In the aftermath of Sony's announcement that it will close its plant near New Stanton, economists suggested several smaller firms could be recruited to fill potions of the sprawling 2.8 million square-foot plant.
But, recruiting smaller companies and agencies to fill the void left when an industrial giant pulls up stakes is nothing new to southwestern Pennsylvania. It actually is a marketing concept developed and instituted in Donora more than four decades ago.
The U.S. Steel Donora Zinc and Iron Works closed in 1964. In 1965, Allison Maxwell, then-president of Pittsburgh Steel, spoke of the need to form an agency that became the Mon Valley Progress Council.
The Progress Council subsequently formed the Middle Monongahela Industrial Development Association, which obtained the steel mill property and developed the Donora Industrial Park.
Progress council Executive Director Joe Kirk said the Sony example is more about subdividing a building than tearing down a former steel mill site and selling off parcels for development of new infrastructure and sale of pad-ready sites.
Still, he said the redevelopment formula that began with MIDA - getting smaller firms to collectively replace a major manufacturer - has been successful in the region.
The MIDA formula has been repeated in the Valley several times. The Mid-Mon Center in Forward Township was formed after Combustion Engineering closed its doors in the early 1990s.
The Monessen Riverfront Park was developed at the site of the former sprawling Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel site.
But those facilities were preceded by the MIDA model. The Donora Industrial Park comprises 256 acres and is home to 31 companies.
Approximately 20 acres remain for future development in the park, which offers rail service from Norfolk Southern.
Donora Mayor John Lignelli was working in the steel mill when it closed. Lignelli said it is an advantage for a community to have several employers, rather than one major one.
"Whenever a town has that one major industry and it closes, that town is devastated," Lignelli said. "But when you have a variety of businesses, if one or two are having problems, the rest of them can still survive."
Lignelli said the steelworkers were devastated when the plant closed, but he credited the leaders who quickly acted to purchase the property and convert it into the Donora Industrial Park.
Lignelli said that because Donora was the first steel town to lose its steel plant, planners were able to recruit firms to come to the new facility. They did not face competition, as is the case with today's converted brownfield sites.
"Now, you take anything that shuts down; it's pretty competitive," Lignelli said. "There's a lot of people looking to bring people to their town. You better have something to offer, like tax breaks."
Bergen Power Pipe Supports was formed in the Donora park in 1994. But the company is a spin off of Power Piping, which located in Donora in 1968 and is one of the first companies there, said Jim Bonetti, company president.
Bergen Power Pipe Supports, which manufactures pipe supports for fossil and nuclear power plants, was "very small" when it first started.
"Our initial thought was to survive," Bonetti said.
MIDA was instrumental in helping the company to secure state start-up loans and owned the company's building for a while.
"They did everything they could to help us become a success," Bonetti said.
The company now employs close to 90 people.
Bonetti said the Mid-Mon Valley was a good fit for the company because of the work ethic of people in the area and the "manageable" cost of living.
The ability to bring in several smaller companies over time led to MIDA's success, said Lue Ann Pawlick, executive director of MIDA.
While landing a major manufacturer is a major boost to the tax base in a community, it has its down side, Pawlick noted.
"People get excited when a large company comes," Pawlick said. "But when they leave, all of those jobs leave, and you have an empty building."
Today, more people are employed at the 31 companies located in the MIDA park - combined - than were working at U.S. Steel's Donora Works.
