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Housing & Community | Real Life Stories « Banking on Business »
Banking On Business Success Stories
The ‘W’ in Warren Now Stands for ‘Wired’ - Thanks to BOB
October 28, 2006 was a big day for the Warren County, PA School District.
 Last fall, 13 buildings in the district - kindergarten through high school as well as administrative offices - went live with fiber optic, high-speed wide-area network and broadband services, enabling students, teachers and parents to learn, instruct and coach the county’s young people in new, more immediate ways.
Before last October, the school district had very limited bandwidth. Students, teachers and administrators would have to wait their turn to gain access to online services, slowing communications and limiting the number of innovative online programs that could be introduced to students. With the upgrade to much greater capacity, each school is now wired to a 100-megabite connection, resulting in the delivery of a much greater variety of online content in a timely fashion.
Elaine Bailey, president of WestPAnet, Inc., the first wireless Internet provider in Warren and the successful bidder in laying the 54 miles of cable needed to increase capacity for the school district, says FHLBank Pittsburgh’s Banking On Business (BOB) program was instrumental in getting the fiber optic laid.
“The $200,000 in financing that FHLBank delivered through Northwest Savings Bank made Northwest’s loan to us bankable and enhanced the security of our employees while paving the way for future business opportunities,” says Bailey, whose seven-year-old company also provides fiber optic services to Warren County’s library system. “Now, thousands of people spread across 13 school buildings are talking to one another in new and exciting ways - and I even get to check my son’s grades online at home.”
For more information on the services that WestPAnet provides, visit www.westpa.net.
More Success Stories…
From ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ to the ‘Cat’s Meow’, This Animal Clinic Means Business
A dog may be man’s best friend, but FHLBank’s Banking On Business Program can also prompt a smile or two - especially after the roof falls in.
On January 11, 2007, Chris Rappolt, administrator of The Animal Emergency Clinic of Wyoming Valley, saw just that happen when heavy rainfall caved in part of the roof of his 11-year-old business in Avoca, PA, just down the road from the Scranton Airport. It was weather not fit for man or beast, and soon Rappolt’s building wouldn’t be, either.
Teamwork by FHLBank Pittsburgh,
Member Scores Big with Soccer Fans
Starting
a business is never easy. When Eric Pettis began fielding
his plans for a pro soccer team in Harrisburg, PA in
2004, he experienced the ‘cold start’ that
almost every entrepreneur experiences: initial operating
expenses were exceeding revenues. Pettis turned to
FHLBank member Pennsylvania State Bank to make his
financial goal.
Transforming a Former School
into Fresh Space, New Jobs
An abandoned former school in Plains Township, PA,
recently reopened its doors as the renovated Maffett
Hill Office Center — thanks to Banking On Business
(BOB), FHLBank Pittsburgh’s program available
to new or expanding small businesses.
Renovation Creates 'EDGE' for Growth, Expansion
With more than 25 years of combined architectural experience,
Dutch MacDonald and Gary Carlough, co-owners of EDGE
studio, have established a niche as an innovative architecture
and communication design firm in Pittsburgh, PA. In
2001, Dutch and Gary reached the point that, to grow
the business and make it more efficient, they needed
additional office space. Their idea: purchase an old
building on Penn Avenue in the Garfield neighborhood
of Pittsburgh and renovate it into new offices.
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