PA DEP Awards Energy-Efficiency, Pollution-Prevention Grants to 32 Small Businesses

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Environmental Protection has awarded $239,809 in grants to help 32 small businesses across Pennsylvania invest in energy-efficiency or pollution-prevention projects.

"Becoming energy-efficient can involve an initial up-front investment that will be proportionally higher for small businesses," DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. "The investment will pay for itself and more over time, but this program makes that transition more doable for Pennsylvania's small business owners."

Pennsylvania's Small Business Advantage Grant program, funded through the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, helps businesses with 100 or fewer employees. It provides 50-percent matching reimbursement grants of up to $9,500 to implement projects that will save 25 percent annually in pollution-prevention or energy-related costs. Since 2004, the program has invested $7.25 million in 1,720 small businesses statewide.

Of the $1 million in grants budgeted for the current fiscal year, this is the second of three announcements of selected grantees. The 32 new grants will create $812,987 of private-sector investment in small businesses.

Examples of eligible projects include high-efficiency HVAC and insulation upgrades, high-efficiency lighting to save energy, installation of energy-efficient heat pumps and new auxiliary power units that help large trucks reduce time spent with idling engines.

For more information about the Small Business Advantage Grant program, contact DEP's Office of the Small Business Ombudsman at 717-772-8909 or via email at [email protected].

Media contact: Amanda Witman, 717-979-0218 (mobile)

Editor's note: The 32 businesses that were awarded grants are listed below, alphabetically by county, with the project location and award amount.

Berks
Green Hills Home Center - $9,500

Bucks
Pine Run Construction - $9,500

Delaware
K & C Cleaners - $8,487

Erie
Beth's Flowers - $3,447
Tetra Tool Co. - $9,500

Lackawanna
ABC Kiddie Kampus - $3,648
Electric City Inc. - $9,500
Lear Von Koch MD & Associates - $4,000
Troy Mechanical Inc. - $3,797

Lancaster
New Holland Bulk Carriers LLC - $4,350

Lehigh
Hertz Associates Inc. - $6,500
Lynar Corp. - $7,147
Sellair LLC - $9,500

Luzerne
ADS Dry Cleaners - $9,500
Mattern Flower Shop - $4,567
Nicholas Truck Sales - $6,939
Skitco Manufacturing Inc. - $1,512

Lycoming
Ken Bergren Inc. - $8,925

Mercer
Chadderton Trucking - $8,700

Northampton
Nazareth Mutual Insurance Co. - $9,500
Tower Products Inc. - $9,500

Philadelphia
Betty Brite Cleaners - $9,500
Cupcake House - $8,905
Select Cleaner - $9,500
Yis Sam's Cleaners - $9,500

Schuylkill
Losch Boiler Sales and Service - $ 9,500
Rubright Domalakes & Troy - $9,500

Venango
Klapec Auto Body - $9,500
Voyten Electric and Electronics Inc. - $9,500

Westmoreland
Grumpy's Truckin' - $4,350

York
R.J. Shoff Trucking - $9,500
Wayne Nell and Sons Meats - $2,535

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection