Success Stories
The Redevelopment Authority of the City of Duquesne
The Redevelopment Authority of the City of Duquesne manages the three-city enterprise zone after local referrals.
Keystone Basement Systems & Structural Repair, Inc
They acquired property at 205 Thirty-First Street in the Christy Park Section of McKeesport through the Enterprise Zone program. With a $100 Enterprise Zone loan that matched a PNC Bank loan and owner equity, they were able to acquire and renovate this property. This company relocated from Wilkins Township to McKeesport.
"We're a full-service basement waterproofing, structural repair and mold remediation company," Keystone president Aaron Stull said. "With an emphasis on continuous learning, our engineers and employees stay on the cutting edge of basement technology and the removal and remediation of toxic black mold and mildew. This is a great property for us. The Enterprise Zone loan process was quick and easy and was an important factor in our decision to move to McKeesport."
Book Country
The Enterprise Zone's low-interest financing package played an important role in Book Country becoming one of the top bargain book wholesalers in the U.S. and most importantly, becoming one of the largest employers in McKeesport and surrounding areas.In 2003, Richard and Sandy Roberts purchased the assets of a small bargain book wholesaler located in McKeesport. They were drawn to the company because of its unique distribution channels that enabled Book Country to discreetly sell publishers "return" books at a deep discount, flea market and other bargain channels, all of which operated outside of the publishers' core sales channels.
The Roberts family devised an innovative business plan that exploited Book Country's proprietary distribution channels to solicit new publishers who had previously shredded their returns. The pitch was that Book Country would create a new income source for publishers.
At the time of the Roberts family's purchase, Book Country sales were less than $5 million, and the company employed 19 people. Armed with a well-thought business plan, they sought Enterprise Zone financing in the amount of $450,000 to acquire computers, develop inventory control software, purchase forklifts, and expand their inventory space with an additional 66,000 square feet. They transformed their business into a wholesale bargain bookselling powerhouse.