June 2017 – Crossroads Business Journal

Warehouses, I-81 have big impact on area’s economy

June 29, 2017Mike Lewis

L. Michael Ross remembers when 300,000 square feet was big for a distribution center along Interstate 81 in Franklin County, Pa.

“Now everything is a million-plus,” said Ross, who took the helm of the then-new Franklin County Area Development Corp. in 1986. The organization has been involved in more than $1.8 billion in new investment in the county, much of it spurred by distribution pathways that rely on I-81.

Today’s growth is fulfilling the vision of futurists from the 1960s, Ross said. At that time, people were predicting a megalopolis would one day extend from Washington up the Eastern Seaboard to Boston. […]

Landing youth sports tournaments a goal for region’s tourism groups

June 28, 2017Mike Lewis

Sidelines and goal lines, baselines and finish lines add to the bottom lines of businesses when youth sports events come to town.

Sports can be such big business that, in Maryland, for example, the Maryland Sports Commission has been set up to “enhance Maryland’s economy, image and quality of life through the attraction, promotion, retention and development of regional, national and international sporting events.”

Through its TEAM Maryland initiative, it markets the Free State to the sports industry. Convention and visitors bureaus in Frederick and Washington counties are among the TEAM Maryland members. The TEAM Maryland website has information about the communities and their sports facilities, from ice rinks to minor league baseball stadiums. […]

‘If we do the right thing, then the right things will happen’

June 28, 2017Mike Lewis

Jeannette King is a Navy veteran, a mother and the president and chief executive officer of Strategic Resolution Experts Inc., which she founded in 2007.

Based in Martinsburg, W.Va., SRE provides management consulting and information-technology planning and support services to the federal government in 12 states.

King holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Mountain State University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix. She has more than 20 years of experience providing management and information-technology consulting services to federal civilian and defense agencies. […]

Notes and quotes

June 27, 2017Mike Lewis

“People buy for their reasons, not for yours. That’s a harsh reality. … Not every prospect is qualified to be a client or customer.”
— Larry Van Sant of Sandler Training in Frederick, Md., talking about sales during the Spring Entrepreneur Extravaganza at Hagerstown Community College

“When I started in the trade in the mid- to late-1960s, the electrician’s code book was maybe 300 pages. The most recent code book is 900, 1,000 pages.”
— John Barr, president of Ellsworth Electric Inc., a Hagerstown company that recently celebrated its 90th anniversary […]

New state laws target economic development, taxes, workforce

June 27, 2017Tamela Baker, Jennifer Fitch and Matthew Umstead

July 1 marks the start of a new fiscal year for some businesses. It also marks the effective date of some new laws and regulations in the region. Here’s a look:

Western Maryland scores benefits with new jobs act
A new jobs bill designed to spur manufacturing in some of Maryland’s most distressed counties will offer statewide incentives beginning July 1, but Washington and Allegany counties are among those eligible for the new legislation’s maximum benefits.

The “More Jobs for Marylanders Act” is one of several business-related bills approved by the Maryland General Assembly during this year’s session. […]

Area financial institutions making moves

June 27, 2017Mike Lewis

B.J. Goetz, president and CEO, Middletown Valley Bank

Financial institutions based in Frederick County, Md., and Franklin County, Pa., are following through with plans to expand in the Washington County, Md., area.

In December, citing what it called a “bright future for the downtown core” of Hagerstown, Middletown Valley Bank announced plans to open a credit-serving center on the Public Square in March.

Six months later, that center is up and running. […]

Celebrating your business

June 27, 2017

Thanks for perusing the first edition of the Crossroads Business Journal.

Our aim, as stated on the front page, is simple: To celebrate the vibrant businesses and industries in our region — roughly from Winchester, Va., to Shippensburg, Pa., and from Cumberland, Md., to Frederick, Md.

Those are diverse and distinct communities, of course, with economic strengths and challenges of their own. But they are linked by critical connections, not least of which are interstate highways. […]

The Record

June 27, 2017

MARYLAND ALLEGANY COUNTY Building permits of note: • Address: 14710 McMullen Highway, Cresaptown, and a parcel on Main Street, Cresaptown Buyer: Endless Seasons Inc. Seller: Potomac Valley Properties Value: $200,000 Date: May 10, 2017 Structure type: Service garage • Address: 1- Jackson St., Lonaconing Buyer: Town of Lonaconing Seller: Dorothy V. Lamp Value: $9,500 Date: May 9, 2017 Structure type: Tavern • Address: 13105 N. Warrior Drive, Cumberland Buyer: Kim Dae Ho Sellers: Frank B. and Cathy S. Mitchell Price: $225,000 Date: May 5, 2017 Structure type: Medical office building • Address: 331 Baltimore Ave., Cumberland Buyer: Robert Dettinburn Seller: […]

Patrick O’Donnell, president and CEO of Summit Health

June 27, 2017

Patrick O’Donnell is president and chief executive officer of Summit Health, which operates numerous health care facilities, including hospitals in Chambersburg and Waynesboro, Pa.

According to The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, Summit annually contributes nearly $791 million to the region’s economy. In March, employment figures released by the Franklin County Area Development Corp. showed Summit to be the largest employer in Franklin County. The latest numbers indicated more than 3,500 employees work for Summit Health’s entities across Franklin and Cumberland counties. […]

Md. high, W.Va. low in economic analysis

June 27, 2017

Maryland and Virginia fared well, Pennsylvania fell somewhere in the middle and West Virginia brought up the rear in a recent WalletHub analysis of the best and worst state economies.

WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia using 27 indicators of economic performance and strength.

Washington state came out on top in the WalletHub report. Maryland ranked ninth, Virginia 13th, Pennsylvania 30th and West Virginia 51st. […]