Grove City Borough

What Grove City Borough does

Grove City Borough is a Pennsylvania municipal government entity incorporated on January 4, 1883, that administers local government functions and provides municipal services to residents and businesses within its five wards in Mercer County, PA. The borough operates a broad portfolio of civic services including police and volunteer fire protection, code enforcement and permitting, parks and recreation (anchored by a 265-acre Memorial Park with pool, trails, disc golf, and pavilions), recycling and waste collection (contracted to Tri-County Industries), sewer lateral inspection (administered on behalf of multiple connected communities), property tax collection, water and sewer utilities, and a borough-owned general aviation airport (FAA Identifier 29D). Governance is provided by an elected Mayor (Randy L. Riddle), a Borough Council with two representatives from each of five wards, a Junior Council Member program, and appointed staff led by Borough Manager Vance E. Oakes and Assistant Borough Manager Taylor Pokrant, with McNickle & Bonner, LLP serving as Solicitor and McGill, Power, Bell & Associates, LLP as auditor.

The borough's technology stack is built on third-party SaaS platforms: Cloudpermit powers online permit applications, status checks, and credit card payments for building, zoning, demolition, curb cut, and burning permits; Merchant Transact handles online utility bill payments; Doculicious processes park shelter reservations ($25–$50); and the official website (grovecityonline.com) runs on WordPress with integrations to Google Calendar, iCal, and Outlook for event publishing. Revenue mechanics consist of property tax collection through the Tax Office, recurring water and sewer utility payments, and transaction-based service fees including a $40 sewer lateral inspection application fee, $45 individual/$90 family Memorial Park pool season passes, and $5 daily pool admission. Public engagement occurs through council meetings, planning commission sessions, public documents, Pennsylvania Right to Know compliance, and in-person service at the Municipal Building (123 W. Main Street) Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The borough's go-to-market is direct-to-consumer / direct-to-resident: services are delivered in-person at the Municipal Building, online via self-serve portals, and through physical facilities (Memorial Park, pool, airport). Customer segments are Borough Residents (primary), Local Businesses (permits, zoning, code compliance, sewer lateral inspections for property sales), and Visitors/Tourists (recreation, shopping at Grove City Premium Outlets, events). No external funding, parent company, subsidiaries, M&A activity, or competitive moat beyond statutory municipal monopoly is evidenced; the borough's competitive position rests on its legal jurisdiction, the Grove City College association, 140+ years of continuous municipal operation since 1798 settlement, and unusually comprehensive physical infrastructure for a borough of its scale.

Name

Grove City Borough

Legal name

Grove City Borough

Website

https://grovecityonline.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Grove City Borough is a Pennsylvania municipal government incorporated in 1883 that administers local services — including police, fire, permitting, parks, utilities, waste collection, and a borough-owned airport — to residents, businesses, and visitors within its five wards in Mercer County, PA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Government / Municipal Services

NAICS

Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (9251), Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Mayor/City Manager & General Administration (BPAIACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Planning, Zoning, Permitting & Code Enforcement (BPAIACAE), Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services (BPAIACAI), Public Works & Municipal Infrastructure (Streets, Stormwater, Facilities) (BPAIACAF)

Keywords

• Municipal government services
• Local government administration
• Code enforcement permits
• Parks recreation facilities
• Public utility services

Headquarters

HQ city

Grove City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Property Tax Revenue: Revenue from property taxes collected through the Tax Office for borough operations and services.
2. Service Fees: Fees collected for various municipal services including permit fees ($40 sewer lateral inspection application), pool passes, shelter reservations, and other user fees.
3. Utility Services: Revenue from utility payments including water, sewer, and related municipal utilities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Grove City Borough is the local municipal government that administers public services to residents and businesses within its jurisdiction, including code enforcement, building permits and zoning, sewer lateral inspections, water and sewer utilities, residential recycling and waste collection, parks and recreation (Memorial Park, swimming pool, shelters), public safety (police and volunteer fire), public records access, and operation of the borough-owned Grove City Airport. Services are delivered through a combination of in-person service at the Municipal Building, online self-service portals, and physical infrastructure including the 265-acre Memorial Park and airport facilities.

