Consultants present Montage Mountain economic-development plan; commissioners form implementation committee

Consultants from eConsult Solutions, the Riddle Company and Kimley‑Horn presented a Montage Mountain economic-development study to the Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners on July 16, 2025, highlighting tourism and hotel assets while flagging transportation congestion, topography constraints and retail vacancies as the primary barriers to new investment. Commissioners said they will form a county–city–borough implementation committee to begin work on priority recommendations.

The study team—led by Brian Licari of eConsult Solutions—said Montage Mountain is a mixed commercial, residential and entertainment corridor east of the I‑476/I‑81 interchange that includes parts of Moosic Borough and the city of Scranton. Licari said the plan, funded in part by an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant and supported by the NEPA Alliance, evaluated market conditions, land use, transportation and visitation patterns and included stakeholder interviews and a community survey. The full plan document will be posted publicly, he said.

Why it matters: Montage Mountain contains regionally significant attractions—the ski resort, the water park, the Pavilion concert venue and PNC Field—that draw hundreds of thousands…