Schuylkill County wants to determine how it can best continue to build a robust economy and draw the skilled workforce needed to keep it thriving.

Commissioners earlier on Wednesday agreed to hire Delta Development Group, Camp Hill, Cumberland County, to conduct a feasibility study of the county’s assets and needs for $110,000.

Delta was the lowest of five bidders for the work, said county Finance Director Glenn A. Geissinger.

The study will look at many aspects including demographics, housing, social service needs, infrastructure, education, childcare, health care, recreation, and previous community development initiatives and studies.

The last county-wide feasibility study was done in 2006.

“The commissioners are leading the effort to boost, intelligent and environmentally, conscientious, economic growth that attracts investors, developers, entrepreneurs, and other employers to ensure family-sustaining jobs with excellent wages and benefits for our citizens,” Commissioners Chairman Larry L. Padora Jr. said.

“You can see it: Schuylkill County is poised to grow. Last year, construction permits were issued for about 8 million square feet in the county. We have a number of industrial and commercial sites that already have electricity, water, and sewer. We even have an abandoned hospital in Ashland,” he said.

Delta Senior Vice-President for Community Planning Darren J. Asper on Wednesday brought the firm’s process into focus for county leaders.

Key to the county’s success is attracting new business and a talented workforce.

To do that, Delta will draw on its team of engineers, economists and community planners. They’ll tour the county to get a first-hand look at it as-is, and provide updates as the data collection progresses.

The data Delta collects will be crucial to obtaining funding for projects in the future, Asper said.

“Part of what we do at Delta is we work with nonprofits, counties, and municipalities in helping to secure funding for projects. To date, we’ve secured over $2.2 billion dollars of state and federal, and also foundational funding for community development initiatives, and those are organizations that are everything from like the SPCA to various counties and municipalities to help them with infrastructure needs,” Asper said. “So we always think about what’s out there in terms of funding opportunities and how that matches up to what are key initiatives within Schuylkill County.”

Asper said Delta has given itself a “very aggressive timeline” to finish the study: He anticipates finalizing it by the end of October.

“And usually, in the process, we uncover things that you may not be aware of. It might be emerging industries or emerging housing trends that weren’t apparent when we started the process, so that’s all part of what we’ll be doing in the task in our task-oriented plan,” he said.

He asked leaders to rank 14 community goals, including cultivating existing businesses, expanding modern infrastructure, leveraging educational and other institutions as partners to create a skilled workforce, encouraging access to transportation, ensuring affordable excellent and safe childcare, developing a robust tourism and leisure sector, and elevating the brand of Schuylkill County.

The audience included representatives of the Schuylkill Economic Development Corporation, the Schuylkill County Industrial Development Authority, the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority, the Schuylkill County Chamber of Commerce, nonprofit organizations, and state and local elected officials.