The plan includes the improvement of infrastructure in the city’s industrial park, low interest loans for businesses and the stimulation of new construction throughout the city, Campana said.

“It is my objective to fast track this plan because we need new jobs now,” he said.

According to Campana, details on the “pro-active” plan will be given in the near future in front of City Council.

As a start to the stimulus plan, Campana accepted the $30,000 down payment from Moran Industries, which will demolish the former low-income housing project in Newberry and build a “modern warehouse and distribution center,” according to Jason Fitzgerald, general manager of JDM consultants, a division of Moran Industries.

Fitzgerald estimated that 35 “good, family-sustaining jobs” will be available at the new facility. He said even more jobs could come in the future as the site grows.

“We’re very happy about our relationship with the city of Williamsport, and we hope to enjoy the success here that we’ve enjoyed in Watsontown (the company’s headquarters),” Jeff Stroehmann, president of operations at Moran, said.

The 10-acre Kennedy-King property was purchased by Moran Industries for $301,000 from the city of Williamsport. The company hopes to begin demolition at the site in the next several months, according to Stroehmann.

Campana said all funds from the sale will go toward “infrastructure improvements to other areas of the city,” such as further street paving in the Williamsport Industrial Park.

He added that such improvements to the city will create a “pro-business environment.”

“It is imperative to improve the necessary infrastructure to retain these jobs and open up additional land in the vicinity to spur future business,” he said. “We can’t have businesses looking elsewhere to grow.”

Source: Sun Gazette, Ashley Wislock

Jeff Stroehmann, vice president of operations for Moran Industries in Watsontown, said he was appointed to serve on the 12-member bi-partisan board as a result of his diverse background in transportation issues.

He also referred to some of the accomplishments of Moran, a warehousing, distribution and logistics company, in transportation-related activities.

He was appointed by state Rep. Keith R. McCall, D-Lansford, who serves as Speaker of the House.

“I am honored to have been appointed to this very important committee by Speaker McCall,” he said. “I look forward to working with the other members to enhance Pennsylvania’s infrastructure, which will create jobs and economic opportunity for citizens of Pennsylvania.”

The committee, he noted, studies state transportation issues and their impact on economic development and makes reports to the state Legislature and the governor.

Stroehmann, chairman of the Lycoming County Republican Committee, lost in the party’s primary for a Congressional seat in 2008 to Glenn Thompson.

He said, however, that while campaigning his ideas on transportation, including a plan to enhance the state’s infrastructure through investments in roads, rails line and rural airports, caught the attention of some officials.

Stroehmann is filling out the term of Larry McCrae of Philadelphia, who resigned from the committee.

The term expires next year.

Committee members are appointed by the governor, Speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate.

Other members include state Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler, Public Utility Commission Chairman James H. Crawley, Acting Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection John Hanger, Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff, Secretary of Education Gerald L. Zahorchak, and Acting Secretary of Community and Economic Development John Blake.

Source: Sun Gazette, Mike Reuther

Moran, along with family members and state, county and municipal political leaders, broke ground Friday on a $1.4 million project designed to significantly increase rail freight operations to the company distribution center complex in Watsontown.

The project will be paid for with a $1 million state Rail Freight Assistance Grant, acquired through the help of state Rep. Merle Phillips, R-Upper Augusta Township, and state Sen. John Gordner, R-Berwick. Moran Industries will cover the remaining cost of the project, said company spokesman Jason Fitzgerald.

The project includes the installation of two rail sidings to company distribution warehouses that formerly were home to Zenith, and before that, Philco-Ford.

The siding, which connects with nearby Norfolk Southern Railroad lines, will allow rail cars to have direct access to company distribution center loading docks.

According to company vice president of operations Jeff Stroehmann, there are many benefits to using long distance rail freight and then transferring to truck freight for short distances.

According to Stroehmann, rail freight:

is economical for customers.

places less stress on the nation’s highways by reducing the number of trucks on the road.

produces less greenhouse emissions than the trucking industry.

provides better paying transportation jobs

A gallon of diesel fuel will move a ton of freight 420 miles, Stroehmann said. It costs the same to build 10 miles of rail lines as it does to build one mile of highway, he said.

The project will be done in two phases, said Brad Aurand, senior engineer with JMD Consultants, the Moran subsidiary overseeing the project.

Phase One includes the installation of 1,000 lineal feet of siding; Phase Two includes the installation of 600 lineal feet of siding, Aurand said.

The project will double the 250,000 square feet of company warehousing space with access to rails, he said.

