By SARA FURLONG

s.furlong@bradfordera.com

The Pennsylvania Rural Population Revitalization Commission continues its work toward stemming population decline in rural areas like McKean, Potter, Elk and Cameron counties.

Chaired by Dr. Kyle Kopko, executive director of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, the commission held its latest hearing Friday at the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona.

Kane Mayor Brandy Schimp and Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry Senior Vice President John Papalia took part on one of three panels to address the commission, which Kopko said was established ‘in direct response to a pressing long-term problem: the declining populations in our rural regions across the commonwealth.’

Since September, the commission has held 10 listening and learning sessions across the commonwealth to seek stakeholder feedback regarding the policy priorities the commission should address.

Kopko noted one theme that recurred during those sessions is the lack of capacity often experienced by county and municipal governments as well as nonprofit and community groups, whether adequate staffing, strategic plans, technical expertise or financial capacity.

The commission heard from governing associations such as county commissioners and township supervisors and perspectives from successful efforts in Michigan and Maryland (particularly fellowship programs) and finally from Schimp and Papalia. Representing community organizations, they discussed the programs, efforts and initiatives finding success where they live and work. Papalia touched on Warren Worx, an initiative launched last June led by the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry in partnership

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Kane Mayor Brandy Schimp testified Friday at a hearing of the Pennsylvania Rural Population Revitalization Commission. Schimp was joined on her panel by Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry Senior Vice President John Papalia. The pair spoke about the programs, efforts and initiatives finding success in their communities.

Pennsylvania Senate with the City of Warren and Warren County.

“Warren Worx is about community collaboration and enhancing our quality of life for the future,” Papalia said. “By working together, we leverage the collective strengths and resources within our community to ensure we thrive. We’re taking a bottom-up approach, relying on a cohort of interested individuals and organizations — our stakeholders — to help us shape the future of our county.”

The approach, Papalia said, uses shared knowledge to build member engagement as well as trust and ownership of projects throughout the county. The group is broken into subcommittees to address topics like marketing and attraction, business development and community revitalization.

One of its first main initiatives was a common brand for Warren County, resulting in marketing unity across the board. A survey conducted to understand challenges facing business resulted in more robust and coordinated school-to-work initiatives that help young people understand the opportunities available at home.

The Borough of Kane similarly adopted a unified brand by combining the borough website with that of the chamber of commerce, Schimp said, an example of working collaboratively to make things happen — taking on challenging projects and thinking outside of the box — through its Sparks program.

“Sparks does not stand for anything; it’s not an acronym,” Schimp said, but “it represents everything. It speaks to the vision of what living in an active, attractive community can and should be. It is a positive vision — the approach is to build on the strength instead of fixating on the weaknesses. And what we needed was not another strategic plan, what we needed was strategic action.”

She said the group first focused on the quality of life for those who have already chosen to maintain their homes there, because “if we did that, then others would surely also be attracted to such a community.”

Leaders of key Kane institutions — the borough, Kane Area School District, chamber of commerce, Kane Area Revitalization Enterprise (KARE) and Kane Industrial Development Corp. (KIDC), UPMC Kane and Wetmore Township — come together monthly to share information about their organizations.

“There are no buy-ins, no voting, no officers. Sparks has no budget, no staff, no assessments,” Schimp said, adding it is an association composed entirely of volunteers. “We enjoy working with one another … and these monthly meetings have given us direction and collaboration.”

Other common themes heard throughout the hearing included addressing workforce shortages, opening revenue generation that doesn’t depend on property taxes and improving access to state and federal grant funding. Officials urged legislators to consider tuition assistance and loan forgiveness programs, especially in critical areas of human services, corrections and emergency management. Additional suggestions include wider broadband access, investment in affordable housing and rural mass transit, reductions in unfunded state mandates, simplified permitting and more timely funding or reimbursement.

Others suggested reduced or a sliding scale for grant matching funds or even a waiver, and a cap on cyber school tuition. Collaboration, many said, is key — whether among local governments and service providers, or between local and county governments and their state partners.

Papalia concluded, “We need to come together where we can to do better, to do more good. If we do that and we share ideas and we pull resources, whether that’s financial or human, we can make real change. At the end of the day, that’s really what it comes down to — the understanding that all ships really do rise if you can come together and collaborate.”

Video of the nearly three-hour hearing is available on the Center for Rural Pennsylvania’s website. Members of the public are invited to submit their own ideas, suggestions or testimony regarding the issue via email to commission@rural.pa.gov.

Kopko noted that population decline “is not simply about a reduction in numbers. It’s about the change in our population’s composition, where we will have communities with fewer young people and a diminished workforce.

“These demographic changes present a significant challenge for our rural communities as they seek to remain vibrant, resilient and sustainable for generations to come.”

“However,” Kopko continued, “these challenges aren’t insurmountable. None of us would be here today if we thought the situation was hopeless.” Commission members believe that with “careful planning and action in the near future” rural communities can adapt to or even reverse expected changes.