Biz in the Valley: Communicycle expands with new Monaca building & more

Biz in the Valley is a monthly roundup of business happenings in the Beaver Valley and beyond. To submit an item, email csuttles@gannett.com.

A Beaver County-based nonprofit and youth bike program is expanding its presence with a new central location in Monaca.

Communicycle, best known for repairing bikes for children and others in Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Allegheny counties – and neighboring Ohio – announced the move to 1214 Pennsylvania Ave. in January.

Fixing old bikes: Communicycle: They fix old bikes - and give them away

Located in a former Family Dollar, the new Communicycle hub “just made sense,” said Lee Montanari, executive director of Communicycle.

With dozens of satellite locations in the region, the nonprofit needed a larger space for partners to stock up on bikes, parts and tools. The new building is nearly double the size of Communicycle’s previous Monaca spot on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

“It’s the most central place for people,” Montanari said. “There’s Route 51 in one direction and Route 18 in another. Nobody said Monaca was too far, so we decided to stick with Monaca for this new building. We’re investing in this location so that all of these other satellites can also take place.

“Think of this location as the bin where all the parts are housed,” he added. “It’s visible enough but set back so there’s more parking,”

Communicycle collects used bikes and bike parts to repair and refurbish and give to those who don’t own a bicycle, particularly children. The volunteer-run initiative hosts regular pop-up events at churches, community centers, schools and businesses throughout the region.

The new building will continue to equip volunteers and provide a roomier space for community building, said Montanari. He hopes it becomes a gathering place.

“People could have meetings here for team building and then we’d recommend Monaca businesses to support,” he said, including the many breweries, coffee shops, eateries and music shops that line Pennsylvania Avenue.

Greater financial need will accompany the larger space, said Montanari. Financial assistance will “allow our grant money to focus on programming,” not just keeping the lights on, he added. It will cost roughly $5,000 a month to keep the new building running. Communicycle always needs bike and part donations, as well as volunteers.

“What we need is people who are willing to invest in what we do,” Montanari said.

Visit http://communicycle.org to give financially, volunteer, or donate bikes and parts.

Funding to help develop former Bruce Mansfield site

The Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development will receive $100,000 in funding and technical assistance to help repurpose the 600-acre Shippingport Industrial Park, housing the former Bruce Mansfield coal-fired power plant along the Ohio River.

The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management's “Capacity Building for Repurposing Energy Assets” initiative, created to help redevelop areas historically supported by fossil fuels infrastructure.

“This funding will help the communities build technical capacity and develop a workforce necessary to help revitalize energy systems, address environmental impacts and tackle challenges associated with energy assets that have been retired, or are slated for retirement,” the DOE’s January funding notice read.

The federal government in early January announced a combined $800,000 in funding to eight government and nonprofit organizations to repurpose energy assets.

Free entrepreneurship workshops in Beaver County

Job Training for Beaver County, a nonprofit workforce development organization, is offering a series of free “Smart Start” entrepreneurship workshops for Beaver County residents.

For those interested in starting or growing a small business, the in-person classes in Beaver Valley Mall’s Pennsylvania CareerLink Beaver County are available regularly throughout the year. Classes explore business ownership myths and facts, the 60-second elevator pitch, banking and bookkeeping, organizational types, marketing and communication, risk management, insurance and more.

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To see the full schedule of classes, visit https://jtbc.org/events. Contact Dianne Hanrahan at dhanrahan@jtbc.org or call 724-728-4860 ext. 233 to register.

Stonecrest Business Park selected as PA SITES finalist

The proposed Stonecrest Business Park in Lawrence County’s New Beaver is one of 20 applicants moving forward in the competitive Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites program, or PA SITES.

The program is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development under the Pennsylvania First program. It provides grant funding to develop or enhance business sites and support the relocation or expansion of Pennsylvania businesses.

Stonecrest would be Lawrence County’s first privately developed business park in more than 40 years. It would aim to bring in light manufacturing and warehouse/distribution firms, offering pad-ready building sites with all public utilities in place. It's projected to create 1.5 million square feet of space and generate as many as 1,000 new jobs.

Ben Bush, Forward Lawrence Chamber and Economic Alliance CEO, applauded Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration and the General Assembly for recognizing the “lack of shovel-ready industrial sites throughout the commonwealth, and their willingness to stand up a brand-new pilot program to invest in our communities.”

“It is my hope that the sheer number of requests received will reveal to both the administration and the General Assembly the need to bolster programs such as PA Sites, so that the commonwealth can compete once again with our neighboring states in terms of the availability of pad-ready industrial sites," he said. "Speed to market is a necessity for businesses, and this program will go a long way in reducing build times for companies looking to relocate or expand their operations in Pennsylvania.”

John LaCarte, Stonecrest Business Park principal, said the project’s inclusion as a program finalist “demonstrates the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development's and the commonwealth’s commitment and recognition of the importance of our project to the economic future of Lawrence County.”

The DCED received funding requests totaling $236 million for the available $10 million. The next phase of the application is due March 1.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Biz in the Valley: Communicycle expands with new Monaca building & more