Ebensburg Community Development Director Danea Koss speaks about the Ebensburg Main Street Partnership as Lt. Gov. Austin Davis (second right) looks on. Also attending the “Main Street Matters” program tour were (from left) Cambria County Commissioner Tom Chernisky, Pour on Center owner Chris Persio, state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Johnstown, and Johnstown Mayor Frank Jankovic. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

EBENSBURG — Lt. Gov. Austin Davis visited Cambria County on Friday to announce a $50,000 grant for the borough through the Keystone Communities program and to highlight a proposed $25 million investment in the Main Street Matters program to revitalize downtown business districts.

He said the grant will help facilitate improvements for roughly 17 downtown businesses in the borough.

According to Danea Koss, community development director for the borough and the Ebensburg Main Street Partnership, the grant allows business owners in the district to apply for up to $5,000 for projects to improve the outsides of their buildings, such as lighting, siding, windows and signage.

“People have been asking about it for quite some time,” Koss said, adding business owners can apply through the main street partnership’s office in the Ebensburg Borough municipal building. “It’s a 50/50 match. If they spend $10,000 on a project, we reimburse them $5,000.”

Davis said over the past four years, the Commonwealth has invested more than $600,000 in Ebensburg with a number of projects, including repairs to older buildings, renovations to the borough swimming pool, construction of a dog park and the extension of the Ghost Town Trail loop.

“These investments make a difference,” he said, adding there’s an $8 return for every $1 investment the Commonwealth makes in main streets. “This is common sense.”

Cambria County Commissioner Tom Chernisky said investing in main street partnerships is good for the economy and local areas because it creates new businesses and jobs in the community.

“When I go to different communities in Cambria County and the region, everybody points to Ebensburg and says, ‘Look what Ebensburg is doing’ and it’s nice to hear that,” Chernisky said, adding the Ebensburg Main Street Partnership “gets it” by working together.

“Everybody’s working together. We still have a long way to go, but the better your downtown does, the better your community does,” he said.

State Rep. Frank Burns, D-Johnstown, said the main street program in Ebensburg is thriving, “and they were able to do it before this new $25 million program was initiated by the governor.”

Burns said he hopes to replicate Ebensburg’s success throughout all the small communities in his district so they can have an opportunity to succeed, too.

As someone who has been part of the Ebensburg community for 15 years, he said it’s “a true joy” working with the local borough officials because they are “truly about getting stuff done.”

“There’s no politics — no Republican or Democrat issues — just about getting things done for the community, and that’s how you succeed,” Burns said.

Across the Commonwealth, Davis said there are many communities where people feel like they are left behind and forgotten about by state leaders in Harrisburg.

“I’m here to tell you that Governor (Josh) Shapiro and I are never going to leave any community in Pennsylvania behind,” Davis told local leaders and media during a press conference at Pour on Center, a member of the Ebensburg Main Street Partnership.

Chris Persio, the owner of the gastropub, said he and his father, Nick, opened Amici’s Ristorante in Ebensburg about 25 years ago and have been able to expand their business to include Pour on Center next to Amici’s because of the community’s support.

“I love Ebensburg,” Persio said. “I’m born and raised here, and I thought this would be just the best place to raise my family and start my business.”

Davis said the governor’s administration wants to revitalize places like his hometown of McKeesport and “double down our investments” in places like Ebensburg.

“Whether you live in a small borough in Cambria County or a former steel town in Allegheny County, every person and community deserves to have economic vitality and a strong economic future,” Davis said, adding the Main Street Matters program is part of a proposed $600 million in the 2024-25 budget for economic development investments.

He said the program will proactively help to rebuild Pennsylvania’s commercial business districts and revitalize communities.

“We need to create ladders of opportunity so families can build generational wealth,” Davis said. “We can do big things in Pennsylvania if we’re willing to work together.”

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.