The Venango County commissioners in 2024 explored various avenues in a continual effort to bring business and economic growth to the area.
At the end of June, they traveled to Maryland for the the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Select USA Investment Summit. The event promotes and facilitates direct foreign investment in the U.S. by bringing together economic development organizations, government officials and foreign investors for four days.
In addition to networking with foreign investors, Sam Breene, Ken Bryan and Albert Abramovic said at the time their goal was to network with other Americans to raise the profile of Venango County within Pennsylvania and the U.S.
Optimistic about the contacts they had made, the commissioners had expressed their desire to again attend the conference in 2025.
As a result of relationships they formed at Select USA, the commissioners said, they have been fielding calls from entities interested in natural gas development and new home development in Venango County, among other inquiries.
July brought the announcement that Venango County was selected as one of 10 rural counties from across the U.S. to be part of the National Association of Counties’ inaugural Rural Leaders for Economic Mobility program.
The national program brings together teams of elected and nonelected county leaders to learn about and pursue strategies to improve economic mobility conditions in their counties in effort to move people out of poverty.
At the end of the 18-month program, Venango County is planned to come away with a pilot program promoting economic mobility, as well as $50,000 to implement it.
Abramovic and Sarah Pistella, program officer for local grant-making organization the McElhattan Foundation, comprise the team representing Venango County.
In October, rural county leaders from Texas to Oregon gathered in Venango County as part of a peer exchange program through the National Association of Counties, a visit that Abramovic organized. They toured Venango County over the course of several days and came away impressed.
Economic revival
Breene noted the fifth floor of 100 Seneca in Oil City opened during the past year and that the first floor is slated to open during 2025. The building, which is owned by the Venango County Economic Development Authority, has been under extensive renovations for the last several years.
A makerspace, designed to support local businesses and artists by making equipment and training in various skills available, is on the fifth floor, as are the offices of the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce. A brewery/distillery is slated to open on the first floor later this year.
Breene said the goal for filling 100 Seneca is to bring in businesses from other areas and provide space for local businesses to expand.
Bryan noted the county during 2024 saw businesses coming in, low unemployment and, unlike other counties in western Pennsylvania, Venango’s population did not continue to decline.
Breene said Venango was the only county in the area to have more people moving in than out in 2024, citing the Center for Rural Pennsylvania’s data.
“We’re getting a lot of positive attention,” Abramovic said.
Bryan said the county also is working with schools to help keep students in the area after they graduate.
The commissioners also noted they have been visiting multiple businesses in Venango County each month to find out what they need.
Breene summed up goals for 2025 as “building on the successes of previous years,” as he noted many endeavors are ongoing.
Among the goals for this year are opening the first floor of 100 Seneca, finding a developer to build a new hotel in Oil City on the site of the Days Inn that was demolished in 2024, continuing to bring in more rural broadband, making playgrounds more friendly to children who have autism, and getting an ATV initiative off the ground that would bring money to the municipalities and allow for people to ride ATVs on designated roads, among other things.
The challenges they anticipate are making sure the county is properly staffed, dealing with aging infrastructure and all the unknowns of pursuing opportunities to see if something will come of them.
2025 budget
The commissioners, in 2-1 vote, approved a 0.5-mill tax increase in a 2-to-1 vote in December.
Abramovic and Bryan voted to pass the 2025 county budget, along with its proposed tax increase; Breene cast the dissenting vote.
At the time, Bryan said an increase to the cost of health care for county employees was “a hurdle we couldn’t overcome.”
Breene noted the rising health care costs and a cost of living adjustment for nonunion employees in 2024, but said the last time the county was looking at a tax increase, in 2019, it had far less in the county reserves and the future looked more uncertain.
The county last raised taxes in 2013, when the tax rate was set at 6 mills. The increase to 6.5 mills is projected to generate a net increase to the county of $887,512 in tax revenue.
