Business in Lower Burrell isn’t booming quite yet, but city officials say it’s heading in the right direction.
Mayor Chris Fabry said seven new businesses have opened recently or are about to open.
That includes MW Mechanical, a heating, ventilating and air conditioning business, which moved from New Kensington and reopened at the former Hillcrest Volkswagen property along Route 56.
Another is Gio’s Restaurant, a Mexican eatery located along Leechburg Road and reopened in a vacant storefront near Wildlife Lodge Road.
“We are making progress,” Fabry said.
Also, he said there is a business related to children’s health care that is searching for an appropriate space in the city and someone who wants to open a bakery is seeking a location.
Along the city’s portion of Greensburg Road, Tractor Supply is building a new location expected to open this year.
Fabry said, after speaking to executives at NASS Realty, the New York-based owner of Hill Crest Shopping Center, more may be on the way.
“They have plans,” Fabry said. “We cannot reveal those plans but they are working to fill that plaza.”
According to Fabry, the shopping center actually is getting a new business now.
He said the Western Pennsylvania Credit Union has purchased a 1.1-acre plot that includes the former PNC Bank building, and subdivided it from the rest of the Hill Crest property.
Fabry said the credit union will be moving to the shopping center from its present location at Feldarelli Square in New Kensington.
The shopping center, the largest in the city, has seen tenants leave for the past several years, leaving large portions of it vacant. The departure of discount store Roses left Community Market as the largest tenant.
Councilwoman Carly Logan said a new business workshop recently sponsored by the city was a success. The workshop included presentations on establishing and sustaining small businesses.
She said three current business owners attended along with three prospective small business entrepreneurs.
“Two of them are ready to pull the trigger,” Logan said.
To top all that of, City Manager Greg Primm told council the city has received a $5,000 grant from the Local Government Academy that will be used for a project to aid business development.
“We are doing a full business inventory of all the businesses and properties along Leechburg Road,” Primm said. “Every business, every tenant.’ ”
He said the city will match the academy’s grant to hire a college intern to conduct the survey.
Primm said, throughout the summer, the intern will stop at every property and interview business owners and property owners to gather information. He said that information will be used to build a database that will help city officials and prospective business owners quickly locate properties that would be appropriate for new businesses.