“The project will double the square footage and put Moran Industries and the Borough of Watsontown on the map for intermodal shipping,” he said.

Gordner said the Moran complex proves the benefit of having a local, family-owned business in the area.

Out-of-state companies might see Watsontown simply as “a pin on the map,” while the Morans, who live in the area, have invested in their business, community and region, Gordner said.

“This is an investment that will pay dividends, not only for state taxpayers, but for Northumberland County, as well,” Phillips said. “Infrastructure improvements like this one is a vital link in helping industry thrive.”

According to Stroehmann, John “Jack” Moran Sr. bought the complex in 1983. That investment helped turn an abandoned brownfield into a thriving commercial operation, he said.

“With his vision and his son John’s hard work, this facility was spared from the fate of being another fixture in the growing portfolio of abandoned Pennsylvania rust belt hulks,” Stroehmann said.

Over 25 years, the Moran family worked to transform the complex into a state-of-the-art distribution center, investing “untold sweat equity and over $25 million in capital into this campus,” he said.

The newest addition to the complex is a Canadian-based auto parts remanufacturing company. In January, Moran Industries began operating a distribution center for the company in a building that showcases the state-of-the-art technology of modern logistics operations. The building will be one of the facilities served by the new rail sidings, according to operations manager Barry Mayes.

John Moran Jr. said he remember coming to Watsontown as a newly married 21-year-old. Moran said he worried about “getting this facility back on the production path.”

He said it took “a leap of faith” on the part of local politicians to acquire the funding for the rail project, but vowed they would soon realize the funding was money well spent.

Northumberland County commissioners Frank Sawicki and Kurt Masser also spoke during the ceremony.

Masser praised the company for fueling economic development in the county.

“Government doesn’t create jobs,” Masser said. “It’s people like John Moran who step up. He does have the attitude, ‘Whatever it takes.’ We need more John Morans.”

Although a light rain fell during the ceremony, Borough Mayor David Hontz said the ground breaking proved “the sun is shining on Watsontown.”

“I see this as not only a positive thing for Watsontown and Moran Industries, but for the area,” Hontz said. “That is quite a happening in light of the economy.”

Source: Sun Gazette, David Thompson

 Two additional rail sidings, totalling 1,600 feet of track, will be constructed, adding two warehouses to the two buildings now rail accessible, according to Moran officials. Moran, which employs 350 people, has 2 million square feet of warehouse space at locations in Watsontown, Williamsport and Sunbury.

A $1 million grant to Northumberland County through the state Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Rail Freight, Ports and Waterways will be augmented by $400,000 from Moran Industries.

“Our business model is inbound on rail and outbound distribution by truck,” said Jason Fitzgerald of JDM Consultants, the project managers.

Moran handles products for 30 clients in its facilities. The majority of products fall into three categories: canned foods, auto parts and paper products.

Each of these groups is recession-proof, according to John D. “Jack” Moran, who founded the company in 1975. During times of economic slowdown, people buy canned foods because they are less expensive than fresh foods, they buy auto parts to make their own repairs, and they always need paper products such as paper towels and toilet tissue, Moran said.

One of the existing rail sidings goes inside a building, providing 11 spots for boxcars of paper products, while the second spur accesses a warehouse exclusively devoted to canned food products. The warehouses are on Norfolk Southern’s Buffalo main line and currently are served from the Northumberland yard three days a week.

“Our job is stocking, loading and delivery to the end users of products,” said Brad Aurand, of JDM. JDM is the engineering and construction management subsidiary of Moran Industries.

“Rail is very economical and efficient for the long haul,” he continued. “A ton of goods can be moved 410 miles on a gallon of diesel fuel.”

Fitzgerald said the rail-truck interface provides good jobs for truck drivers.

“They’re home every night, and it’s safer for them to make the shorter runs,” he said. “It reduces road maintenance costs and greenhouse gases.”

Fitzgerald said the additional rail access will lead to additional employment.

“We’re looking at significant job growth here,” he said. “I’d say we’ll have 60-80 additional employees by next spring.”

As part of the construction, an access road along one side of a warehouse will be relocated to accommodate a rail siding. When the road is reconstructed, new drainage will be included that will reduce flooding in Spring Run, which runs through Watsontown to the river.

In addition to Moran officials who participated in the ground-breaking, Sen. John Gordner, Rep. Merle Phillips, Frank Sawicki and Kurt Masser, Northumberland County commissioners, and Dave Hontz, Watsontown mayor participated.

Article by By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item