LVEDC works to enhance business opportunities in the Lebanon Valley

Founded in the 1950s, the Lebanon Valley Industrial Development Corporation has adapted over the years to remain relevant to local businesses.

President Susan Eberly said the organization’s initial mission was to help provide business loans. The organization was renamed the Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corporation in 1990, according to the organization’s 1990-91 annual report. 

“I think it was in the ’50s they had an organization that kind of did PIDA (Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority) loans, and that’s all they did was to provide loans,” Eberly said. “Then forward-thinking people said, ‘Hey, this can be more. Let’s turn it into a full economic development corporation.’”

The organization also worked with companies looking to come to Lebanon County and to provide assistance to existing businesses. There was, however, a small problem that plagued the corporation into the mid- to late 1980s and kept it from maximizing its potential, according to Eberly.

“We needed more land,” she said about that era, which was before she came to LVEDC in the late 1990s.

During the ’80s, a number of LVEDC annual reports indicate the need for a tract of land to establish a business park in the Lebanon Valley. Project 86, according to the 1987-88 annual report, was a study that was conducted to “examine industrial-zoned areas of Lebanon County to identify those tracts with the highest potential for development into an industrial park.” 

The first tenant in what would become the Lebanon Valley Business Park in South Lebanon Township was Gehl Corp., Eberly said. Another early adopter once the industrial park was established was the Quill Corp., which selected a site there in 1992.

“In 1989, the Gehl Co. officials were working out of a small shop in Jackson Township. The worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment decided to embark on a major multi-million-dollar project to develop a new state-of-the- art manufacturing plant designed to serve Gehl’s eastern markets,” Eberly said. “They approached the Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corporation for their assistance. After a nationwide search was completed, they determined that they liked the land located in South Lebanon Township which was alongside ALCOA.”

That wasn’t the only work performed by the economic development corporation on behalf of the manufacturer of agricultural products.

“During Gehl’s search, the dominating activity of the Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corporation was not only finding the perfect site for Gehl but also securing a $1 million grant for Business Infrastructure Development,” added Eberly. “Having these grant funds to offset costs secured the deal with the Gehl Co.”

In 1990, Gehl purchased a 25-acre site in South Lebanon Township.

“During this process, the corporation had identified the shortage of viable industrial sites as a major obstacle to economic development. The infrastructure improvements necessary to serve the Gehl site simultaneously improved the contiguous acreage. So, in 1991, LVEDC secured an option on 125 contiguous acres from ALCOA and thus began the start of a new beginning. The formation of the first county industrial park, the Lebanon Valley Business Park.”

The second business park tenant

In March 1992, the Quill Corp. (now Stag Lebanon) purchased a 33-acre site.

“The anchors of the park were now secured. The extension of Keystone Drive was completed, as well as signage, landscaping, and grounds maintenance,” Eberly said. “By the end of 1996, there were five companies located in the park. LVEDC was pleased with the growth and development of the park, so they determined that they would option additional land from ALCOA and expand the footprint.”

In 2002, LVEDC started working with a local company, Schott Pharmaceutical Packaging because it had been determined that they had outgrown their facility.

“After an extensive site search and months of due diligence, they determined they would remain in Lebanon County. This decision opened the second phase of the industrial park. Roads and utilities were expanded to the far eastern section of the park. By 2007, 14 businesses called the Park home,” said Eberly.

Near this location, LVEDC purchased additional adjoining land and started the Hawk Acre Business Park, accessed off Ritter Way. A handful of businesses are located at this site.

Today, the business park consists of 240 acres and is a designated “Pennsylvania Select Site,” meaning it is prime development land that’s shovel-ready. There are just under 20 acres that can still be developed at that location on several remaining lots.

The main park has about 20 tenants, including the LVEDC, and the businesses there employ around 1,000 workers, according to Eberly. There are a total of 29 businesses between the business park, Hawk Acre and the Lebanon Rails Business Park.

