Shapiro Administration Turns Dirt Into Jobs in Cambria County, Secures New Manufacturing Facility at Site of Former Moxham Bus Barns

The Johnstown Redevelopment Authority will use the $200,000 grant to assess soil, ground water, and air quality at the sites in Johnstown ― paving the way for an incoming advanced manufacturing company that will create at least 20 new jobs.

Projects like this one reinforce the Shapiro Administration's commitment to creating healthier communities for Pennsylvanians while also investing in the Commonwealth's economic future.

Harrisburg, PA - Today, Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger announced the approval of $200,000 through the Industrial Sites Reuse Program (ISRP) to the Johnstown Redevelopment Authority to conduct an environmental assessment at the former Moxham Bus Barn facilities - paving the way for new manufacturing jobs. Following the environmental work, the structures will house a new, advanced manufacturing enterprise by the Swedish company Hoganas, which plans to use the buildings as part of their high-tech powdered metals manufacturing factory and create at least 20 new jobs.

The Moxham Streetcar Barns were built in the late 1800's and later became the "Bus Barn" for the Cambria Transit Authority. The Johnstown Redevelopment Authority has been working on redeveloping the facility since they acquired the site from the Cambria Transit Authority in 2019.

"By investing in the environmental assessment of the former Moxham Bus Barns, we're helping move this project one step closer to redevelopment - ushering in a new advanced manufacturing operation, new jobs in Johnstown, and a stronger local economy," said DCED Secretary Siger. "Through the Industrial Sites Reuse Program, we're cleaning up legacy industrial sites, protecting the health of our communities, and positioning the Commonwealth for continued economic growth."

This assessment will include the collection of ground water samples, soil borings and indoor air samples for analysis, the installation of five groundwater monitoring wells, and the collection of samples from those wells for analysis.

"The Industrial Sites Reuse Program is an important tool for growing our communities and our economy," said DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley. "Governor Shapiro has called for additional resources for the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund, which partially supports ISRP, so that we can ensure that brownfields and blighted areas aren't left in our neighborhoods, and that we can continue investing into Pennsylvania."

Governor Josh Shapiro has called for an additional $20 million for the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund in his 2026-27 Budget Proposal to protect Pennsylvanians from dangerous toxic waste sites and repurpose the land for economic development. For too long, hazardous waste sites, abandoned mine lands, and abandoned wells have sat vacant and released toxic chemicals into the environment because Pennsylvania didn't have the resources or the speed to get projects up and running. Under the Shapiro Administration, we're working to fix that - building shovel-ready sites, cleaning up abandoned mine land and hazardous waste sites so communities can put those areas back to good use, and aggressively plugging abandoned or orphaned wells that are polluting our air and water.

The ISRP provides loans and grants for environmental assessments and remediation carried out by eligible applicants who did not cause or contribute to the contamination. The program is designed to foster the cleanup of environmental contamination at industrial sites, thereby bringing blighted land into productive reuse.

For more information about the Industrial Sites Reuse Program or the Department of Community and Economic Development, visit the DCED website, and be sure to stay up-to-date with all of our agency news on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

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