intheusa wrote:
I've not been home for many years and live on the West Coast. When I left Uniontown some of the mines were still open and USS plants were still active.
What I was wondering is how the recession is affecting Uniontown or Fayette County ? Has there been any significant manufacturering business added to the area ?
Welp, assuming you have been in town 6 or 8 years ago, things are a bit different. On the good side, there has been a TON of retail development in the last few years. The old walmart is closed and there is a new Walmart behind it on the other side of New Salem road (back a little). That whole area has been developed, there is a Sonic Drive-In there, and a little shopping center. I think the old walmart plaza is having problems with ground stability or something. Behind Kmart is also more developed, there is a Target and Wendy's fast food among other things.
Joe Hardy (owner of 84 Lumber and Nemacolin) became a county commissioner and has done a lot of cosmetic stuff (much of it out of his own pocket) and really prettied up the downtown area, nice signs and little parks and lots of fresh paint. They closed down main street to one lane to provide parking, from what I am seeing there isn't much more activity there but I may be wrong.
The bad, I think that Sony in the old Volkswagen plant is completely closing if I remember right, so all those jobs are gone if so, Uniontown Hospital has announced a lot of layoffs (that was in the news last week), so I am sure the recession is having an impact in Uniontown and Fayette County.
There was an article showing that unemployment in Fayette County was NOT the worst in the state, but was the worst in this part of the state, there is another message on this board with numbers, can't recall what the rate was offhand.
I can't help you with the mines and mills, and I can't recall any new manufacturing facilities. Most of the development around here has been retail. I don't know how this works, because how can all the retail outlets do well if there's no money coming into the area? I don't see it possible for the money flows for just retail jobs to be able to support all these retail stores.
I think I was told that the largest employer in the area is Teletech, which now resides in part of Uniontown Mall.
I am very concerned not just for Fayette County and Uniontown, but for the whole country. I can't help but feel we are headed into a depression the likes of which we have never seen. But, that's a topic for another post.
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