Section D — Service Industry / Banking / Real Estate Section D Section D of the Business Review and Forecastst Focusesfocuses Onon Thethe Serviceservice Industry
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Friday, Feb. 19, 2021 Section D — Service Industry / Banking / Real Estate Section D Section D of the Business Review and Forecastst ffocusesocuses oonn ththee seservicervice industry. It includes articles about businesses iin theh regioni thath kkeep people, manufacturing plants and other firms going strong. Airports in Venango and Clarion counties are featured inside. The projects that the local district of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation worked on over 2020 are detailed in this section, including the massive $32.6 million rehabilita- tion project along Route 8 south of Franklin, which will continue through most of 2021. Banks and credit unions are fea- tured inside as well as some busi- nesses that specialize in financial planning and advice. A deep dive into the local real es- tate market shows that industry is alive and well despite the challenges Contributed photo of a global pandemic. Insurance and computer technolo- A Penelec worker installs a “TripSaver” device on a power line. The electric service company installed about 70 of the automated reclosing devices in and around the Oil City area last year. The devices help limit the frequency, dura- gy firms also are highlighted here. tion and scope of service interruptions. Penelec is a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., which completed more than There is also a roundup of the new $120 million in major service improvement projects last year. See the story on Page D-6. movement in the oil and gas industry. 62YEARS 1959 thru 2021 D-2 – THE DERRICK. / The News-Herald Friday, February 19, 2021 Airport puts focus on improvements Virus affects number of flights at Venango Regional Airport By DILLON PROVENZA director back in May when he Staff writer spoke to the newspaper. Operations include both The Venango Regional Air- planes taking off or landing, port had a slow year for flights he said. in 2020, but the facility con- Ruditis is temporarily man- tinued to chip away at long aging the airport while Buch- slated improvements. na is on a year-long deploy- “We’re not as busy, but ment in Germany with the were still ‘puddling along’ U.S. Army, which began in here,” said acting airport di- October. Ruditis, who also rector Rich Ruditis. does maintenance at the air- Ruditis said last year the port, previously filled in for airport had 4,963 “itinerary Buchna after he was deployed operations,” which includes for a year to Afghanistan in outside flights to the airport, October 2018. and 696 “based operations,” Late in the spring of 2020, which includes private aircraft a rehabilitation project on the stationed at the airport and the airport’s apron and ramp be- state police’s helicopter. gan, which was in the works “It’s all down because of for years, Buchna told the COVID,” Ruditis said. “Of newspaper in May. Photos by Jamie Hunt course, no one was flying The project had 4,200 tons anywhere... You really weren’t of new asphalt spread over While the number of flights in and out of Venango Regional Airport was curtailed in 2020 due to the allowed, or were supposed 153,000 square feet to revital- coronavirus, several improvement projects around the Franklin facility were tackled by airport staff, to,” he said. ize the pavement on the air- including a $2 million rehabilitation project on the airport’s apron and ramp. New signs, paint, parking On average, the airport is port’s apron and align with spaces for planes and a reconfigured taxi runway were part of the work. expected to have between Federal Aviation Administra- 18,000 to 20,000 operations tion requirements, according to reconfigured taxi runway were The $2,270,074 project aircraft with 100 Low Lead Ruditis said the pandemic in a year, according to Bill Buchna. New lights, signs, also among the work that was was 95% funded through a aviation fuel, Ruditis said. has disrupted the local air- Buchna, who was the airport paint, plane parking spots and a done as part of the project. federal grant, with the other The new truck will cost port’s efforts to reenter the 5% being split between the about $200,000 and will re- Essential Air Service pro- state and Venango County, place the airport’s current ve- gram. Buchna said. hicle which is from the late Commercial flights from He said the county’s con- 1980s, Ruditis said. the Venango Regional Airport tribution is generally made up “That’s not all what the stopped in October 2019, af- for in sales generated by the county is paying, that’s the ter the Department of Trans- airport. total cost,” Ruditis added. portation discontinued fund- “The ramp project is com- Ruditis said the biggest ing through the EAS pro- pleted; it looks nice,” Ruditis project for 2021 is upgrading gram. said. the airport’s fuel farm, which “COVID has ruined every- Buchna said in May, while is planned to be done by the thing. It has turned everyone’s the renovations were made to end of October. attention away from every- meet federal guidelines, he While the project is still in thing else,” Ruditis said. hoped the renovations would the planning and discussion Ruditis said talks of at- appeal to the general aviation phase, Ruditis said additions tempting to return to the pro- community. could possibly include a self- gram have been made at meet- “We are hoping that when serve island, eliminating a ings with the county commis- we come out on the other side fuel tank, or switching a gas sioners, but no actions have of the coronavirus that our tank to a diesel tank. been made. traffic will increase,” he said. “It’s all up in the air right “Commercial service does Another project that is ex- now,” he said. not make or break this air- pected to be completed in the Ruditis said the airport port,” Buchna said in May. coming months is the removal “sold quite a bit of jet fuel” in “Having commercial services of trees and other obstructions 2020. was more of a service to the around the airport, Ruditis According to him, there community.” Airport manager Rich Ruditis, left, and another airport worker talk with Jim said. was a number of jets that flew The airport received Aaron, right, about restoration work being done on the 1942 Douglas C-53 “It’s been going on a real in and out of the airport last $30,000 through the Corona- Skytrooper that is parked in an airport hangar. The World War II military air- long time, but were getting year. virus Aid, Relief and Eco- craft will be featured at a museum on the airport property. near the end of it,” he said. “It’s not as good as it was, nomic Security Act legislation The airport’s next big but we still have had jets come last year. planned purchase is an Avgas in over the summer,” Ruditis truck, which is used to refuel said. See AIRPORT, Page D-3 Let us spell it out for you.... The rules and strategies of the financial “ game“game”” can can oftenoften bebe perplexing.perplexing. Businesses and individuals alike can benefit from the expertise of an accounting firm familiar with the current economic environment. Rely on McGill, Power, Bell and Associates, LLP for the most up-to-date, forward thinking financial guidance and direction. We will help you make all the right moves. After surveying the airport’s flightline and facilities, Rich Ruditis returns to the main office at the Franklin facility. 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He explained that many people fly was needed to be done at the CLARION — Aviation in Clarion has more into the airport in order to have meetings with facility in order to follow than 100 years of history since the establish- local business owners. health and saftey protocols ment of the Parker Cramer field in 1919. The airport services small aircraft and cor- required by the Centers for Through that time, two other airfields and porate jets for landing and takeoff, though it is Disease Control and the state A dump truck is loaded with old pavement that many ups and downs, Clarion has seen itself also a place for instruction and professional Department of Health to com- was stripped from the apron at Venango Regional become a rich center of aviation history.