The Professional's Connection
to Cambria and Somerset County Business News and Features
June 2009
Copyright © 2009.
All Rights Reserved.
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LEADING OFF
Got Tank?
The
19th Annual Showcase For Commerce Rolls Into Johnstown: Bringing another $110 million in contract announcements to its previous $3
billion, the 2009 edition was a rousing success. See the news here:
Showcase for Commerce: Amid big contract awards, real estate deal has impact
Companies receive performance kudos
Challenge Program students network at Showcase
Showcase For Commerce to bring businesses to area
Showcase for Commerce: Big expo attracts more than military
Johnstown prepares for Showcase For Commerce
Showcase For Commerce Facebook page (More photos here)
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Tom E. Hawk, Johnstown Chiefs mascot, checks his email at the Cyber Cafe sponsored by UPMC. |
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Paul Vosbeek of Kusters Engineering (The Netherlands) displays one of their Intelligent Disintegrators. |
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Government Compliant Accounting workshop by Wessel & Company. |
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Students from the Challenge Program visit Lockheed Martin. |
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Friday morning breakfast with Congressman Murtha. |
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Jeff Wood of DRS Finmeccanica announces the delivery of the 7,000th Combat Server Suite to the U.S. Navy as Congressman Murtha looks on. |
2010 Showcase For Commerce: June 2 thru 4.
EVENT QUEUE
HEADLINES
At SEA: The Self
Employment Assistance (SEA) Program provides opportunities to become self-employed through entrepreneurial training while receiving
unemployment compensation. The next orientation to the program is June 3. Call JARI at 814.535.8675 for details.
Pennsylvania Downtown Center Annual Conference.
June 7-10. Workshops, exhibits, and networking sessions geared to marketing a community. Registration info here.
Free Webinars (Hosted by BSI
Management Systems), June 10. Among the offerings: International Supply Chain Security @ noon EDT, Quality Management Systems @ 1:00 PM EDT, ISO/IEC 27001, the Information Security Management System @ 2:00 PM EDT
Workforce
Developments: The Cambria County Career and Job Fair held on May 5 attracted over 60 employers and educational institutions.
Job seekers were given information on current and future job openings, skills sets needed, and financial aid. Workshops included The Over 40 Job
Search, Internet Job Searching, and On-line Job Applications. The Cambria County PA CareerLink
continues to provide resume writing and interviewing skills coaching. Call 814.533.2493.
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Cambria County Career and Job Fair Attendees |
As a follow-up to the Fair, WJAC TV is featuring a “Job of the Week” on their Morning News Segment.
JARI, Pennsylvania Highlands Community College and The United Way of the Laurel Highlands hosted a Displaced Workers Community Outreach Services Event in Johnstown to provide information to individuals affected by layoffs and downsizing. Over 130 attendees met with more than 30 service agencies to learn about education assistance, available financial services, health care options, social services support programs, unemployment compensation, and more. A similar event held later in Somerset helped over 50 people.
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Workers impacted by the tough economy find some answers at the Displaced Workers service event at Penn Highlands Community College. |
Do Johnstown: In similar fashion to Pittsburgh's Pop City and Pennsylvania's Keystone Edge, Johnstowners can now look to Do Johnstown as
their on-line source about community events and available activities in and around Greater Johnstown. Click here to subscribe. Facebookers can also become a Do Johnstown fan. Tell them
JT
sent you.
Entrepreneurs
Among Us: The Greater Johnstown Keystone
Innovation Zone closed out the latest season of its popular Upstarts and Innovators series with two local entrepreneurs sharing
their insights with local college students. The Tribune-Democrat assists in hosting the series.
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Speaking to students at the Somerset campus of Allegany College of Maryland is Nancy Critchfield, owner of a ServiceMaster franchise in Somerset. Critchfield explained how her background in management and her husband’s background in construction help her operate the business. Click here. |
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Brian Law, president and owner of Prime Design Solutions, a graphic design company located in the Moxham section of Johnstown, speaks to a small-business class at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College. Click here. |
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Photos and captions courtesy of The Tribune Democrat |
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Mount Aloysius College, Saint Francis University, and JARI also hosted an Entrepreneurial Fair on April 8. The day featured entrepreneur assistance organizations showcasing their services and local business owners discussing their business start-up experiences, and was highlighted by announcing the winners of a student business plan competition. Story here. More photos here.
Linda Thomson, President and CEO of JARI, presented checks to the winners of the student business plan competition.
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First place: Dignity Gowns - Sara Litsky, Nathan Frye, and Kristina Chunko of Saint Francis University. |
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Second place: MWL Photography - Mike Lyons of Mount Aloysius College. |
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Third place: M&M Crafts - Melissa Matula of Mount Aloysius College. |
In Case You
Missed It News Summary:
Windber hospital welcomes new CEO
Saint Francis Small Business Development Center Award Winners
Energy exploration: Test wells planned to determine natural gas potential
Alternative energy in area making strides
Local leaders attempt to clear air on Johnstown airport
Airport a catalyst for economic development
Organization working hard to keep Chiefstown alive and well
Greater Johnstown Technology Park’s newest tenant holds open house
PIPELINE
Welcome to our more than 1500 new subscribers. JT is for professional "Johnstowners" -- an all-encompassing reference to past, present, and perhaps future residents of the Greater Johnstown
Area. It's your connection to the business environment in your hometown region of Cambria and Somerset Counties, including the City of Johnstown.
The Greater Johnstown region is busily planning for the
future. The City of Johnstown
recently released it's Revitalization Strategy (click here) and the Young Professionals of the Alleghenies released the Johnstown 2020 Regional Vision
plan. (click here)
Related news stories for the Revitalization Strategy are here, here, and here. Related news stories for the 2020 Vision are here, here, and here.
The Pennsylvania
Sunshine Residential and Small Business Solar Program provides $100 million in grant funding to help fund solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar hot
water (solar thermal) projects for Pennsylvania homeowners and small businesses. More information is on the PA Department of Environmental Protection Sunshine
Program website.
PIXELS
EDGES
The Geography of Jobs: View an animated map that
highlights job gains and losses in the top 100 metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. from 2004 through the present.
EDGES benchmarks unique and interesting business
and community development efforts around the commonwealth and the nation. This edition highlights our own Greater Johnstown region.
Third Annual Johnstown Pride Cleanup Day. Volunteers spruce up city and Downtown corner: ‘The difference is unbelievable’
Johnstown TODAY™ is a free business news aggregation publication intended for past, present, and perhaps future residents of the Greater Johnstown Area of Pennsylvania, which for the purposes of this publication is defined as Cambria and Somerset Counties. Johnstown TODAY™ provides information about recent events, developing trends, and other items of local business importance. Johnstown TODAY™ is published approximately every six weeks by Johnstown Area Regional Industries, in conjunction with the Greater Johnstown Keystone Innovation Zone and the Johnstown Procurement Technical Assistance Center. Johnstown TODAY™ gathers content from third-party sources, but is not affiliated with those sources in any way. Johnstown TODAY™ is not responsible for the accuracy or content of information gathered from third-party sources. Johnstown TODAY™ solicits email addresses for the primary purpose of distributing Johnstown TODAY™; however, email addresses may be used by JARI and/or the GJKIZ for other Greater Johnstown Area business news emailings -- Johnstown TODAY™ will not share email addresses with any other organizations. Johnstown TODAY™ can be contacted via JARI at 814-535-8675 or info@jari.com.