It wasn't the Grinch who stole Christmas, but it was close.

Earlier this year, after holiday cheer faded into winter doldrums, Jeannette's business association, sponsor of the downtown Yuletide display, sent a letter to city officials saying somebody else would have to get the lights hung next Christmas. The association couldn't do it anymore, the letter explained, because membership had dwindled to just a few and the group was ready to disband. The city said its budget wouldn't allow it to take on the cost, so what would happen when it became time to deck the halls this coming season was an unknown. Then some city business owners said maybe they should rethink the issue. New businesses were moving in and what was needed was a shot of optimism with a stir of civic boosterism. So in early spring, a group started to meet. They kept at it and asked others to join them. Pretty soon the new Jeannette Business Association was born and, as of September, more than 70 businesses had signed up.

Jeannette and its business association is on the rebound, new association President Ernie DiMartino said. He and the other officers -- Vice-President Susan Meneghini, Treasurer Bob Fejes and Secretary Deneen Sarocky -- try to play host to meetings at least once a month on Wednesdays, when everyone can make it.

Jeannette, once home to six glass factories centered around a huge natural gas deposit, isn't your grandfather's one-product town anymore. There are 300 businesses, ranging from dance schools to legendary restaurants, and the association wants the world to know about them.

Mr. DiMartino owns one of the city's older businesses. His is the DiMartino Ice Co., a firm founded by Mr. DiMartino's father, Art DiMartino, as a part-time occupation in 1968.

When the younger Mr. DiMartino's job at the New Stanton Volkswagen plant disappeared with the plant's move, the family thought the ice company might become a full-time business.

That was nearly 14 years ago. Now the younger Mr. DiMartino and two employees work year-round, getting ice cubes bagged for sale in stores and working on the graceful ice carvings that have become a popular staple of their business.

Mr. DiMartino's nephew, Jared McAlister, is chief sculptor. Crystal clear, 5-foot- tall swans, seahorses, fish and even teddy bears emerge from rectangular blocks of ice under Mr. McAlister's hand, and most go to winter ice festivals stretching from New York to State College.

One of the new businesses is based in the 82-year-old Jeannette Glass Factory administration building. It once housed the main offices for all of the glass factories at the site, and the workers stood in line outside to collect their paychecks.

Now it houses the decidedly 21st-century Dimension X advertising and marketing firm, where edgy design shares space with quaint hardware and artifacts, such as the building's still-intact safe. The safe still has the signatures of long-ago workers scratched inside.

Norman Wright Jr. president and one of the owners of Dimension X, loves the building and its history.

The Plum resident was looking for a good location for the company two years ago and saw the building on a scouting mission.

The only problem was, it wasn't on the market, he said.

So Dimension X nearly settled on nondescript office space in Monroeville when, days before they signed the deal, the Jeannette building went up for sale.

The rest is history, so to speak.

"This structure was impressive," he said. Walls and floors are foot-thick concrete, making it the perfect site for Jeannette's 1950's-era bomb shelter.

People ask if it's alright if they take pictures in front of the building, Mr. Wright said. They want to pictorially record where Dad or Grandpa once worked.

The art deco-inspired foyer has a glass encased display area where a foot-high glass chunk from one of the old plants holds a space of honor.

Someone dropped it off, thinking the newly opened building was a proper place for it, Mr. Wright said.

Mr. Wright is handling the marketing for the business association, including getting a Web site up for the city. The site will have business and tourist news and have links to school and community events.

City and association officials want to get out the news about the city, including the fact that Jeannette remains home to two glass factories. One still is producing glassware and the other, specialty glass. Jeannette also will soon have a granite manufacturer in one of the industrial park sites near Dimension X.

And those Christmas lights?

Mr. DiMartino said they'll be up, and the city has agreed to give the association free electricity for the season.

"The city's making a comeback," Mr. Wright said.