Jul 30, 2014 4 min read

When I began writing a monthly column for the Washington County Business Journal in 2002, the area’s business landscape was progressing at a steady clip, with the original Southpointe development approaching critical mass and a retail renaissance occurring out on the edge of the county seat.

That same year, ground was broken for Starpointe industrtial park near Burgettstown and the Alta Vista Business Park near Bentleyville, evidence that other parts of the county were being readied for attracting new businesses here.

Just before the launch of this periodical, the retail segment underwent a major transformation, with the announcements of Strabane Square and Trinity Point, both taking full advantage of the nexus of Route 19 and Interstates 79 and 70 and the tens of thousands of people who use the routes each day.

But this retrospective look to a dozen years ago is more informative by considering what has happened since the early years of the last decade.

In 2002, it would be five years before a temporary casino would be erected on the grounds of The Meadows, and another two years when a permanent 350,000 square-foot-casino — one of the largest in the Northeast — would open.

Across from the casino and racetrack, Tanger Outlets opened on Labor Day weekend of 2008, joining The Meadows in transforming Racetrack Road into a major shopping and entertainment destination, now with nearly 800 hotel rooms (and by next year, 1,000-plus rooms).

The road itself, once a conveyance for local motorists to gain access to I-79, today handles an estimated 17,000 vehicles a day in the mile-and-a-half stretch between Route 19 and the interstate ramps.

Tanger now draws 4.5 million visitors a year and The Meadows 3.6 million, accounting for most of the traffic activity in the booming corridor, which continues to add hotels, office space, apartments and restaurants.

Three major events occurred during 2004 that presaged the county’s economic fortunes. A plan for the development of the 650-acre Southpointe II project was revealed in the fall, and while it underwent some revisions, the mixed-use complement to the original Southpointe is today on its final run toward full capacity. At the same time, in October 2004, the ribbon was cut for the first 148 acres of Starpointe, which with 1,200 developable acres is one of the largest business and industrial parks in the state.

The farsightedness extended to the development of the Mon Valley Expressway and the Southern Beltway, which grew from hopeful plans decades ago to major construction commitments and mirrored the county’s commercial growth.

While the developments were being readied in anticipation of attracting more businesses to pad-ready sites, no one at that time could have known how the third event of 2004 would impact their plans for promoting business growth.

Range Resources would successfully drill its first horizontal gas well in the Marcellus Shale strata here, which would launch a “shale gale” that would eventually be responsible for filling up most of Southpointe II with energy-related companies and putting the county on the map as a national energy center.

The point of all of this is that in business, there is no crystal ball to predict future fortunes. But the commitment to being prepared for whatever business is coming paid off in a way that far exceeded original expectations.

In the 12 years since the WCBJ launched, the nation endured the Great Recession, but here, at the center of the energy revolution, business continued relatively unscathed — jobs were created, the energy supply chain grew and created more jobs, more hotels were built. Housing prices climbed and more housing was built.

The county achieved the rare and enviable feat of hitting an economic trifecta: retail, entertainment and, by way of an abundant and useful commodity being produced here, a greatly expanded industrial base.

Some would argue that it was a matter of being at the right place at the right time, but the optimism and preparations for doing more business made for a much smoother arrival.

Michael Bradwell is business editor for the Observer-Reporter.