AKRON, Ohio, Oct. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) remains among the nation's leading utilities in promoting economic development, according to Site Selection magazine. This marks the twelfth time in the past 14 years the company has received this honor.
In 2014, FirstEnergy helped attract nearly $2.2 billion in third-party capital investment to its Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland service areas that is expected to create more than 6,000 new jobs.
The award recognizes utility companies that complement reliable power delivery to their customers with a hands-on approach to encouraging business development in their operational areas. Recipient utilities are chosen based on a mix of objective and subjective criteria, including what the utility does to help create jobs and facilitate investment in its area, website tools and data that can be used to help business development, and survey responses from customers and potential customers.
"FirstEnergy's economic development team works hard to attract new businesses and to encourage existing businesses to expand in our service area," said Patrick Kelly, director of economic development at FirstEnergy. "Site Selection magazine's award demonstrates that our efforts to promote job creation continue to enjoy success and recognition in the industry."
Among the largest job-creating developments fostered by FirstEnergy's collaborative economic development activities in 2014 were:
- MarkWest Liberty Midstream (Evans City, Butler County, Pa.), $202 million invested, 61 new jobs
- AstraZeneca (Gaithersburg, Frederick County, Md.), $200 million invested, 300 new jobs
- MSK Monmouth (Holmdel, Monmouth County, NJ), $217 million invested, 160 new jobs
- Toledo Refinery (Oregon, Lucas County, Ohio), $140 million invested, 480 new jobs
Other ongoing FirstEnergy economic development programs and partnerships that continue to help create new jobs and generate capital investments include:
- FirstProspector – an interactive internet mapping program that allows users to search for available land sites and commercial buildings in FirstEnergy's service area. The program, which includes presentation-quality demographic and business analysis reports, is designed to help speed up and simplify the search process for new locations.
- IMPACTfactor+ – a computer simulation program for economic development that helps FirstEnergy's communities model the increase in economic activity as a result of new investment in an area's economy. Customized IMPACTfactor+ reports are generated for economic development partners to help measure the impact on jobs, output, personal income and tax revenue using industry-specific multipliers.
FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. Visit FirstEnergy on the web at www.firstenergycorp.com, or follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/firstenergy-again-named-top-utility-for-economic-development-by-site-selection-magazine-300156709.html
SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.
