From glass to grass: Clarion on the brink of new development
CLARION, Pa. — As Ryan Miles stood at the groundbreaking ceremony in June for Glassworks Business Park, his latest entrepreneurial venture with his brothers, the excitement hit close to home for the Clarion native.
On the same ground 10 years prior, the Owens-Illinois glass plant was still the third-largest employer in Clarion County. It hummed with close to 1,500 employees at its peak.
Its closure in 2011 after 105 years cut its nearly 460 remaining jobs from the Clarion area, taking a heavy economic and emotional toll on the community, said Mr. Miles, who co-owns Terra Works, a Clarion-based commercial contracting company, with brothers Theron and Curtis.
“As we lived here and worked here, we noticed these job losses and general economy of the U.S. affecting this area,” Mr. Miles said. “It’s tough to see this small community struggle.”
This observation helped spur the Miles brothers’ desire to develop Glassworks Business Park, a $39 million project that has received state funding assistance to be completed over the next five years.
The business park will have space to lease to seven businesses. The first one planned is Sunset Hills Medical, which will house a marijuana processing facility that could employ 50 people, pending a permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. An additional 200 jobs could be generated by the six additional businesses, which are still to be determined, Mr. Miles said.
It’s the biggest business project
in years in Clarion, which was founded in 1839 by Irish and German settlers near the banks of the Clarion River. It has historically revolved around lumber, iron, oil and glass-making industries. Anchored today by Clarion University, it is also home to the popular Autumn Leaf Festival and just more than 5,000 residents who pride themselves on a welcoming, safe and quiet town.
Many residents consider Clarion an ideal place to grow up, but then leave the area to pursue professional opportunities in larger cities such as Pittsburgh, about 80 miles southwest. The Clarion businesses that are hiring — a few stores on Main Street, the service sector, medical facilities and the burgeoning mobile home construction industry — have difficulty finding employees who are willing to work and able to pass a drug test, said Tracy Becker, executive director of the Clarion Chamber of Business and Industry.
Though most of Clarion’s employers are small businesses, Ms. Becker said, the mom-and-pop shops have decreased in number. One mainstay is department store F.L. Crooks, which has served customers in the same building on Main Street since 1905. Owner Jim Crooks, the greatnephew of original owner Frank Leslie Crooks, attributed its survival simply to small-town customer service.
“We’ve lost so many businesses and we haven’t seen the end of it yet. But [the younger generation] — my kids, all these young people — move back to Clarion with all these kids,” Mr. Crooks said. “They all want a main street. They want to be able to walk in a safe small town — they want that feel and that’s a wonderful thing to still have.”
The Glassworks Business Park is only one of Clarion’s recent additions. A new trail from the university to the Clarion River — where tourists flock to kayak, boat and fish — was recently completed by a group from the university.
Three donations of $1 million were among the $9 million raised from the community for a new YMCA, Mr. Crooks said, chuckling, while commenting that people assume there’s no money in small towns like Clarion, but in reality there’s just nowhere to spend it.
Founded in 1867 as a seminary, Clarion University is a block and a half from the main shops on Main Street. Though it has faced enrollment decline in recent years, it still has 5,225 students and provides more than 700 jobs. Clarion residents attend high school and university sporting events alike, cheering on their hometown schools.
“[As] one goes, the other goes,” Clarion Borough Council President Carol Lapinto said of the close town-college relationship.
When Susan Fenske, vice president for student affairs at Clarion University, moved to Clarion three years ago, she felt overwhelmingly welcomed in the borough.
“It’s just a totally different place, it’s a totally different pace,” Ms. Fenske said. “People here really care about each other ... you can feel that everywhere you go. People always have a smile for you. People truly want to know how you’re doing. ‘How are the kids doing?’ ‘How’s life?’ ‘What can I do to help?’”
Hosting a yard sale on a cloudy summer afternoon, Denise Brooks echoed Ms. Fenske’s observations and pondered the future of her town as she welcomed neighbors to her front lawn.
“I have lived here my whole life and my daughter has lived here her whole life,” Ms. Brooks said. “[Clarion is a] small town, everyone knows everyone. In a way, that’s good, because there’s a lot of community support.”
That’s part of why Ryan Miles and his brothers chose to stick around, hoping to help build a brighter future.
“A lot of small communities that used to be self-sufficient lose a lot of residents after industries leave,” Mr. Miles said. “To be able to get to [break ground on Glassworks Business Park] it was definitely significant. The start of something new.”