BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – A news conference on Thursday morning at Jefferson Place brought optimism to the community with the announcement that a new trucking company is coming to town.
(Pictured above, left to right: John Niebauer and Matt Niebauer, of Legacy Trucking)
Legacy Trucking – which already has locations in Shippenville, DuBois, Altoona, Erie, Bedford, Milesburg, New Stanton, Somerset, and Harrisburg – closed on a deal with the Jefferson County Development Council and has plans to open a new truck center at the former Days Inn property within three years.
For Brad Lashinsky, the JCDC Executive Director, (pictured on right) the announcement was one he was more than happy to make.
“As many of you know, we have been working on this project for the last eight months. It all began with a call from Brookville Borough Manager Dana Shick,” Lashinsky said. “Mrs. Shick informed us the Cotilla Group wanted the borough to take over the property due to the back taxes and water damage, which made the project they were working on no longer feasible.”
The Days Inn property, formerly owned by Cotilla Group, which is based in Florida, was abandoned and had become blighted with it being used by squatters at times for nefarious activities that included drug use.
After much discussion, the three taxing entities involved, Brookville Borough, Brookville Area School District, and the county, agreed to forgive the back taxes.
Lashinsky was happy to report that the deal that was struck with Legacy made JCDC enough money to pay those back taxes to the three governing bodies.
Commissioner Herb Bullock thanked Legacy for coming to Jefferson County, and Alan Reitz, the board President for JCDC, was also pleased as he reminisced about having his company’s sales meetings and Christmas parties there while enjoying dinner at Ernie’s Place, a restaurant located inside the hotel, and taking his kids swimming there in the pool.
“When I heard how it had become there, I wondered ‘How bad it could it be?’” Reitz said. “It had become an eyesore, a public health hazard.”
“When I became aware of the financial considerations, I admit I was a bit skeptical, but Brad and C.J. (Zwick, JCDC attorney) are to be commended for their work on this and we appreciate the help we received from the borough, school district and county.”
For Legacy co-owners and brothers, John and Matt Niebauer, they were appreciative of the work of JCDC.
“It wasn’t an easy task on their end, but working with Brad made it much easier for us to decide where to build our next facility,” Matt Niebauer said.
He explained their company is a Mack and Volvo dealer.
“Our plan is to build a 35,000-square foot facility and it will start off with about 20 to 25 employees and we anticipate that growing to around 35 to 40 in 12 to 18 months.
“Our potential is enormous for us to grow our rental/leasing business, body shop, we have a lot of big plans for it,” Matt said.
Niebauer hoped to have the current Days Inn building razed in a few months.
Lashinsky explained the contract to have it done and the site prepared for new construction is 12 months and the company plans to have the new facility built in two years or less from the site being ready.
According to it website, Legacy Truck Centers, Inc. is one of the largest dealers of Mack and Volvo trucks in Pennsylvania.
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