Greetings to interested individuals, businesses, services, non-profits, social groups, churches and schools of Cambria, Indiana and Westmoreland Counties who use PA State Route 22.

This is a proposal to create a chamber-tourism non-profit for the geographic area between Indiana, Greensburg and Johnstown, PA.
 
Location, Location, Location! That has been the primary characteristic of a successful business for hundreds of years.  It is still the standard today.  Blairsville started out as a break -in- transportation point.  Farm products were transferred down the first roads to the Conemaugh to be sent up and down stream and across the river to the Pittsburgh area.

Today, the area finally has a complete remodeling of Rt. 22 into the four lane highway it was destined to be.  The new Rt. 22 will connect the Pittsburgh area across the state to Harrisburg.  This will bring more traffic through our region that can be diverted to businesses, activities, historical sites, and recreation. Rt. 22 connects with many north-south routes:  Rt. 119 to Indiana, Rt. 66 to Greensburg, Rts. 56 and 219 to Johnstown, Rt. 711 (the Laurel Highlands Scenic Byway) to Donegal and Rt. 217 to connect south to Rt. 30.

This area overlaps three counties and centers on the Rt. 22 corridor which will soon be completely rebuilt and will be a welcome addition to our area.  Residents, commuters, and tourists will find the trip between Altoona and Pittsburgh and from the various county seats and other major cities to be a time saving and safer experience with the new lanes and controlled access points.  Phase One of this plan will start with marketing Blairsville Borough and Burrell Township, then expand outward as membership increases.  When Phase One of this proposal has been implemented, the coverage would expand again to include any interested individual or business within five miles north or south of Rt. 22 from Pittsburgh to Altoona.

 Phase One would be establishing the chamber as a non-profit.  Phase Two would be a new way to offer services to tourists driving Rt. 22.  This new tourism model would be funded by the chamber and would be open on weekends and holiday Mondays with real assistants available to help tourists (and residents) with planning activities, having access to a regional event calendar and web site, giving detailed information about our local members, recommending our members to the public and offering solutions to emergency problems.

I was born in this area and lived in the rural triangle near Rt. 22 through my college years.  With no job openings in my field, I moved to the Maryland suburbs of the District of Columbia.  I returned to this area 10 years ago and found the economy vastly changed in the small towns.  I have a vision that tourism could bring this area an economic benefit that would bring revenue into our area, and hopefully keep some of our post high school and college graduates in the area in new jobs.  At the least, if this was a successful endeavor, the quality of life of all the residents of the region would be diversified.

I am volunteering my skills and organizational abilities for one year and am the first Charter Member of this new business.  I believe that through cooperation of the entire community, this area can become a well known stopping point and possibly, with time, a destination area. 

What is in it for me?  Each person that I talk to about this plan asks that question.  I have been called a “Do-Gooder” and a “Community Activist.”  Both of those terms have negative tones when the speaker is being serious.  I prefer to present myself as a consultant with a vision for community cooperation and development.  I have an independent income that satisfies everything I need so I do not need a paying job.  I would rather create the ideal job for myself in a project which will pay me in internal satisfaction.

However, the community must join in.  I will not keep contributing for the office, volunteering my time, or contributing the money for the incorporation and application for non-profit status after March 2012.  I will be contacting individuals, businesses, and groups to set up meetings to discuss my plan during the next 6 months.  If I do not have enough community support shown by the total members who have joined by March 2012, and by the promised commitment of 20 or more Charter Members by that deadline, I will not renew the lease for the office.  I will go on to other projects.  It is the time for involvement, not sitting back and waiting for grants and government money.  That era is gone.  Let’s grow a new business together from the grassroots up that will put our region on the map and bring economic growth for the future.

The Community Development Authority has made great strides in planning a beautiful new main street, new development near the river, and plans to bring more recreation to our area.  A new membership group which can become a future chamber-tourism office needs to plan now to use what is being built over the next few years.  If we wait until all of the work is done, we will be too late.

I need the financial support of every small group in our area.  I also need 20+ of the largest and multi-location businesses to join as Charter Members to create the permanent infrastructure needed for this new concept.  Then, at the low cost of $75/yr. for individual members and $150/yr. for most small businesses and groups, this non-profit could sustain itself.

I also need an advisory board to the business as it is now set up.  That board would meet with me to develop a set of by-laws and the plan to incorporate as a non-profit and apply for non-profit tax status.  This is a process which needs more than my input.

I am not going to compete with the marketing and advertising done by the Chambers and Tourism Offices of the three counties.  They focus on bringing visitors and new business with advertising and marketing to all the regions of Pennsylvania and neighboring states.  I want the focus to be specifically on drivers using the Rt. 22 corridor--residents, businesses and tourists--who already have chosen Rt. 22 as their route.  Our focus will be to pull these drivers off Rt. 22 with signage advertising an easy off/easy on exit/entrance to use the free services of Tri County Tourism provided by our chamber members.  In either direction, drivers can exit 22, loop past 222 E. Market St. for services, and continue to the next Rt. 22 ramp to continue on their way.  The office is in a newly remodeled historical building and has ample parking.  Again, Location, Location, Location!