CLEARFIELD – On Nov. 13, Clearly Ahead Development hosted a delegation from Lanling County of Linyi City, China. The purpose of this delegation was to establish an economic development collaboration, including sister-ship between Clearfield County and Lanling County.
Lanling County belongs to Linyi City, Shandong Province, located in the southern part of China. Lanling has a population of 1,306,000 and a total area of 1,724 square kilometers.
The delegation consisted of three entrepreneurs and four officers of the local government, including Xue Feng, the governor of Lanling County, Su Yuntao, the mayor of Lanling Town, Shen Xiufeng, the director of the Department of Commerce of Lanling County, and Liu Jingbin, the deputy director of Human Resources of Linyi City.
The three entrepreneurs who accompanied the delegation were from the agricultural, energy/mining and real-estate industries.
A meeting convened at the Clearly Ahead Development office for a presentation by Paul McCloskey, vice president of Energy, to showcase the assets and key businesses of Clearfield County.
The presentation was immediately followed by a personal tour by the Clearly Ahead Development staff. The tour started at the River Hill Power site, located in Karthaus, to explore development opportunities. River Hill is a 1,800-acre site with a 60-acre pad-ready site for construction of energy-intense industries.
Immediately after the site tour, the delegation was escorted to Walker Lumber Co., located in Woodland. At Walker Lumber, the delegation toured the facility where they learned about the area’s quality hardwoods and export opportunities to China that Walker Lumber currently offers.
Walker Lumber products include kiln-dried lumber, green lumber, pallet material, veneer logs, saw logs and bi-products for wholesale for distribution, manufacturing and industrial segments.
After the Walker Lumber visit, the delegation toured the 162-acre Food Certified Site at the Commerce Park, located off Interstate 80, exit 120, to learn about its development opportunity. The Commerce Park was recently certified in August for food processing by Garner Economics/Primus Builders and is the only certified food manufacturing site in Pennsylvania.
The final stop on the tour of Clearfield County included a walk of the Riverfront Development project located in downtown Clearfield. The public park will be a premier gateway to the one-mile riverwalk loop from Nichol Street Bridge to Market Street Bridge.
The Raftsman Memorial Park is a reflective park with terraced elevations located on the opposite side of the Susquehanna River from Lower Witmer Park. The delegation commented favorably and extremely pleased to see the natural beauty and improvements that showcased redevelopment in downtown Clearfield.
After the site tours, the delegation then proceeded to Moena’s Restaurant for a formal dinner with Clearfield County Commissioner John Sobel and Commissioner Elect Tony Scotto.
The delegation discussed economic collaboration and sister-ship opportunities with the Clearfield County Commissioners, as well as presented them with a presentation of Lanling County and their assets.
Board of Directors Chairman David Schultz, stated during the formal dinner that “Relationships to bring businesses and other investments to Clearfield County take numerous forms of collaboration.
“With the staff of Clearly Ahead Development, discussions with multiple international guests and other investors have taken place at several levels and locations numerous times throughout 2015.
“Having such a large delegation of Chinese officials from the high levels of local and regional governments in Shandong Province as well as influential businessmen from that area of the world shows the amount of detail in which Clearly Ahead Development has put forth in showcasing the talents of our workforce, availability of real estate properties and vast resources that Clearfield County can offer the world.
“Our discussions have been and continue to be very well received by the Chinese Delegates, and we look forward to continuing to further develop a mutual international dialogue that will eventually bring jobs to Clearfield County.”
Clearly Ahead Development is a private, non-profit, membership organization serving the community to create growth and opportunity in Clearfield County.
