The Butler County Chamber of Commerce has found some help to bolster networking and mentoring.

Allegheny Conference on Community Development announced an expansion Monday which involves the Chamber's partnership.

The Chamber and the Conference entered into a three-year collaborative agreement.

The Chamber, with a focus on the city of Butler, requested the agreement with the Conference to increase networking, mentoring and shared-learning opportunities; access to subject matter experts; and technical assistance of varying degrees, among other opportunities for collaboration.

“The big thing about that is educating ourselves on tax credits,” said Jordan Grady, executive director for the Chamber.

Grady said the Allegheny Conference can help the Chamber in writing tax credit grants to attract investors into the City of Butler to make investments or bring businesses to the city.

The Chamber also has partnered with Alliance for Nonprofit Resources to assist with its work with the Allegheny Conference.

Grady said ANR has experience in grant writing, so it made sense to form that additional partnership.

“We are definitely optimistic that this will be a great benefit to the city and will aid in some economic development and growth,” Grady said.

He said by developing a plan to assist in tax credits, the city can make itself a more attractive place for new businesses to open or invest.

“I'm really optimistic that this will help attract some investors or larger organizations to make investments in the city,” Grady said.

Butler City is one of nine new partnerships with Allegheny Conference, according to Monday's announcement.

Vera Krekanova, leader of community development efforts for Allegheny Conference, said the key focus for assisting their partners has been by increasing awareness, knowledge and use of the Neighborhood Assistance Program, which provides tax credits to businesses interested in investing in communities.

Krekanova said the Allegheny Conference's goal is to work with its affiliates to stimulate economic growth and improve the quality of life spanning the 10 counties in its southwestern Pennsylvania region.

Legislation was passed in 2018 that increased the cap of available tax credit funds to $36 million from $18 million.

Krekanova said the tax credit provides a big incentive for businesses that are looking for opportunities.

“Through the tax credit program, they can invest their money for a tax credit, in communities of their choice,” she said. “We sort of facilitate those connections.”

Other affiliates include the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the Pennsylvania Economy League of Greater Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance.

“They might be in different phases, but we are bringing these communities together so they can really learn from each other, they can learn where their strengths are in comparison to others,” Krekanova said.

“We were very pleased to have Butler interested in being a part of the program. They bring a different perspective.”

Krekanova said Butler City has some ideas on development and has other community partnerships, which makes it an intriguing prospect.