Mercer County, PA Gears Up to Benefit from Shell Cracker

"One word: Plastics" (The Graduate) - Mercer County, which is two counties and 50 miles north of Beaver County (located along the border with Ohio) is making plans now for how their county to grab some of the "low hanging fruit" that will appear when the Shell ethane cracker in Beaver County goes online in the early 2020s. You read that right. NOW is the time for counties in the region to make plans and set those plans in motion to attract some of the numerous businesses that will set up shop to be close to the cracker plant. Mercer County officials recently attended a forum where the topic was ancillary development that will happen because of the cracker plant. What is the low hanging fruit that will magically appear with the cracker? Manufacturing--and the jobs that go with it. In particular, manufacturing and jobs in the plastics industry. A regional trade organization--Penn-Northwest Development Corp.--is planning to hit the plastics industry trade shows this year. Penn-Northwest is working with counties like Mercer to help them market themselves to plastics manufacturers...

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