The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development awarded a $275,000 grant to PerkUp's regional wayfinding sign project, chamber of commerce officials announced this week.

                The long-awaited grant announcement means that the project to brand the Upper Perkiomen Valley can finally move forward. PerkUp applied for the grant in 2015, but the state budget impasse stalled consideration of the organization's application. 

                "To say that we're excited is such an understatement," Upper Perkiomen Valley Chamber of Commerce President Luanne Stauffer said, adding that PerkUp could not have obtained the grant without the help and commitment of the municipalities, businesses, lawmakers and others who helped secure funds for the project's various phases.

                The $275,000 is in addition to about $82,000 that was committed by municipal and county governments and private donors – and will be used to complete the project's final phase. Funds will be used for sign fabrication, engineering and installation. Stauffer hopes that once work can begin, the project will take about a year and a half to complete.

                The project will comprise about 65 signs including gateway signs, which will mark entry into the Upper Perkiomen Valley at five locations, municipality boundary markers and attraction markers, which will point out libraries, parks and historical sites. In total, the project will cost more than $400,000.

                Stauffer said she is currently revising the grant's budget to account for about $14,000 that PerkUp had requested, but was not awarded. To compensate for a portion of those funds, PerkUp will install four of the five prototype signs that were developed in an earlier phase of the project.

                Once the go-ahead is received from the state DCED, PerkUp plans to meet with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials to finalize sign design and make sure they are made to the proper specifications. However, Stauffer said she expects "changes to be minimal" and include only "minor modifications."

                PerkUp officials will also begin meeting with the seven participating municipalities that have committed funds to the project – Pennsburg, Red Hill, East Greenville, and Green Lane boroughs as well as Marlborough, Upper Hanover and Hereford townships. The state will reimburse PerkUp for expenses under the grant, which is why the matching funds pledged by the municipalities "is so important," Stauffer said.

                Stauffer stressed that the wayfinding signs are only "part of a bigger project" to brand the Upper Perkiomen Valley and advance the region as an outdoor recreation and nature destination, as well as to attract and support entrepreneurs and current business owners throughout the region.