Fayette County Energy Summit

On Thursday, July 29, 2010, the Private Industry Council hosted an Energy Summit at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus. According to Sean Sypolt of the Private Industry Council, the goal of the Summit was to provide information about how Fayette County can benefit from both renewable and natural resources. The Summit provided an opportunity for a variety of energy industries to come together to discuss the economic and environmental future of Fayette County. Informative presentations from a distinguished panel of speakers (representing county government, industry, economic development, and higher education) were followed by a display and information fair. About 30 companies and 17 speakers representing several different sources of energy participated in the event.

"Energy is something we all need to focus on," said Fayette County Commissioner Vincent Zapotosky, adding that people must realize the energy opportunities that exist because they may not be here for long. "We want employers to make an investment here and put people to work," Zapotosky said.

In addition to harnessing the natural resources available in Fayette County, there is an increasing interest in creating a strong "green" economy in Fayette County. In the past year three major Federal investments were made - a 2.7 million dollar Pathways Out of Poverty green jobs training grant, over 4 million dollars to support energy efficiency and conservation efforts and a weatherization grant to support weatherization training. Fayette County is the only rural area to receive all three of these funding streams. In January, the Private Industry Council was awarded the Pathways Out of Poverty grant to prepare Fayette County residents for the green careers of the future.

According to County Commissioner Vince Vicitis, these investments and the natural resources available in Fayette County represent an "economic opportunity of a lifetime". Commissioner Vicites called for everyone involved to continue to work together to help turn Fayette County around in terms of economic development.