Knowledge Park at Penn State Erie
named a Pennsylvania SelectSite

Knowledge Park at Penn State Erie has been named a SelectSite by Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). This designation identifies the park as having sites that are ready for immediate development and helps market those sites to potential job-project investors.

Earlier this fall, Innovation Park at Penn State, the University's research park on the University Park campus, was designated a Pennsylvania SelecTech-Site.

The department's SelectSite/SelecTech-Sites program helps companies find the locations they need quickly and cost effectively. It joins Gov. Tom Ridge's Keystone Opportunity Zones and Land Recycling Program as new and creative approaches to economic development.

Knowledge Park at Penn State Erie is a 200-acre research and development site situated on the Penn State Erie campus, created to enable knowledge-based organizations to locate closer to and take fuller advantage of the college's intellectual and physical resources. The park is being developed by Penn State Erie and the Economic Development Corp. of Erie County.

Dedicated by Ridge in 1999, Knowledge Park has more than 20 four-acre sites for buildings of 40,000 square feet or more. It includes a shared conference center with advanced communications technology to meet all voice, video and data requirements.

The first 70,000-square-foot, multi-tenant office building is occupied by GE Business Solutions, an e-commerce arm of GE Transportation Systems, and Aalborg Industries. The 40,000-square-foot Center for Advanced Technical Training now under construction is a partnership of Penn State Erie, the Northwest Pennsylvania Technical Institute, and the Manufacturer's Association of Northwest Pennsylvania.

A second multi-tenant office building with 66,372 square feet is now under construction, and a contract has been signed for its lease.

The SelectSites and SelecTech-Sites program is the most comprehensive and innovative program of its kind in the nation, according to Sam McCullough, DCED secretary. The initiative was developed by Ridge's Action Team as a collaborative partnership among the Pennsylvania Economic Development Association; the Team Pennsylvania Foundation; a broad consortium of electric, gas, rail and telecommunications utilities; and key technology stakeholders across the Commonwealth.

The consortium worked in consultation with Fluor Global Services, which developed rigorous criteria for designation as a SelectSite/SelecTech-Site. The sites were evaluated according to site characteristics, workforce information, educational resources and opportunities, community resources, local utilities, detailed infrastructure information, transportation access and telecommunications infrastructure.

For more information about Knowledge Park at Penn State Erie, call Robert W. Light at (814) 898-6230.

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