With the support of both major party gubernatorial candidates, a hand-delivered grant application and nearly universal community support, the prospect of finding federal and state funding for the Impact Warren project is looking bright.

Last Tuesday, Warren Mayor Mark Phillips and Councilman David See traveled to Harrisburg with Larry Segal, a grant advisor for the project. The trio delivered the first of the project's funding applications to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and met with representatives from PennDOT (where former Warren County resident Rick Peltz serves as deputy secretary), the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"We've begun the process of engaging the funding sources, sort of strutting our wares a little bit and letting them know that this is an uncommon project," said Segal.

The fact that the project is unusual, said Segal, is what makes it most attractive. The number of different aspects of the program - everything from parking and mass transit to housing and entertainment - will make it more attractive to individual agencies. It will also allow the managers of the Impact Warren project to apply for funding from a wide variety of sources.

Even more unusual than the breadth of the project, however, is its breadth of support. Many projects get their start when a private developer applies for funding from the state for a project, then approaches the community in which it hopes to do the project after it has received the funding. This project, however, has the support of the local community and business leaders even before the grant process begins, something that Phillips hopes will improve its chances.

"Our strength lies in the fact that it's the city applying for this rather than the developer," said Phillips.

An important step in conveying that message of community support was the visit to Harrisburg made by Segal, Phillips and See. By speaking with leaders from each of the four agencies from whom they hope to receive funding, See and Phillips were able to convey the strength of the community backing the project has. Another trip to Harrisburg is planned for the future, one that will include not just political leaders but the leaders of many of Warren's largest businesses.

Another significant strength of the Impact Warren project is the backing it has received from both Ed Rendell and Mike Fisher, the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor, respectively. Phillips said that the agencies with which he spoke seemed optimistic about the availability of funding when a new administration is put in place, largely because both candidates have voiced their support and their commitment to helping with the project.

"It bodes very well," said Segal. "It's very rare to get the attention of a gubernatorial candidate, let alone both of them, and as far as I know (other than a mass transit project in Pittsburgh) this is the only project that has received the attention of both candidates, and I think that speaks for the merit of the project and the depth of community support."