Pittsburgh’s Mastermind group kicked off the year with an update on how Royal Dutch Shell’s cracker plant promises to transform the region following decades of economic decline after the collapse of the steel industry.

Beaver County Commissioner Sandie Egley and James Palmer of the Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development said that the project, while still under construction, already has resulted in more jobs, more businesses, and a spike in residential construction.

To train the local workforce, Egley said that Community College of Beaver County had changed some programs to better align with jobs projected or already in demand.

Shell is building the $6 million cracker plant along the Ohio River in Potter Township to process ethane into materials for eventual use in the plastics industry. A 97-mile pipeline will connect three ethane sources in Pennsylvania and Ohio and deliver gas to the plant.

The plant is expected to be operational sometime next year.