Westmoreland economic development marketing director retires after one last deal

Joe Sisley’s fingerprints are all over economic development in Westmoreland County.

“Joe has sold or leased every property in Westmoreland County’s industrial park system,” said Jason Rigone, executive director of the county’s Industrial Development Corp.

There are more than 170 companies occupying 1,200 acres of land and — until the coronavirus pandemic — employing up to 10,000 workers in the county’s 18 industrial parks. Sisley, 66, of Hempfield, has been instrumental in it all. After a 43-year career as the marketing director of the county’s economic development agency, Sisley is retiring at year’s end.

He was there when the county’s first industrial park was built in early 1980s and sealed the last deal of his long career this month with the sale of a 6.23 acre lot in Westmoreland Business & Research Park, in Washington Township and Upper Burrell, to WAB Associates LLC.

The company represents New Jersey-based Weiss-Aug Group, which plans to build a 60,000 square foot manufacturing facility with office space in the park. Weiss-Aug Group is a current tenant in the park with its JK Tool operation, which expanded earlier this year. Details of the new manufacturing operation were not disclosed but county officials said it is expected the company’s total employment at the park to grow over the next three to five years to 75, up from the current staff of 25.

Westmoreland Business & Research Park was built in 1992 and now serves as home to 21 companies that employ more than 2,580 workers. It generates approximately $1.9 million in county and local taxes each year, county officials said. Just one lot and about 3.6 acres at the park remain unsold or leased.

In all, the county’s industrial park system generates about $7 million in property tax revenue for the county.

Rigone said the success of the county’s industrial park program and the near completion of the Westmoreland Business and Research Park is due in large part to Sisley’s efforts.

“If you know people who work in Westmoreland County and in the industrial parks, Joe’s probably had a hand in that,” Rigone said.

Sisley, a soft-spoken man who typically looks to avoid the spotlight, was honored by county commissioners earlier this month for his long career.

“It was sort of a bait-and-switch. I went there thinking someone else was being recognized. It was a real surprise,” Sisley said.

Rigone called Sisley “the moral compass of our office,” and a man whose work ethic is unparalleled.

The most recent sale caps a productive year for the economic development organization and for Sisley. More than 52 acres at three industrial parks were sold in 2021.

In February, the WCIDC sold 19.92 acres at I-70 Industrial Park in South Huntington to Wyatt Inc., and in October finalized the sale of 25.9 acres at Commerce Crossing at Westmoreland to Al Neyer.

Watt Inc. has said it plans to build a 120,000 square foot facility and a 250,000 square foot distribution center is expected to be built at the Commerce Crossing site in Sewickley.

In August, the agency leased more than 55,000 square foot at the Jeannette Industrial Park to new tenant FC Meyer Packaging.

Leases for space at South Greensburg Commons and the Mt. Pleasant Glass Centre also were leased earlier this year and are expected to support 500 new and existing jobs when they reach full capacity.

The success of the county’s industrial park system and its importance to Westmoreland’s economic development efforts is a point of pride for Sisley.

“It means I was part of a wonderful team,” Sisley said. “It means I did my job.”