Product overview

Grove City Borough operates as a municipal government offering a suite of resident-facing digital and in-person services. The borough's primary digital products include an online permit services portal powered by Cloudpermit for code enforcement and zoning, utility payment processing through Merchant Transact, shelter and park reservations via Doculicious, and a public documents portal. Core municipal services encompass parks and recreation (including Memorial Park with pool, trails, and disc golf), recycling and waste collection, sewer lateral inspections, and operation of Grove City Airport. The borough maintains five wards with distributed neighborhood playgrounds and offers community organizations directory, calendar of events, and news updates through its WordPress-based website.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Online Permit Services (Cloudpermit) Cloudpermit-powered online platform enabling residents and businesses to apply for building-related permits, check application status, and pay fees by credit card. Covers zoning, construction, deck, porch/roof, conditional use, burning, curb cut, demolition, and soliciting permits.
• Parks and Recreation Services Municipal parks and recreation system including 265-acre Memorial Park (swimming pool, disc golf, trails, playgrounds, pavilions), neighborhood playgrounds across five wards, mountain biking trails, and community events such as Strawberry Days and Scarecrows in the Park.
• Recycling and Waste Collection Residential recycling program accepting aluminum/metal cans, plastics (#1, #2, #5), newsprint, and cardboard. Managed through Tri-County Industries. Includes seasonal lawn debris collection (April-September) and E-waste/hazardous waste disposal guidance.
• Park Shelter Reservations Online reservation system for Memorial Park pavilions and shelters including Joseph D. Monteleone, Highland, Keystone, Fellowship, Friendship, and Optimist shelters, with fees ranging $25–$50.
• Grove City Airport Operations Borough-owned and operated general aviation airport (FAA Identifier 29D) located 3 miles west of Grove City, with 1,371 ft elevation. Rare for a borough of its size to own and operate its own airport.
• Public Documents and Records Online portal for public government documents including council meeting minutes (2023–2026), annual budgets (2024–2026), Act 44 pension disclosures, water quality reports, code of ordinances, ward maps, and zoning maps.
• Utility Payments (Water and Sewer) Online utility bill payment service for water and sewer customers, accessible through the Merchant Transact platform at grovecity.merchanttransact.com.
• Sewer Lateral Inspection Program Real-estate-triggered sewer lateral inspection program administered by Grove City Borough for multiple connected communities. Requires NASSCO-certified plumber inspection, Borough review, and Document Certification prior to property sale. $40 application fee.
• Public Safety Services Borough-operated police services (non-emergency and 911 emergency lines) and coordination with the Grove City Volunteer Fire Department, including Mercer County Non-Emergency Dispatch coordination for after-hours utility outages.
• Memorial Park Pool Seasonal municipal swimming pool operated as part of Memorial Park. Pool season runs June 5 – August 16, 2026, daily 1–6 PM. Individual Season Pass: $45; Family Season Passes: $90; Daily Admission: $5 per person; Children under 2: free; Seniors 65+: free.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Mercer County, PAminorOthersCounty government relationship for various regional services and coordination. The borough works with Mercer County for adult education services, aging services, and other county-level programs serving borough residents.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Cloudpermit: Cloudpermit is the SaaS permitting platform Grove City Borough uses to deliver online permit services. While it operates as a vendor rather than a municipal peer, it shapes the borough's service delivery model and represents the technology category defining how small boroughs modernize permitting.
• CivicPlus: CivicPlus provides municipal website, community engagement, and service-request software used by thousands of small municipalities. Like Grove City's current WordPress/Cloudpermit/Merchant Transact stack, CivicPlus targets the digital service-delivery needs of small boroughs.
• Granicus: Granicus provides government experience and communication platforms used by many municipalities for citizen engagement, meeting management, and digital communications. It represents the category of vendors serving the same digital-service modernization needs as Grove City's current stack.

Broad incumbents

• Sharon, PA: Sharon is a mid-sized Mercer County city providing a wider portfolio of municipal services including utilities and public safety. Comparable geography with a larger operational footprint, useful for understanding service-scaling benchmarks.
• Tyler Technologies: Tyler Technologies is a large incumbent provider of software and services to municipal and county governments across the United States. It represents the broader category of municipal-software incumbents that compete for or complement the platforms Grove City Borough relies upon for digital service delivery.
• Hermitage, PA: Hermitage is a larger nearby city in Mercer County that delivers a broader and more comprehensive suite of municipal services. It serves as a broader-incumbent reference point showing what Grove City's service portfolio could evolve into at greater scale.

Direct peers

• Slippery Rock Borough, PA: Slippery Rock Borough is a small Pennsylvania borough of comparable size located in adjacent Butler County. It delivers a similar portfolio of municipal services (water, sewer, police, parks, code enforcement) to a small population, making it a direct operational peer to Grove City.
• Greenville Borough, PA: Greenville Borough is another small Mercer County borough that administers similar municipal services including water, sewer, parks, and code enforcement. Geographic and demographic proximity make it a closely comparable peer for operational benchmarking.
• Sharpsville Borough, PA: Sharpsville Borough is a small Mercer County borough delivering similar municipal services to a comparable population. Geographic and service-profile proximity makes it a direct peer for service-delivery comparison.
• Mercer, PA: Mercer is the county seat of Mercer County and operates a borough government similar to Grove City. Comparable services, governance structure, and regional context make it a direct peer for comparative analysis.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/borough-of-grove-city

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grove City Borough