Jobs come in due time, with proper connections

Published: March 13, 2010

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Someone at Thursday's announcement of the 3-D glasses project involving D/E Associates and 3D Global Glasses LLC said "the wheels turn slowly when you're trying to get people to invest money."

How true. Especially during a recession.

But someone is investing in the greater Shamokin area, and, after a long drought, we're getting some new manufacturing jobs - in the heart of the city, no less.

D/E and 3D Global hope to employ 100 people by year's end, and they will produce up to 1.5 million 3-D glasses per month. Those are big numbers.

The comment about financing is well taken. The best business idea in the world needs someone's money behind it. But projects such as this also need connections, a tip of the hat to the old adage: it's not what you know, it's who you know.

Two years ago, the two principal partners of 3D Global had no knowledge of D/E Associates, and vice-versa. So how did the two get together?

Well, 3D Global had some local real estate investments. They were also aware of Richard Caruso's investment in the area through the Coal Township-SEEDCO Industrial Park. And Caruso, to dig a layer deeper, was originally drawn to invest here through a lifelong relationship with his old Susquehanna University football coach, Bob Pittello, of Mount Carmel. Caruso expounded on that connection at Thursday's press briefing at D/E, and Pittello was present to say hello to his old friend.

Important as those connections are, the key piece that linked all of them into this exciting new project was the recent establishment of KETEC (Keystone Energy Technology Enterprise Center) and Steve Bartos' hiring as renewable/green energy coordinator for the lower anthracite region through the office of state Rep. Robert E. Belfanti Jr., D-107. That clearinghouse of economic contacts and activities gave both D/E and 3D Global a place to connect.

KETEC and the new role for Bartos have existed for just over a year. It's been just 17 months since the FUTURES program was announced in Northumberland County. It's a project that's changed dramatically from its original intent, but FUTURES can still be credited as a launching point for the new energy we're seeing in local economic development.

The wage for the new jobs at D/E, described thus far at somewhere "under $10" per hour, aren't necessarily "family sustaining." But they are local jobs nonetheless, and - with D/E in the heart of the city - these jobs are within walking distance for many people. We hope, as D/E officials alluded to, the wage rate can climb as more technical projects get under way.

We can learn a lesson from the D/E-3D Global deal about the time and connections it takes to create jobs. And who could have imagined the unique connection it will give Shamokin to the future of the movie and television industries?

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