Oil Region National Heritage Area | The Valley that Changed the World

Target Cluster Industries

Four areas of specialized target clustering

When a site selection team is looking for a region to locate a facility, many factors enter into the decision. Availability of land or buildings, access to transportation systems and a skilled labor pool are just some of the issues to be considered. Companies want to locate their facility in proximity to related commerce. This target clustering of industries is proving beneficial to businesses throughout the country.

The Oil Region Alliance has identified four areas of specialized target clustering whose requirements match our strengths: Manufacturing & Machine Technology, Logistics & Distribution, Petrochemical Industry and Business & Professional Services.

Manufacturing and Machine Technology

The Oil Region offers your site location search team access to the research and development opportunities of nearby major metropolitan areas while still offering the lower operating costs and readily available land that makes middle America attractive to site selectors. State and local government incentives are available for employee training and expansion; or relocation of your manufacturing and machine technology plant.

The infrastructure of the Oil Region provides quick access to highways, major transportation systems and convenient airports. All utilities, including electrical co-operatives and telecommunications networks are here to ensure that nothing stands between your business and success. Our region also has three colleges and universities and a primary and secondary education system that is recognized for its excellence.

This education network is crucial to maintaining one of the largest benefits that we can provide for your manufacturing and technology facility: a large pool of highly trained, well-educated workers.

Our region is within a 500 mile radius of more than one-third of the U.S. population and more than half of Canada’s, keeping you close to your manufacturing operation’s customers.

Many affordable sites are available in the Oil Region for location of your manufacturing and machine technology operation. Our staff is here to get answers and make this process simple for your site selection team. We also can guide you through the government incentives process. See what we have to offer. You’ll find the Oil Region is the place to locate your manufacturing and machine technology plant.

Logistics & Distribution

A logistics and distribution operation requires access to major interstate highways, railroad lines and airports in order to keep merchandise moving to your customers. From just about anywhere in the Oil Region, your distribution center can be located less than 20 minutes from Interstate 80, one of the nation’s busiest East-West transportation corridors. Interstate 79 and Interstate 90 are also only a short distance away. Rail lines run throughout the Oil Region as well as a general services county airport that can handle any private jet.

Our region is within a 500 mile radius of more than one-third of the U.S. population and more than half of Canada’s. This makes product distribution readily available to nearly half of North America. Raw material shipping and storage for manufacturing facilities is also a benefit of relocating your logistics operations to the Oil Region.

Many sites are available and affordable in our area for location of your logistics and distribution or warehouse facility. Government incentive programs are available for a wide range of business location projects, and our region boasts a large, trainable workforce, in addition to everything else you’ll need to run a successful logistics and distribution operation from the Oil Region.

Petrochemical Industry

Oil is a big deal in northwestern Pennsylvania and has been for more than a century. This is the birthplace of the oil industry, after all.

According to a 2019 study prepared by Camion 310 for the Northwest Commission, northwest Pennsylvania is in a great position to capture the economic benefits of the growing petrochemical industry in Appalachia. With numerous plastics and rubber manufacturers already in business in the area and a cultural history of manufacturing, this region can capitalize on its proximity to the petrochemical supply chain and transportation via road, water and rail.

Training programs based on plastics industry best practices are preparing the region’s workforce for skilled petrochemical roles.

Adding to the opportunities is the Pennsylvania Shell complex currently under construction in Monaca, Beavery County. Pelletized plastic compounders and converters, polyethylene-utilizing plastics manufacturers and plastics wholesalers and distributors will benefit downstream from the polyethylene pellets created by this cracker plant, which is less than 60 miles from the southern end of the Oil Region.

Business and Professional Service

Proximity to other businesses, transportation options and a professional workforce are key concerns to site selector teams that are searching for a community to locate a business and professional services organization. Financial incentives from the state and local government, the ready availability of land or buildings and the region’s cost of living also factor into the decision. The Oil Region is a premier location for selection teams to consider for a business and professional service companies.

The Oil Region has three colleges and universities and an education system that is recognized for its excellence. This is crucial to maintaining one of the largest benefits that we can provide: a pool of highly trained, well educated workers. Additionally, there is a corridor of corporate offices right in our own backyard and nearby metropolitan areas.

Major East-West and North-South interstate highway systems run through the Oil Region. Rail access and regional airports, in addition to international airports at nearby major metropolitan areas provide the accessibility to the rest of the world that site selection teams are looking for.

The region has numerous sites that are ready for immediate use. Affordable lots and buildings that are ready for occupancy, plus low costs to build make the Oil Region attractive for location of business and professional service companies. The region also has a cost of living that is below the national average. Numerous state and local government incentives and tax abatement programs are available for companies expanding or relocating to the Oil Region.

Our staff is here to get answers and make this process simple for your site selection team. The Oil Region Alliance is here to guide you through the process.

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