Category: Redevelopment Works

  • Summer Project Updates

    RiverAdmin

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    Published first on the Progress News, June 20, 2022 If someone could please let me know where the year has gone, I’d much appreciate it. But, here we are in the middle of June already, so it seems like a great time for a project update! Over at the River Roots Community Farm, a generous donation… Read more

  • ORA Staff Member Graduates From Harvard With 4.0 GPA

    RiverAdmin

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    Published first on the Progress News, June 21, 2022 Oil City, PA— Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry & Tourism Redevelopment Manager Selina Pedi graduated with “Highest Honors”, from Harvard University, earning her master’s degree in Sustainability with a focus on community resilience on May 26. In addition to her 4.0-grade point average, Pedi’s master’s… Read more

  • Agency Partnerships

    RiverAdmin

    Published first on the Progress News, May 23, 2022 Last week I shared the great news that we have been awarded another EPA grant to continue the important foundational work of assessing and planning for future reuse of our region’s brownfields. This is one of those times where, yes, absolutely, the funding is fantastic and necessary… Read more

  • Look Ma, We Won!!

    RiverAdmin

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    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

  • Agroforestry Based Brownfield Remediation in Texas

    RiverAdmin

    Published first on the Progress News, May 2, 2022 To wrap up our discussion around agroforestry this month I wanted to share a successful tree-based bioremediation project out of Texas. Since much of the redevelopment work we do in and around the Oil Heritage Region is brownfield redevelopment, we are always keen to learn about viable,… Read more

  • Guest Column – Tracey Coulter, Agroforester

    RiverAdmin

    Published first on the Progress News, April 25, 2022 Last week’s Redevelopment Column introduced the concept of agroforestry and how it is often defined by specific practices. In the mid-Atlantic and Northwest regions of the country there are on-going efforts to plant riparian buffers to enhance water quality and to protect fisheries. In the Midwest, thousands of… Read more

  • Intro to Agroforestry

    RiverAdmin

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    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

  • Midspring Project Update

    RiverAdmin

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    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

  • Waterfront Opportunities

    RiverAdmin

    Published first on the Progress News, March 28, 2022 One of the greatest joys of traveling is seeing how other people do things, how challenges are identified and overcome, how resources are shared and utilized, and what sorts of impacts actions have in differing places. I was in Chicago last week, which certainly has its fair… Read more

  • The Role of Business

    RiverAdmin

    Published first on the Progress News, March 21, 2022 We talk a lot in this column about the role of community organizations like the ORA, and we’ve touched somewhat on the role of individuals and businesses in community redevelopment. Today, though, I’d like to take a deeper dive into the role of businesses in community resilience. It… Read more

  • Expanding Our Focus

    RiverAdmin

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    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

  • Community Resilience

    RiverAdmin

    Published first on the Progress News, March 7, 2022 I frequently talk about the concept and goals of redevelopment, but this week I’d like to step back a little and look at the even bigger picture: Community Resilience. Community resilience refers to the ability of any given community to process, adapt to, and learn from adversity… Read more