The population of McKean County continued to drop between
2004-05, and will likely continue in that direction in the coming
years unless the service and technology job sector grows.

The county is not alone. Neighboring Potter, Cameron, Elk and
Warren counties all experienced drops in population as the region
fights to remain relevant and diversify its job market.

Ironically, the only county in the region with a population
spurt – Forest County – is one of the sparsest counties in
Pennsylvania for citizens. That was until a federal prison in
Marienville was built – bringing with it inmates which count in the
population figures.

“We can’t continue on a downward path for many years into the
future or the citizens of the county won’t be able to support their
governments,” McKean County Commissioner Chairman John Egbert said
in response to a population analysis done by the Pennsylvania State
Data Center in Harrisburg and released Thursday. “To have a
meaningful hit for the county, we need to attract large numbers of
young people in the high tech business.”

As it stands, McKean County’s population dropped from 44,740
people as of July 1, 2004, to 44,370 residents on July 1, 2005, a
decrease of 370 people, according to the Data Center. The county
also slipped one place from 49th to 50th in the state in overall
population during that time period.

By comparison, according to figures measuring population changes
between 2000 and 2003, the county experienced a loss of 700
people.

“In today’s world, I think you have to recognize that industrial
development is a new game,” Egbert said. “The ‘old world
industries’ of 10 or 20 years ago typically aren’t expanding. Those
businesses are relatively stagnant and the growth is in the service
and technological world.

“We’d love to find somebody that would bring 200 jobs to McKean
County, but that isn’t happening right now.”

Egbert said the county is having a difficult time attracting
those businesses, in part, because its workforce is not trained to
support that sector.

“We can bring in smaller service kinds of industries that
require only five or 10 people in a workforce,” Egbert said.
“Pitt-Bradford graduates a fair number of those people
(technological) on an annual basis but the number of jobs available
and the reason for them to stay is few and far between.”

The county commissioners have brought in Ray McMahon, who heads
the county’s new economic development agency, in an attempt to mesh
the county’s economic development agencies together.

“Ray is attempting to coordinate any number of organizations
that are competing with each other,” Egbert said. “We need them to
cooperate and put their best foot forward. We also want to bring to
the table as many financing opportunities as we can for those
businesses wanting to expand, either inside the county or out, so
they can get the benefit of low interest loans and grants available
for that purpose.”

Further south in Elk County, Jim Abbey of the county’s planning
department, believes the economic outlook isn’t all that bad.

“Looking at us right now, there is a lack of diverse economic
opportunities from Scranton to Erie,” Abbey said. “I don’t
necessarily see this as a negative thing. The smaller county you
are, the worst the statistics tend to look.”

According to the Data Center report, Elk County experienced the
second-largest population loss in the state after Cameron County
among the 35 counties that saw their population figures decline.
Warren County was third. Potter County lost 116 people during the
time period.

The figures indicate that Elk County lost 386 people, while
Cameron County lost 39 people – the percentage of loss, however,
doesn’t seem to factor in the size of Cameron County, which is one
of the smallest municipalities in the state.

Abbey said Elk County is focusing on its strong powdered metals
and wood-related industries to survive, noting the county “doesn’t
want to abandon what we have, which is exceptionally important to
us. We are looking to see if there is a way to diversify the
economic base.

“We are at a higher percentage in manufacturing that other
counties around us, and that puts us at a disadvantage,” Abbey
added, noting the county is starting to see growth in the tourism
sector, in part, due to the backing of the Pennsylvania Wilds
region by Gov. Ed Rendell.

That can be a plus and minus, however, according to Abbey.

“Approximately 56 percent of Elk County is public (lands), which
really limits what you can develop. At the same time, there is a
recreation opportunity there. The odds of getting a 500-job plant
is next to nothing.”

Abbey said the county is also nurturing plans for secondary wood
manufacturing, using the abundance of black cherry in the
region.

Meanwhile, Forest County was listed as the third-fastest growing
county in the state at 16 percent, in large part due to the
installation of the federal prison.