(Editor's Note: This is an edited version of a submission by Dr. Ben Scott, regional coordinator for the Northern Dauphin Revitalization Project.)

The Northern Dauphin Revitalization Project is gaining momentum throughout the region and is building credibility with the municipalities it serves as a positive force for change.

More than $800,000 in grant applications have been submitted since the beginning of 2008 toward a goal of $2 million for the entire year.  The four Main Street committees, through which NDRP gets local people involved, has increased to five committees. And the immediate future looks incredibly bright.

The mission. NDRP began full-time operations in the summer of 2006. Its mission is the identification of abandoned and blighted downtown buildings in Halifax, Millersburg, Elizabethville, Gratz, Lykens, Williamstown, and Tower City. Revitalization helps people replace these properties with 21st century businesses in one of three categories: tourism, technology or education.

Grant writing. Early this year, the Millersburg Ferry Boat Association contacted NDRP with a request for help in securing $90,000 in USDA grants to repair and market the historic ferry boat operation.

Also, two requests for federal grant money have been submitted: one for $328,000 to bring on more full-time professional help within NDRP's Elizabethville headquarters, the other for $251,000 to convert the building - formerly the Elizabethville branch of Mid Penn Bank -  to alternative energy power and to restore it to its original 1907 appearance.

Lykens Borough and Wiconisco Twp. have granted NDRP with matching funds as leverage for state grants through Sen. John Gordner and Rep. Sue Helm for $19,000 to pay for site plans along the proposed Lykens Valley Rail Trail project (Sentinel, March 4 issue).

An as-yet unnamed source is considering a donation of  $32,000 to fund the site plan for a segment of the trail, as well as the  engineering and architectural designs to restore historic L&W Field.

NDRP has assisted members of the Berrysburg Community Center by submitting an $83,000 grant to replace the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system in the former Berrysburg Elementary School. The school now serves as the municipal building and a community meeting facility for groups and families in northern Dauphin County.

The NDRP was awarded a $10,000 grant last year from the Greater Harrisburg Foundation's Harold N. and Thelma G. Lenker Trust to fund a feasibility study on future uses of the Colonnade Theater in Millersburg. NDRP filed additional grant applications for the remaining $13,500 needed to begin this study and is attempting to identify other Millersburg foundations for help with this, and other projects that will directly improve Millersburg's downtown business district.

Future plans. Applications already are under way to fund construction of the eastern half of the Lykens Valley Rail Trail project (from Williamstown to Elizabethville) at an average cost of $100,000 per mile and for the restoration of L&W Field as the largest trailhead along the 23-mile destination. Anticipated cost of this project is $250,000. The NDRP is working together on these applications, along with the Lykens Chamber of Commerce, Lykens Borough and Wiconisco Twp., with a submission goal of Friday, April 25.

Committees are formed. Revitalization works only when people decide to invest their time, energy, and financial resources into the region. NDRP is comprised of five regional committees and one Advisory Council in each community, a total of 12 people groups.

The Organization Committee/Executive Committee has been engaged in several fundraisers as well as actively recruiting people to serve in various capacities, both in the committees as well as in the Elizabethville home office. Three new office volunteers have been added since Jan. 1, including a specialist in parks and recreation reporting, an ambassador for Rails to Trails and a building maintenance and improvements specialist.

Two new volunteer positions are presently under review: an agri-tourism coordinator who will work with several farmers who have indicated an interest in opening their operations to visitors; and a specialist to investigate a business incubator.

The Economic Restructuring Committee is gleaning valuable survey information in Millersburg, Elizabethville, and Tower City. Using either the Customer Intercept Survey or Business Owner’s Survey from the PA Downtown Center, these volunteers are collecting information about the way people currently use the downtowns and what they want to see happen in the future. Volunteers are needed in all seven communities to continue this important process which helps make the case for prospective business owners to relocate to Northern Dauphin County.

The Design Committee recently awarded more than $15,000 in state funds for its annual fa ade grant program. The committee meets monthly to consider new fa ade grant proposals from downtown property owners in all seven communities and will be revising and publishing a new version of the Grant Guidelines in mid-summer 2008.

The Promotion and Marketing Committee, a joint effort between NDRP’s Promotion Committee and the Northern Dauphin Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Marketing Committee, has just published its first four-color, four-panel brochure entitled “Come to the Quiet Side of Northern Dauphin County.” More than 60,000 copies will be displayed in every tourism-oriented business in the region (more than 80 such businesses exist now) as well as at every roadside welcome center in central PA.

