The economic headlines may be depressing for a large part of the nation, but in the Mon Valley city of Clairton, business is looking up.

City council recently approved a motion that will convey the city-owned abandoned Mill Site Plaza to the city's redevelopment authority, which will then sell it to Blue Mountain Equipment Rental Corp. The Uniontown-based company plans to build an 8,000-square-foot office and warehouse facility on the vacant 2.6-acre lot at the corner of Maple Avenue and Route 837.

The $800,000 facility will also serve as its corporate headquarters.

The target opening date is Sept. 1.

The company hopes to hire, starting later this year, 15 new employees, jobs such as truck drivers, mechanics, and office workers.

"There's a large talent pool of people in the Mon Valley who we want to hire,'' said Chief Executive Officer and co-owner Jim Jones.

Blue Mountain rents earth-moving, material-handling, and light construction equipment to commercial accounts. It has been in existence for two years.

Mr. Jones said the firm liked Clairton for its proximity to Pittsburgh; the availability of mechanics, technicians, and truck drivers and because the company does business with nearby U.S. Steel.

"We wanted to bring our business closer to the larger market of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh,'' Mr. Jones said.

Clairton Mayor Domenic Virgona said officials have looked for a developer for the site for the last five years.

"This is something great for the city,'' he said.

Besides Uniontown, Blue Mountain has an office in Clarksburg, W. Va.

Under the plan, Uniontown will become a satellite office with the Clairton site an expansion and relocation of the corporate headquarters.

Clairton's good news streak began in November of 2007 when U.S. Steel Corp. announced it was considering a $1 billion capital investment program at its Clairton plant coke-making operation.

Besides enhancing the company's environmental performance, the program would help ensure the long-term viability of its Mon Valley operations and create more than 600 construction jobs.

Last week, the company's manager of public affairs, John Armstrong, said U.S. Steel started the environmental permitting process. The decision to proceed with the program depends upon receipt of the permits, approval of U.S. Steel's board of directors, and business conditions.