Mercer County, Pa. - Some big projects are underway in Mercer County bringing job opportunities and growth.

 

Fed Ex's 250,000 square foot distribution center on a 65-acre site on Route 18 is on pace to open October 2023 in Hermitage. in spite of sloth-like supply chain issues businesses are facing locally and globally.

 

The Executive Director of Penn Northwest Development says once Hermitage City and the Mercer County Planning Commission gave the green lights for FedEx plans, work began. 

 

"They were well on their way to securing all of the steel they needed. They were really weary of supply chain issues getting into their way so once they got their approvals they were T-ed up and ready to go," Executive Dir. of Penn Northwest Development Corp. Rod Wilt said.

 

He told Sidney Canty on WFMJ Today that having a fortune 50 company located in Mercer plus improvements planned for I-80 near exit 15 has other businesses from Pittsburgh to Chicago looking at economic development opportunities.

 

"We're really targeting warehousing distribution, perhaps some of the manufacturing sector as well. It's also interesting we've been approached by some autonomous vehicles for a testing area primarily for large trucks. So we have a lot of things in the hopper there. We will see what comes through and what survives the due diligence process. Hopefully, I'll have something to announce by the first of 2023," Wilt emphasized.