JARI, Mon Valley Progress Council Join Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance

Two more regional economic development organizations have joined the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance (PEIA), a broad-based coalition of labor, agriculture, manufacturing and other business interests that support private investment in pipeline and other energy infrastructure developments.

JARI and the Mon Valley Progress Council will work with PEIA members to educate lawmakers, members of their respective organizations, and the public about the benefits of investing today to modernize and create new energy infrastructure to secure Pennsylvania’s economic future.

“If we want to grow a diverse economy and build vibrant communities, then we have to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to put Pennsylvania’s natural resources to work for Pennsylvanians. That means modernizing our energy infrastructure so our businesses can compete and our workers can prosper,” JARI President Linda Thomson said.

“Investments in pipelines and energy infrastructure have the potential to transform the Mid Mon Valley,” Mon Valley Progress Council Executive Director Joseph Kirk said. “These are exactly the kinds of projects we need to ensure a diverse economic base, create jobs, grow our regional population and make communities more livable.”

JARI and the Mon Valley Progress Council join the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and Delaware County Chamber of Commerce as partners in the coalition, which launched June 8.

Beside the two chambers, the two other founding members include the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA!), which has more than 25,000 members in Pennsylvania, and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 66.

Other PEIA members include the Pennsylvania State Grange, the oldest agricultural and rural advocacy organization of its kind in the United States, representing about 9,000 Pennsylvanians.

Through media and grassroots education efforts, PEIA and its members aim to showcase how private investment in pipeline and other energy infrastructure can strengthen the state’s economy, create jobs, and increase public safety when projects are properly designed, built and maintained.

JARI is a nonprofit economic development organization that has been a devoted partner of the business community in Cambria and Somerset counties since 1974. JARI’s team of business professionals has a combined 155 years of experience in economic and entrepreneurial development. In 2013, JARI’s team served more than 400 clients with commercial lending, equity investing, real estate and other regional, state and federal economic development initiatives.

The Mon Valley Progress Council was founded in 1965 by Mid Mon Valley business leaders who saw the need for regionally based actions to address the closure of the USS Donora Works and related economic challenges. Since then, the council has undertaken a broad array of economic development initiatives and continues to lead regional efforts to advance projects that improve infrastructure, generate jobs, enhance work force skills and grow communities.