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Tax credits seen as a key to start-ups on Park Avenue

KATELYN HIBBERT/Sun-Gazette The former Trimtex building, at left, on Park Avenue is being eyed by Mayor Gabriel J. Campana for reuse, specifically in a plan to incorporate science, technology, engineering and mathematics, interacting with new and existing businesses and for educational purposes.

Business start-ups and entrepreneurs might be lured by hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax credits used for buying equipment or saving for their investment and growth on areas eyed for redevelopment on Park Avenue in Williamsport.

Kelly O’Brien Gavin, of the Rural Business Innovation Corp., which is based in Bloomsburg, told members of City Council’s economic revitalization committee on Tuesday about the potential of developing on the street and creating Keystone Innovative Zones, or KIZs, which can provide usable sites for start-up companies and tax incentives.

Councilman Randall J. Allison, chairman; Councilwoman Liz Miele and Councilman Joel Henderson are taking the lead on Mayor Gabriel J. Campana’s plan to see empty lots and blighted buildings along Park Avenue, between Hepburn and Campbell streets, reused and redeveloped.

Keystone Innovative Zones might be what attracts new businesses and existing small businesses to locate on the corridor, Gavin said.

“Each business gets connected to get the best bang for the buck,” she said. Such tax credits, which come with a lot of regulations, may be put back into the businesses for purchase of equipment or can be saved, she said.

Lauri Moon, Williamsport/Lycoming Keystone Innovation coordinator at Innovative Manufacturers’ Center on the campus of the Pennsylvania College of Technology, also said she believes that area of street is ripe for business growth and the use of tax credits.

In spring 2016, the Pajama Factory, an incubator for artists at Memorial Avenue and Rose Street, gained KIZ status, Moon said.

The mayor, too, supports this neighborhood, which is equally distant from Williamsport Regional Medical Center and downtown, to be redeveloped for commercial and residential improvement purposes.

Campana’s particularly interested in the Trimtex building, a vacant factory that he envisions as an “idea center,” with a local developer.

“Our plan enables the city to capitalize on the intellect and resources in our area school districts, the health system, Lycoming College and Penn College of Technology, which flourish from curriculum and professionals who have excelled in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum,” Campana said. “With our two local colleges, we have the brains of future graduates to facilitate entrepreneurship,” he said.

Campana said that for business loans and grants he has reached out to Gov. Tom Wolf’s Action Team and he has briefed individuals at the state Department of Education as the plan progresses.

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