The economy in Butler County had many significant events in 2014 which made the local economy the top news story of the year.

Some of that news was positive as businesses got building projects under way and announced planned expansions. But some news was bad with store closings and worker layoffs at companies.

Much of the economic news in 2014 centered on downtown Butler.

Downtown changes

The Centre City project started to become a reality with the opening of the new Rite Aid Pharmacy, 139 S. Main St., on Dec. 4 after eight months of construction.

The store is the first part of the project, which is to include a Marriott Springhill Suites hotel and a 225-space parking garage.

J.S. Capitol, the developer of the hotel, in August was approved for nearly $3 million in financing from NexTier Bank for the 70-room hotel. The city redevelopment authority, which will be a 36 percent owner of the building, will contribute $2 million in state grants.

Plans for the new parking garage changed during the year. The city parking authority in September approved replacing the structure with a surface lot for the hotel due to the cost of the project.

However, the move sparked a petition by city businesses, which collected more than 600 signatures calling for the construction of a garage.

The authority rescinded the motion in October.

The city developed a preliminary plan to finance the estimated $4.1 million garage itself, and is getting a bond issue through PNC Bank.

The Centre City project wasn’t the only progress made on Main Street.

The city in November approved plans for a Dunkin’ Donuts to be built at the site of the former Flynn Tire building. Flynn Tire closed the store in May.

Developers for the $1 million project hope to begin construction in May.

But two longtime businesses closed on Main Street.

The original Natili Restaurant at the corner of South Main and East Wayne streets closed in September after 75 years.

Also Worsley’s, 161 N. Main St., closed its four storefronts in October after 87 years.

Restaurants and hotels

Economic development continued around the rest of the county in 2014.

Two new hotels were under construction in Butler Township. A new Holiday Inn Express opened this fall on North Duffy Road, while a Hampton Inn hotel behind Mikan Motors is expected to open early in 2015.

An about 80-room Home 2 Suites hotel also was built on Cranberry Woods Drive in Cranberry Township.

The Butler County Tourism Bureau announced plans to restore the Kaufman House in Zelienople. The bureau is seeking a buyer for the former restaurant, which closed three years ago.

The bureau is partnering with Butler County Community College to reopen the building as a restaurant and hotel.

The Kaufman House is included on a list of projects that a $3 million state grant to Zelienople will help fund. The grant was awarded to the borough’s Main Street Revitalization project and also will pay for a new parking lot and infrastructure improvements downtown.

The Harmony Inn completed renovations and a lengthy liquor license renewal process and reopened in August.

More development

The Butler Health System this month announced a $20 million project to build a new medical center at its East Campus in Summit Township.

The Passavant Retirement Community in Zelienople in June opened a new $57 million Abundant Life Center.

Construction began in April on the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township. The $70 million structure will have two ice rinks for both the Pittsburgh Penguins and for public use in addition to a sports medical complex run by UPMC. It is to open in August.

A nearly five-month lockout at the Indspec chemical plant ended in August with a new three-year employee contract.

Jobs come and go

The county had a five-year low in its unemployment rate, which was 4.5 percent in October.

PPG in May began moving 200 employees to its new divisional headquarters in Cranberry Woods.

Jackson Township in October approved plans for a new FedEx regional distribution center on Tomlinson Drive. The center is expected to open by June 2016 and could bring with it as many as 500 jobs.

The development coincides with a $1.5 million grant Jackson Township was awarded in September. That will be used to build a full-access intersection with Route 528, Tomlinson Drive and Jo Deener Drive.

Verizon cut 1,000 employees when it closed its Cranberry Woods center in May.

The Bon Ton in the Clearview Mall in Center Township announced in October that it will close at the end of January. The store has 38 employees.

Bottom Dollar Food was sold to Aldi in November. Two of the Bottom Dollar stores in Butler Township will close.

About 1,200 workers lost their jobs — but many just for a while — when the U.S. Investigative Services, which has offices in Boyers and Grove City, announced the termination of two federal government contracts in September. The company was accused of defrauding the federal government in January.

However about 900 of those USIS workers were rehired in early October by NT Concepts to work for Iron Mountain in Boyers. Iron Mountain received a $2 million state grant to help support 100 jobs later that month.

Butler Downtown announced in December that expiring state funding forced it to become a strictly volunteer organization.

The nonprofit was enrolled in a five-year funding program through the state, which it used to pay for a Main Street manager and facade improvements downtown.

The nonprofit ended the manager position Dec. 17 and said it would not continue the facade work. Its other programs will continue to be run by volunteers.