Jack Manning, Commissioner, Beaver County
In an interview with Invest:, Jack Manning, commissioner of Beaver County, discussed the county’s economic resilience, digital transformation, and strategic growth plans. He highlighted how Beaver County weathered post-pandemic challenges and is now attracting major investments. “It’s an accumulation of emerging from the post-pandemic malaise and being well-positioned for significant incoming investment,” Manning said.
Reflecting on the past year, what key changes have most impacted Beaver County, and how?
Economic conditions have changed significantly post-pandemic, after a pullback in investment for new factories, plants, and hospitals. Now, there’s a renewed interest in development. The national election also influenced this, prompting more recent investment in America. The Shell cracker plant kept Beaver County alive and financially stable during the pandemic. While surrounding areas suffered from closures and layoffs, Beaver County had 8,000 to 10,000 construction workers. Shell put Beaver County on the map, highlighting its features: the Ohio River, a strong industrial waterway; rail lines, the one of the largest rail yards east of the Mississippi; access to highways like the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and close proximity to an international airport. Now, we’re seeing investments from Europe and domestically materialize in Beaver County. It’s an accumulation of emerging from the post-pandemic malaise and being well-positioned for significant incoming investment.
Beaver County has earned national recognition for broadband modernization. What drove that success, and what does it mean for your digital strategy moving forward?
It was a great honor. We’re ahead of other Pennsylvania counties with our broadband. We started early, partnering with Michael Baker International, an engineering firm, and did our own GIS mapping of broadband existence, speeds, and gaps, not relying on federal maps. With the American Rescue Plan Act, we earmarked $15-20 million of the $92 million federal funding for implementation. We’ve partnered strongly with internet service providers, like Verizon, Comcast, Armstrong, and Kinetic. We are far in advance of most counties, upgrading poor service areas and laying new cables for rural access.
We are 95% complete with initial efforts, continuing to connect. It’s an evergreen process, but by late 2026, we expect to have mostly completed all upgrades. Connectivity is crucial for investment. It’s as vital as electricity, water and sewer. We can proudly state our residential, small business, and industrial connectivity are ahead of the game. A significant broadband project coming up the Pennsylvania Turnpike will terminate in Beaver County, bringing more state-of-the-art high-speed fiber along the river to small businesses. We’re as good as anyone, and better than most, in broadband and connectivity, which is also setting us up for hyperscale and smaller scale Al data centers.
The county is attracting new businesses and residents. What makes Beaver County a great place to live and do business?
Beaver County offers a unique Midwestern hospitality. While I grew up in New Jersey, the pace here is different, yet it retains a small-town feel. Our land mass geography is unique: 2% rivers/waterways, 55% forest, 15% pasture, 5% cultivated crops, and only 27% developed. This creates a great deal of natural beauty and recreational opportunities, attracting events like the Junior Triathlon at Brady’s Run Park and other national events to our County parks. Beaver County, with 165,000-168,000 people, feels like a small town despite being designated an urban county. Most population density is along the Ohio River, where the county was formed. Our proximity to the airport 15 minutes away and other places in downtown Pittsburgh, coupled with financial stability, low taxes, affordable housing, and some great educational institutions, collectively makes it a desirable location. We also have excellent post-education workforce development opportunities and strong collaboration with our local colleges and labor apprentice programs. There’s a great pride, loyalty, and dedication among the people who live here to collaborate in solving our issues and problems, and continuously improving our quality of life.
What are Beaver County’s most pressing challenges, and how are you addressing them?
Our post-steel legacy, particularly from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, necessitated diversification after the steel industry’s demise. We’ve largely succeeded, and are now strong in education, medicine, and healthcare. Industrial manufacturing and advanced manufacturing are returning, as is hospitality and tourism, with hotels built after Shell arrived.
Our biggest current challenge is an aging demographic. We must attract and retain more young families and people, which is a common issue across the Pittsburgh region. We lack enough individuals to backfill jobs left by retirees, which highlights a concern with federal immigration policy. We need more, diverse people in Beaver County. This isn’t just about farming. It extends to technology, Al, and robotics. Several of our communities, like Ambridge, are already diverse and welcoming.
Part of the solution involves strengthening our schools and healthcare. Our dependency ratio is high at 70%, which is a significant issue. The only way to improve this is by attracting and retaining more people to move to Beaver County and encouraging young families to stay.
Looking ahead, what are your key goals and priorities for Beaver County for the next two to three years?
We have significantly invested in county infrastructure and broadband. A project is underway to also improve cell coverage across our mostly rural landmass. We’ve also equipped first responders and police with new, state-of-the-art radios. More cell towers and coverage are still needed, and we are actively working on that.
We continue to invest in our parks, quality of place, and recreational opportunities, with several projects planned, including a unique bicycle pump track to attract young families. Our comprehensive plan aims to improve and provide more affordable housing, eliminate blight in downtowns, and revitalize these areas to foster an even greater sense of community. We have made strides in improving our riverfront towns and surrounding townships, which remains the heart and soul of our small business investments and is a high priority.
We are also capitalizing on available brownfield sites along the Ohio River for data centers and advanced manufacturing. Mitsubishi is investing $86 million in a new advanced switchgear facility, and the recently announced $3.2B Shippingport Power Station by the Frontier Group and eventually a data center. Several major employers and companies are exploring all along the riverfront for significant job creation opportunities. Our priority is to continue to collaborate with all our partners in diversifying Beaver County’s economy to attract a wide range of job opportunities.
