BUTLER TWP. — County commissioners on Thursday, March 2, said they need businesses to tell them about the challenges they are facing so county government can help them be successful and contribute to the county’s growth.

The commissioners addressed more than 200 business representatives and public officials at the Butler County Chamber of Commerce’s annual “State of the County” program.

“Success is based on relationships,” Leslie Osche, chairwoman of the commissioners, told the audience at the The Back Alley in Butler Township.

She said businesses need an environment for success to help them retain employees and attract young families to the county.

County government collaborates to provide quality infrastructure, public safety and education to achieve the same goals, Osche said.

“It’s a great day in Butler County, and we have a lot of great things going,” said Mark Gordon, county chief of economic development and planning.

He said the merger of Butler Health System and Excela Health has created the third-largest health care system in the region.

Next year, Butler Memorial Hospital is planning to begin a physician residency program that has the goal of having 24 doctors in the program in three years.

Butler County Community College is creating a satellite campus in Armstrong County and is constructing the Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building to house the Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health at the main campus in Butler Township, he said.

BC3 has been ranked as the top community college in the state for eight consecutive years, Gordon added.

Slippery Rock University is constructing a new building to house its ROTC program and police department, he said.

Canadian-based Tank Carrier Services made its first expansion into the United States by opening a facility along Route 38 in Allegheny Township.

Businesses including Butler Technologies in Butler and Penn United Technologies of Cabot are expanding, he said.

Part of the Pullman Center Business Park that once was home to an Armco Steel plant is “ready for a new adventure,” Gordon said.

MSA has relocated employees from around the world to its training and development center in Cranberry Township.

The Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport is expanding to create a business park, he said.

Bryan Frenchak, a former Butler resident who lives in Houston, purchased the Penn Theater in Butler and is planning to reopen it.

The Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau is bringing the Can-Am Police and Fire Games to the county in 2024.

Gordon also shared some statistics that show the county has a strong economy. He said the population in the 2020 Census is about 195,000.

“Butler County is the only county in Southwestern Pennsylvania with any appreciable growth,” Gordon said.

The county population was about 183,000 in the 2010 Census.

Of the current population, 99,800 residents work in the county, he said. The mean wage in the county is $54,000, the median family income is almost $80,000 and the county’s unemployment rate of 3.6% is the lowest in the state, he said.

Butler Middle School building has been acquired by a nonprofit organization that will renovate the structure and reopen it as a center for workforce development and community activities, he said.

The county infrastructure bank has helped fund $42 million in municipal infrastructure projects over the last three years, he said.

“We have a lot to be proud of,” Gordon said.

Responding to questions from the audience, Commissioner Kim Geyer said the roof of the airport administration building is being replaced, and access for people with disabilities is being improved, and an outdoor deck is being installed at Serventi’s on the Runway.

In addition, she said the water line extension project along Route 8 in Penn and Middlesex townships will be extended to 50 acres of airport-owned property that will be developed for aviation-related businesses.

That property is one of only three in the state to be designated as an airport land development zone that offers businesses that locate there a 10-year tax credit, Geyer said.

She said the county is looking into a 200-foot runway extension that would make the runway 5,100 feet long.

The two flight schools at the airport have a combined 250 students, Geyer said.

The commissioners are also working with internet service providers and several municipalities to expand broadband service to areas with no service or insufficient service.

Osche said the county needs a strategy to make service available and to make sure that people use it.

Commissioner Kevin Boozel said the goal of the state’s newly formed broadband authority is “internet for all.”

He said internet access is vital for growth in communities.

“It’s an infrastructure that does make or break a community,” Boozel said.

Regarding the Feb. 3 train derailment and toxic chemical emergency in East Palestine, Ohio, the commissioners said county 911 dispatchers, the hazardous materials team and firefighters are trained to handle such emergencies.

“We’re as prepared as we can possibly be with our resources,” Boozel said.