In December, the median value of a parcel in Venango County was estimated at $58,007, and the county’s annual real estate taxes for an average home are estimated at about $377, an increase of $29.
Total revenues for 2025 are projected to be $78,537,726 and total expenses are projected to be $85,886,034.
The amount to be transferred from the Operating Reserve Fund to balance the 2025 budget is projected at $3,155,973.
The general fund budget, excluding Human Services, is $22,984,560, about 27% of the entire budget expenses.
About 54% of the general fund budget is funded through tax revenues, which are budgeted at $12,514,000 for 2025.
The cost of benefits for county employees are projected to increase by about 8% from the 2024 budget, to $3,195,322 in 2025.
Armory
After years-long negotiations with the federal government, the county took ownership of the former National Guard Armory in Hasson Heights in late 2024; with the intent of moving the county’s 911 operations and emergency equipment to that location.
The process began in 2020, prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, and stalled until 2023.
In the spring of 2024, Breene said, a deal was struck that the county would own the armory building and that Oil City would own the ball field adjacent to the building.
The county received the facility at no cost.
Because the armory is so close to the present 911 center on Grandview Road, Breene said, there will be no need to put up a new communications tower and fiber can be run from the tower at the current 911 center to the armory.
The armory is substantially larger than the current 911 center, so there will be enough space to house the center as well as all of the county emergency equipment, according to the commissioners.
Currently, the county emergency equipment is split between Venango Regional Airport and the 911 center because there is not enough space to put it all in one place, the commissioners said.
Abramovic said contracts to renovate the facility were out to bid as of January.
Breene explained the county would be able to use 911 funds, not money from the general fund, to make the upgrades.
The building has been vacant for over 10 years. Besides a new metal roof and major electrical upgrades to accommodate 911 technology, the renovations will be cosmetic, the commissioners said.
Venango County Jail
Bryan said significant improvements were made at the Venango County Jail in 2024, including changes to policy, more corrections officers and lowering the inmate population.
Bryan attributed the lower number of inmates to having two full-time judges in the Court of Common Pleas and the establishment of a reentry program at the jail.
In July, the commissioners approved a contract with Northwest Pennsylvania Family Services to establish the reentry program at the jail to assist inmates due to enter back into the community upon their release.
In November, the commissioners approved an agreement with Pearson VUE Test Center to facilitate GED testing for inmates at the Venango County jail, and with Careerlink to provide GED testing and other service for the inmates.
Elections
In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 5 presidential election, droves of voters went to the Venango County Elections Office to turn in mail-in ballots and take care of other election-related business.
In Venango County, the voter turnout rate hit about 80%, exactly where it was in the last presidential election, a full 10% jump over the November 2016 election.
On Nov. 5, there were 26,635 voters who voted in-person or cast mail-in or absentee ballots in Venango County, according to unofficial election results. Of that number, 20,892 votes were cast in person on Election Day and 5,743 were cast by mail.
In Venango County, President Donald Trump received over 70% of the vote — 18,747 votes to 7,531 for former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Personnel changes
Register and recorder: In January, Cori Sharpe was appointed register and recorder to finish out the term of Sue Hannon, the longtime county register and recorder, who retired halfway through her fourth term. Sharpe worked in the office for many years prior to her appointment as register and recorder.
EMA: In January, Patrick Servey was hired as the county’s deputy director of emergency management.
Chief clerk: In May, Bridey Shawgo was hired as Venango County chief clerk, filling a position left vacant when the previous chief clerk, Sabrina Backer, resigned in March.
During the 2025 municipal elections, several county row offices will be on the ballot in Venango County. They are district attorney, sheriff, coroner and register-recorder.
As of the end of January, the incumbent row officers — District Attorney Shawn White and Coroner Christina Rugh — have not publicly announced if they are seeking reelection.
Also as of the end of January, Sharpe has not announced if she is running for election to a full term.
Sheriff Eric Foy has announced he is seeking reelection.