The Tourism Task Force, a sub-division of the Promotion and Marketing Committee, presented its first tourism training seminar at the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in February 2008. More than 25 businesses were represented at this training event, provided free by the PA Downtown Center. The region’s first full-page tourism advertisement will be published in the 2008 Annual edition of the Hershey-Harrisburg Tourism Guidebook, set for release this month. A new website, VisitNorthernDauphin.com, will be launched in April to coordinate with the Guidebook and brochure to drive internet traffic to the regional website (NDRCC.org).

Follow-up communications and the next training event for tourism are being prepared for release next month. Business owners in the fields of travel, marketing, restaurants, hotel/motel/B&B, and destinations are encouraged to contact NDRP to be included in future initiatives, including joint advertising and cooperative marketing approaches.

A fifth Main Street Committee has just been introduced at training meetings sponsored by the PA Downtown Center in early March 2008. The Safe, Clean, and Green Committee is a future component of NDRP’s people project for encouraging safety in the downtowns, cleaner streets, buildings, and sidewalks, and green havens (parks, streetscapes, and citiscapes) for community enjoyment. Revitalization seeks a committed person to chair this regional committee and recruit other volunteers.

The Future. The Northern Dauphin Revitalization Project is constantly looking towards the future as it develops its technology and education vision statements. Technological investigations presently underway include a partnership in alternative energy that could bring both white collar and blue collar jobs to the region. Estimators, marketers, and financiers will be needed to explain solar, wind, and water power for homes, businesses, and farms. While plumbers, electricians, roofers, and general contractors will be needed to install the systems throughout central PA. Light manufacturing and clerical help may be needed to coordinate efforts in this Green Project. Plans for education are still being formulated for release in late 2008 or early 2009.

To become involved in any of these projects, contact NDRP at 717-362-1438 or   HYPERLINK "mailto:NDRP@epix.net"  NDRP@epix.net  or NDRCC.org.

NDRP envisions a storefront in one of the communities that will provide start-up businesses space in order to try out new business ideas. With a low risk for the entrepreneur and support from NDRP to lay a solid foundation, those with an idea, product or service can test the waters before giving up full-time jobs.

• The Economic Restructuring Committee is gleaning valuable survey information in Millersburg, Elizabethville and Tower City. These volunteers are collecting information about the way people currently use the downtowns and what they want to see happen in the future. Volunteers are needed in all seven communities to continue this important process which helps make the case for prospective business owners to relocate to northern Dauphin County.

• The Design Committee recently received more than $15,000 in state funds for its annual facade grant program. The committee meets monthly to consider new facade grant proposals from downtown property owners in all seven anchor communities and will be revising and publishing a new version of the Grant Guidelines this summer.

• The Promotion and Marketing Committee, a joint effort between NDRP's Promotion Committee and the Northern Dauphin Regional Chamber of Commerce's Marketing Committee, has just published its first four-color, four-panel brochure,  "Come to the Quiet Side of Northern Dauphin County.'' More than 60,000 copies will be displayed in more than 80 tourism-oriented businesses in the region  as well as at every roadside welcome center in central Pennsylvania.

• The Tourism Task Force, a sub-division of the Promotion and Marketing Committee, presented its first tourism training seminar at the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in February. More than 25 businesses were represented at this  event, provided free of charge by the PA Downtown Center.

The region's first full-page tourism advertisement will be published in the 2008 Annual edition of the Hershey-Harrisburg Tourism Guidebook, set for release this spring. A new Website, www.VisitNorthernDauphin.com,  will be launched in April to coordinate with the Guidebook and brochure to drive Internet traffic to the regional Website (www.NDRCC.org).

Follow-up communications, as well as the next training seminar for tourism, are being prepared for release next month. Business owners in the fields of travel, marketing, restaurants, hotel/motel/bed and breakfast, and destinations are encouraged to contact NDRP to be included in future projects, some of which will include joint advertising and cooperative marketing ventures.

• A fifth Main Street Committee has just been introduced. The Safe, Clean, and Green Committee will encourage safety in the downtowns, cleaner streets, buildings, and sidewalks, and parks for community enjoyment. The NDRP is seeking a committed person to chair this regional committee and recruit other volunteers.

Alternative energy venture possible. The Northern Dauphin Revitalization Project is constantly looking towards the future as it develops vision statements on technology and education.

A partnership in alternative energy business that could bring both white-collar and blue-collar jobs to the region is being investigated. Estimators, marketers, and financiers will be needed to explain solar, wind, and water power for homes, businesses and farms. Additional information on this venture still is being formulated for re-lease late this year or early next year.

For more information on the NDRP and its projects, call  362-1438, e-mail NDRP@epix.net or log on to  www.ndrcc.org