Silk Mill spinning once again

Education and economic growth

By TOM KANE

HAWLEY, PA – A project that has generated great local excitement because of its potential for educational and economic growth opened on August 30.

The Hawley Silk Mill project, the creation of Grant Genzingler, owner of the Settlers Inn, and other Hawley entrepreneurs, will house a division of Lackawanna Community College and Misericordia University as well as a center of a new economic development venture.

A cadre of construction workers has been swarming around the historic building for months, getting it ready.

The ground floor will house a restaurant and retail stores. More retail stores will be located on the first floor. The second floor will have professional spaces for businesses while the third floor will be the location of the educational components – Lackawanna Community College and Misericordia University.

“There will be an estimated 130 people working at the site when it becomes fully completed,” said Troy Bystrom, executive director of the project. A unique restaurant called “The Cocoon,” originally the location where silk cocoons were stored, stands across the road from the main entrance of the building.

In partnership with Misericordia University’s Expressway Program, students at Lackawanna Community College can pursue a four-year degree program in business administration without leaving the lake region, he said. Lackawanna will also confer an associate degree after two years.

“The $12 million program will see the development of the Lake Region Enterprise Center (LREC) to develop local business opportunities and to diversify the region’s industry base,” Bystrom said.

LREC, which will serve both Wayne and Pike Counties, will utilize a “hub and spoke” design, offering satellite centers and a business incubator geared toward business development in small communities.

“The hub is expected to be approximately 18,000 to 20,000 square feet located on the border of Pike and Wayne Counties,” he said.

The relationship between the colleges and businesses will allow both components to work closely together. “The firms located here will need trained workers; the school, offering a curriculum designed for today’s workforce, needs students,” he said.

This part of the effort will see the cooperation of the Pike County Economic Development Authority; Workforce Wayne, a county employment program; and Wayne Economic Development Corporation (WEDCO) to ensure a source of trained workers.

Another component of the project will develop a local produce market on a portion of the first floor. The “Bounty of the Region Market,” an agriculture program, will offer local access to regionally produced foods and products at competitive prices while providing a central distribution point for restaurants.

“This concept is supported by a number of local groups including the local chapter of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), the Delaware Highlands Conservancy and the Upper Delaware Preservation Coalition,” Bystrom said.

An innovative effort in the project will provide a center for local restaurants to purchase the products of local farmers and producers.

“Locally produced breads, meats, cheeses, wines, maple syrup and other food businesses looking to sell their products are welcome,” Bystrom said.

In addition to the retail and distribution component, a “food-to-schools” program integrating locally produced foods into school lunch menus is in the works, he said.

More information is available at www.hawleysilkmill.com or by calling Bystrom at 646/236-3400.