By SARA FURLONG

s.furlong@bradfordera.com

SMETHPORT The nonprofit North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission delivers a wide range of economic, community, infrastructure, human services and technology programs in McKean, Potter, Elk, Cameron, Clearfield and Jefferson counties.

North Central employs specialized professionals who can help navigate complex state and federal programs. Executive Director Jim Chorney pro-vided an agency update during the McKean County commissioners’ regular meeting Tuesday at the courthouse.

North Central staff recently attended the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), nado.org, in Washington, D.C., where they met and spoke with U.S. Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Pa., and U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and John Fetterman, D-Pa.

‘We had the opportunity to talk to them about things important to our region like the healthcare issues going on, education as well — we got to talk to them and make sure (these things were) on their radar,’ Chorney noted.

He added they discussed problematic legislative language that backs organizations like the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) into funding specialized programs, and whether the text could be changed back to prior language that allowed for more flexible spending. Chorney also mentioned North Central has been approached by the Make My Move program, which connects people across the country with communities offering incentives to live there. Perks could include things like cash bonuses and housing assistance.

North Central, Chorney said, is looking to work with ARC to explore development of a regional pilot program in partnership with Make My Move.

‘According to them, their success rate is pretty high as far as getting people to move to these regions,’ Chorney said. ‘We figured it was at least worth our time to look into the possibility of bringing money to a pilot program.’

During the

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Jim Chorney commissioners’ comment period, Carol Duffy relayed that last week she attended the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) conference.

“It was enlightening and educational,” Duffy said. “I attended a couple of breakout sessions that I found very valuable.”

Commissioner Tom Kreiner noted that he attended the America250PA program held at GGB Elementary in Bradford, where he and other officials read to kindergarten through second grade classes. Kreiner also attended the What’s So Cool About Manufacturing event, in which Smethport and Kane students participated.

“It was an interesting event. The robotics were phenomenal,” he said. “If you haven’t ever seen that before, I would encourage people next year to attend.” Commissioners had little regular business to handle during the meeting. In their human resources update, they shared that the county welcomed Alan Yeager as purchasing director and Kailei Scrivo as a sheriff’s deputy. Michelle Flynn moved to Adult Probation and Krystal Brown to Family Law. Rhonda Coccimiglio retired March 20.

They approved a case management inventory test usage agreement with the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission (JCJC), and approved three refunds on county taxes, totaling just more than $300.

Also approved was a $1,829.88 quote from Enghouse Interactive — to be split between Courts, the Public Defender’s Office, McKean County Jail, DRO and the Register of Wills — for customer contact software for the period April 1 through March 31, 2026.

Commissioners will meet next at 10 a.m. April 8.