An initiative aimed at boosting the local economy is continuing to find success, the Berks County commissioners learned Thursday.<\/p>\n
At their weekly meeting, the commissioners received an update about the progress of the IMAGINE Berks strategic economic development plan<\/a> that aims to foster a strong and resilient local economy.<\/p>\n Pamela Menet, director of economic development for the county, said that initiative, now in its fourth year, has been making a significant and tangible impact.<\/p>\n \u201cWith actionable steps and an array of community partners, the implementation of the plan has been successful,\u201d she told the commissioners.<\/p>\n The strategic economic development plan focuses on five main objectives:<\/p>\n \u2022 Encourage industrial and commercial development that increases the tax base in Berks.<\/p>\n \u2022 Support small businesses and encourage entrepreneurship to enable the creation of high-growth ventures, main street amenities and wealth building for residents.<\/p>\n \u2022 Invest in county residents by supporting structures to connect them to opportunity jobs so they may fully contribute to and benefit from the Berks economy.<\/p>\n \u2022 Address the county\u2019s needs for new housing and redeveloped housing that is accessible and attainable.<\/p>\n \u2022 Invest in and highlight community assets that provide access to a variety of arts, cultural, greenspace and recreational opportunities for residents.<\/p>\n Menet gave a few examples of how the county has worked to address these objectives.<\/p>\n She highlighted the completion of a study, titled Growing Berks, to better understand the economic impact of the agricultural community and explore ways to support local producers that included input from a diverse group of farmers, agribusinesses, local government officials and community members.<\/p>\n She mentioned how the county worked with the Berks County Industrial Development Authority to create an Infrastructure Investment Fund through a contribution of $5 million. The goal of the fund is to lend money to municipalities to expand infrastructure necessary for businesses to expand or move into the region.<\/p>\n Derek Harris, the economic development coordinator for the county, also spoke Thursday. He outlined some of the progress that has been made to achieve those efforts.<\/p>\n He touted the support for the small-business community through the allocation of grants and loans totaling more than $1.6 million to entrepreneurs looking to start or grow their businesses.<\/p>\n He noted the work the county has done with its partners hosting career fairs, specifically working with PA CareerLink to help more than 5,000 job seekers connect with employers in the region.<\/p>\n He shared that the county has contributed to numerous recreation projects including constructing a splash pad at the Womelsdorf Swimming Pool<\/a>, opening of an Art Park at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts<\/a>, creating the Oakbrook Center for Community Services<\/a> and constructing a building at Reading Area Community College<\/a>.<\/p>\n In all, Harris said IMAGINE Berks has invested more than $35 million in federal, state and local funds toward the implementation of the economic strategic plan.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are just a few examples of what we have worked on throughout the community that we have supported,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have focused on investing in every section of the county to make sure that this plan impacts all Berks County residents.\u201d<\/p>\n Harris said that while there is much to celebrate, there is more work to be done.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to continue to see more outside investment in the county to help increase the tax base,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have been working closely with the county planning commission to review 26 million square feet of commercial and industrial development.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An initiative aimed at boosting the local economy is continuing to find success, the Berks County commissioners learned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,182,139,28,128,130,129,706],"class_list":{"0":"post-19943","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-berks-county","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-reading-city","13":"tag-reading-city-headlines","14":"tag-reading-city-news","15":"tag-top-stories-reg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}