their decades of experience in brownfield work, the Meadville-based firm has been helping us document and plan a remediation strategy to… Read more
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Redevelopment Planning
Published first on the Progress News, February 7, 2022 Ever wonder how Redevelopment projects are prioritized and planned? For those not involved in the behind-the-scenes strategy sessions involved in redevelopment work, it can sometimes seem like decisions are made somewhat arbitrarily, or opportunistically. Frankly, sometimes it seems like that to those of us in redevelopment, too! But there… Read more
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More Solar Opportunities
Published first on the Progress News, January 17, 2022 Continuing the conversation from last week, let’s look at a few more redevelopment opportunities in the field of solar energy. From conventional residential solar panels to research on new gizmos and gadgets, there is quite a bit coming up with which homeowners, landowners, business owners, organizations, and… Read more
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2021 End of Year Review
Published first on the Progress News, December 20, 2021 It’s nice sometimes – especially when things feel overwhelming and hectic or when the pace of progress feels too slow, or both at the same time! – to stop, look around, and appreciate everything that has been accomplished so far. It always manages to give a… Read more
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December Project Updates
Published first on the Progress News, December 6, 2021 Since we’ve been talking a fair bit recently about “what will be” and “what can be,” I figured it’s about time for a “what is” update! We’re fully into the grant-writing season, so unfortunately a lot of “what is” is…boring paperwork. Exciting for the potential it holds for… Read more
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Regional Redevelopment Connections
Published first on the Progress News, November 15, 2021 I often get asked what exactly redevelopment is, or what kind of projects we are involved in, and it can be challenging to succinctly describe what goes on in a very wide-ranging field! One benefit of the creation of our regional coalition is that it offers… Read more
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What Is a Regional Growth Cluster?
Published first on the Progress News, November 8, 2021 In the last column, I mentioned the creation of a regional coalition of redevelopment partners. I threw out some soundbites like “innovation ecosystem” and “regional growth cluster,” and you may be thinking, “okay, but what does that all Mean?” The idea of banding together for the… Read more