There’s a new initiative to combat population decline in Warren County.
"Warren Worx" is a partnership between the city, county government, the local chamber of commerce and other groups. They’re working on a new branding initiative and ways to help business owners.
“It's really to make sure that we're retaining the current population that we have, but also, you know, growing up and bringing new families into the area to thrive and prosper," said Jenny Phillips, the marketing director of Warren Worx. "And the initiative is also to help maybe bring some more business into the county as well.”
A recent Center for Rural Pennsylvania report projects an 11% population decline in Warren County by 2050.
“People might not think that that's a lot, but, you know, to a small community like ours, it is very impactful," Phillips said.
John Papalia is vice president of the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry, which is the main organizer of Warren Worx.
"We kind of hit this point that if we don't do something, if we don't work more collaboratively and tackle this issue together, the landscape of Warren County will be kind of forever altered in the future here," Papalia said.
Papalia said the group is looking for strategies to retain the current population, and to bring in new families and businesses. He said this is "not an overnight fix," but:
“There are things that we can do in the short term," Papalia said. "You know, the connecting of the students to the workforce through co-op opportunities and better marketing, reaching out and trying to recruit college kids back home to Warren County, improving business marketing.”
Papalia said Warren Worx, which officially kicked off in June, is also working with the Warren County School District. He said schools are an important factor when considering population loss.
"So understanding what is it that the students will want to want and making them aware of what sort of workforce opportunities that are available here in Warren County now and when and if they go to college, [and] what's going to be there for them when they graduate or if they go to a tech school or whatever," Papalia said.
Several community members voiced concerns about further population loss at a recent school closure hearing at the Warren Area High School.
Phillips said community members can get involved with Warren Worx at their monthly subcommittee meetings. The four subcommittees are based on the county's comprehensive plan.
"It's to come together, figure out, you know, what are those initiatives through business development, through quality of life, through community revitalization and even marketing that we want to work on as a county," Phillips said.
Warren Worx is also asking businesses to fill out a survey about the challenges they face. This data will help create goals to work toward.
That survey opened last week, and will stay open for a few more weeks.
