HONESDALE, PA — Katz’s Underwear Factory, Moore Business Forms, the Dunmore Industrial Park, and a local landscape dotted with dairy farms are history. Cow pastures have morphed into forests, but nothing has so far replaced the factories that once supported hundreds of families. Percolating under public radar for two years, the Stourbridge Project, a bold $1.2 million economic development plan, seeks to do just that. It will capitalize on rural northeastern PA’s clean air and water, greenbelts, excellent public school systems and proximity and accessibility to major metropolitan areas to attract and retain innovative business.

Under the direction of Wayne Economic Development Corporation (WEDCO), the project’s mission is to foster a sustainable economy of entrepreneurs in technology-driven fields like digital media, information technology, computer-assisted design and software design. An indispensable first step toward that goal was upgrading broadband width tenfold for county government and the Stourbridge Project, thus enabling a one-gigabyte Internet connection to support the project’s current initiatives: incubator/accelerator tenant offices, prototyping lab, digital media lab; co-working space, and educational and training programs.

An open house at its 646 Park Ave. complex on September 22 introduced the public to project facilities, but anyone who missed it can pop in on weekdays and see facility manager Morgan Keller (morgankeller@wedco.org) for a tour and advice on what they might do there. Technophobes, take heart. This is not just for computer geeks, gadget guys, and 21st-century tool-and-die makers. Artists, musicians, jewelry designers, filmmakers and woodworking artisans will all find much here to celebrate and use.

Co-working space

Three work units equipped with PCs and one equipped with a Mac, each loaded with design software of all kinds, are free for the asking. Just drop in, punch the iPad time clock, and settle in. Or make a reservation in advance. Can’t come during weekday hours? For a nominal fee, a key permitting 24/7 access will be issued. Have your own laptop but need high-speed Internet access? Bring it and work at a comfortable table with other achievers.

Prototyping Lab: A 3D printer that produces both 10-by-10-inch plastic prototypes and support materials; a Shopbot Desktop CNC woodworking prototype machine and software designed to work with both are here, as well as a Glowforge laser cutter that will make possible design and testing of many subtractive manufacturing prototypes.

Digital Media Lab: This fully equipped studio with television, radio and recording capability is already used by local print media for taking their product to audio-visual platforms, by film companies shooting in nearby locations and by various organizations for making public service announcements. Rental cost: $25/hour, $75/half-day, $100/day.

Incubator/Accelerator Space: Tech startups will here find space discounted from the current local market value of $12/sq. ft., as well as high-speed Internet connection and other business-support services. With a maximum lease of five years, fees are graduated, based on growth, revenue and length of lease.

If any of this sounds intriguing, but you’re still intimidated by technology and/or lack the training and skills necessary to harness it, check in with Lucyann Vierling of Wayne-Pike Workforce Alliance (lvierling@wpwork force.org), a key partner of the Stourbridge Project. She’ll help you get started. Where you go from there is entirely up to you.