Lebanon Rails Business Park

At the turn of the new century, LVEDC developed a second industrial park called the Lebanon Rails Business Park near 25th Street in North Lebanon Township. 

“Jim Hanford owned, I think, 54 acres of industrial land there, and then Hershey Foods was looking to take land they had off of their books,” Eberly said. “So they asked if the EDC would take that donation. I think it was about 40 some acres or even more, and so we said, ‘Yeah, we’ll partner with Jim and we’ll open an industrial park,’ because at that point we thought that rail was going to be the new way of doing business that people were going back to do.”

An article in the July 27, 2001, edition of the Lebanon Daily News said Hershey planned to donate 63 acres to LVEDC. That donation along with the Hanford partnership led to the creation of Lebanon Rails Business Park on 117 acres along the railroad tracks near Lebanon Valley Mall.

“Hanford partnered with us so then when the land was sold they were getting a payment for their portion of it,” Eberly said. “And then when Jim Hanford passed away, the boys said, ‘Hey, we don’t want to be in this kind of relationship, in the industrial market.’”

There was notable excitement within LVEDC and its board over the acquisition of those two parcels of land and the development of a second industrial site – even if that move presented some challenges.

“We just kept thinking it’s going to be a rail-served park. It’s in an industrial zone. We did meet a lot of challenges along the way, with the streets. We had to widen 25th Street. We had to put new (traffic) signals out on Route 72 and under the underpass,” Eberly said “We really worked closely with North Lebanon and West Lebanon townships to make it happen.”

The challenges were worth the trouble, she added.

“It had its major challenges and major expenses as we progressed along and I think it was, at the time, something that at times we’re like, ‘Oh, what are we doing?’ But I think, overall, we’re having all these nice companies in there and the amount of employees that they have there, and I think it was worth taking the risk to do it.” 

Eberly told LebTown that the businesses at their business parks generate $406,746.82 in county taxes and another $176,523.09 in municipal taxes.

Non-park projects

The LVEDC also works outside of the business parks to bring jobs to the Lebanon Valley. One of its more recent non-business park successes was the development of the Ace Hardware Hub in Bethel Township, which was reported by the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal in April 2017.

“We recruit companies all over the county like out where Love’s Truck Stop is off of Interstate 81, we recruited Ingram Micro,” said Eberly. There was also a major reclamation project on Lehman Street that converted an industrial brownfield into a usable site, she noted.

Lending programs

A core tenant to the corporation throughout its history is working with government entities to provide various loan programs, including those to agricultural operations.

“The PIDA loans were mostly just for industrial and the state loans were more for industrial use, and Governor Rendell saw the need to widen the scope for agriculture, so they opened the Small Business First Loan program to include the agriculture industry,” Eberly said. “That was great for us because at that time there were more poultry houses being built in Lebanon County  and then with Scott Sechler’s expansion with Bell & Evans, there were a ton more (poultry houses).”

The program became a success with farmers. 

“The farm community wasn’t aware of the program, so once we made them aware, that word of mouth spread really quickly. It was like, ‘Hey, you can go to the EDC and get a little interest loan to complement your financing,’” added Eberly.

LVEDC’s future

LVEDC officials are exploring the possibility of construction of attainable residential real estate at its Lebanon Rails Business Park location.

Read More: Economic development group looks to provide housing units in N. Lebanon Twp.

Other recent projects include the creation of the Local Defense Group in cooperation with Fort Indiantown Gap officials, some new lending initiatives, and a focus on workforce development.

“We have a revolving loan fund and we’re going to be doing some micro lending, so we’re going to expand the loan process,” Eberly said. “We’re also going to be looking at doing some scholarships. We’re at a good point now so we want to give back and we want to just keep giving back to the community.  And we just got a grant for WEPA (Workforce Empowerment), so there’s always work to be done. It might not be in (business) development but it will be in  different areas.”