West Deer forms Community Development Corporation to help business owners

West Deer leaders have created a Community Development Corporation to help the township’s existing businesses and look for ways to attract new ones.

A CDC steering committee made up of supervisors, Deer Lakes School Board members and business owners was formed in July, according to Supervisors Chairman Arlind Karpuzi.

The CDC is intended to be a resource for West Deer business owners and the community as a whole. That could include getting information on loans or grants that could help business owners pay their employees during the coronavirus pandemic, or connecting them to the federal Small Business Administration. The committee also can look at how to best attract new businesses and commercial development.

Karpuzi said the supervisors had long discussed what they could do to help local businesses, but the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses really brought the idea for a CDC to the forefront.

West Deer is home to 198 businesses.

“No one could have predicted covid, or been best prepared for covid. Businesses are struggling because of it,” Karpuzi said. “I think it’s irresponsible of me to take a laissez-faire kind of approach and say, ‘I wasn’t the one to do this. I didn’t start this problem. I’m not going to try to fix it.’”

The committee has eight members and needs to decide who will fill the role of chairperson. The hope is that a business owner will take the position.

The members are township Supervisors Karpuzi and Brandon Forbes; Deer Lakes School Board members Eric Bienek and Larry Neidig; township planning commissioners Mark Schmidt and John Butala; and business people Jonathan Majernik and Carrie Appollonia.

Karpuzi hopes the committee will have a list of recommendations ready to present to the supervisors by October, when they begin budgeting for the upcoming year.

“If there are any projects that they would recommend, we could include that into the budget discussions,” Karpuzi said.

Having school board members on the committee helps increase the chances of developing partnerships and relationships with the neighboring townships. The school district teaches students from Frazer, West Deer and East Deer townships.

“I think that this new committee is a good way for many in the area to work together, especially the district and the township,” Larry Neidig said.

Karpuzi hasn’t had the chance to reach out to Frazer and East Deer. He hopes the school board will connect him to those municipalities.

“It benefits us all if we all have an increase in business activity. If all of our business owners are doing better, we’re all doing better in the long run,” Karpuzi said. “That’s the whole goal here.”

Anyone interested in joining the committee can email Karpuzi at akarpuzi@westdeertownship.com or call or email the township at 724-265-3680 or info@westdeertownship.com.