CWNews
PA General Cigar Factory:New Use
By Rachel Carta, The News-Item, Shamokin, Pa.
Nov. 9--MOUNT CARMEL -- A factory where men and women once rolled cigars by hand, by the light of electric bulbs dangling from the ceiling, may help take Northumberland County to a future in the renewable energy industry.
The 60,000-square-foot former General Cigar Co. building, where 600 local people once worked, has been targeted by the county as the site for the Energy Technology Energy Commerce (E-TEC) Incubator.
The building, constructed in the early 20th century at Hickory and Fifth streets, is an ideal location for the incubator, said Steve Bartos, director of the Northumberland County Planning Department.
Establishing an energy incubator is one of the first steps in the implementation of the county's FUTURES (Fossil Underwriting Technology to Utilize Renewable Energy Sources) program, which was unveiled at a press conference Oct. 1. Through FUTURES, the county hopes to use revenue from coal royalties, which is growing because of global demand for anthracite, to help alternative energy producers build in Northumberland County, particularly on expansive empty coal lands in the eastern end.
Despite its age, the four-story General Cigar building has a working sprinkler system, three-phase electrical wiring, a freight elevator, a loading dock and off-street parking in the basement. Its proximity to Interstate 81 is another bonus, as is its location along Hickory Street, one of the nicer residential streets in the borough, Bartos said. And it's just a few miles away from the Coal Township-SEEDCO Industrial Park.
"This is a beautiful open space that is ready," he said during a tour of the facility on Thursday. "It will enhance our ability to attract new business to the area."
Family Home Medical operates on the first floor, and Kindermusik on the second, but the rest of the building is empty, Bartos said.
He hopes for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the factory in the spring, but there are no specifics as of yet on funding to develop the site, or whether the county would lease or purchase the building. State and federal sources, however, are being studied, and private venture capitalists from Pennsylvania, the nation and abroad have shown interest in providing start-up funds, Bartos said.
Interest is building
