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    Creating Economic Opportunity

    Economic Development

    Governor Shapiro’s vision is clear: to make Pennsylvania a national leader in innovation, job creation, and economic development while opening up the doors of opportunity. In our first three years in office, we’re delivering.

    The Shapiro-Davis Administration is making Pennsylvania a leader in economic development and innovation.

    • The Administration created the first statewide economic development strategy in nearly two decades with a focus on five key industry sectors: agriculture, energy, life sciences, manufacturing, and robotics and technology.
    • Shapiro secured $500 million in state funds for site development, including $400 million to significantly expand the PA SITES program to develop shovel-ready sites and bring more commercial and industrial sites to Pennsylvania, awarding 37 projects with over $146 million across the pilot, first round, second round, and third round.
    • The Governor created the new Main Street Matters program, secured $40 million to fund it, and invested in 81 community projects in order to support downtowns, main streets, and surrounding neighborhoods.

    • Shapiro launched Pennsylvania’s new tourism brand “Pennsylvania: The Great American Getaway” to encourage more people to travel across and visit the Commonwealth, securing $15 million in state funding for tourism marketing.

    • Secured $50 million in FY 2025-26 to support America250 and world class sporting events and ensure the Commonwealth is ready to host millions ahead of the celebration. 

    • Gov. Shapiro announced a historic plan to revitalize Downtown Pittsburgh with a $62 million investment that will help spur nearly $600 million in total investment to revitalize the community as a thriving center for economic growth, culture, and industry and create over 3,000 jobs.
    Infographic that reads: Pennsylvania is on the rise. Pennsylvania is the only state in the Northeast with a growing economy. Pennsylvania is one of the best states for business. Pennsylvania saw 204 million tourists in 2024, resulting in $84 billion in total economic impact.

    Governor Shapiro was a national cheerleader for Pennsylvania, successfully competing against and beating other states to bring major business expansions to the Commonwealth.

    • Supported the Pittsburgh Steelers’ successful bid to host the 2026 NFL Draft and secured $10 million to support the draft making Pennsylvania the first state to host the draft in two different cities.
    • Convinced Excelitas to move its HQ from Massachusetts to Pittsburgh, invest $2.3 million in the Commonwealth, and create at least 250 jobs.
    • Secured Mainspring Energy’s over $109 million expansion of its clean-tech manufacturing in Allegheny County, creating almost 600 new jobs.
    • Schless Bottles announced it will relocate from New Jersey to Allentown and invest more than $7.5 million in a manufacturing facility for premium plastic jars and bottles to create 98 full-time, new manufacturing jobs in the Lehigh Valley.
    • Persuaded U.S. Boiler Company to invest more than $5.5 million to support its Lancaster manufacturing expansion and chose the Commonwealth over North Carolina.
    The steps we are taking today ... will make sure that downtown is relevant and viable into the future.

    - Stefani Pashman, CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development

    Governor Shapiro is making government move at the speed of business.

    • Pennsylvania ranked in the top 10 of the Archbridge Institute’s State Occupational Licensing Index in 2024 – leaping 25 spots in the index from 2023.

    • Signed an Executive Order creating the Office of Transformation and Opportunity as a “one-stop-shop” for Pennsylvania businesses to eliminate red tape, make government move at the speed of business, and encourage out-of-state businesses to expand in the Commonwealth.

    • Secured $16.9 million across his first and second budgets to modernize and speed up the permitting process at the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and clear permit backlogs. DEP has completely eliminated its historic 2,400 permit backlog.

    • Secured a $15.8 million increase in the FY 2025-26 budget to support creating a public tracker and database of permits involved in the Streamlining Permits for Economic Expansion and Development (SPEED) program, and accelerating the time frame for DEP to review permit applications. 

    • Shapiro followed through on his promise to make Pennsylvania more business-friendly by increasing the cap for net loss deductions for start-ups and other businesses, helping attract investments and jobs to the Commonwealth.

    • Streamlined the application process for one of the Commonwealth’s most important economic tools, the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP).
    Permitting is a huge part of our development process and the Governor's office has provided an excellent one-stop location for getting assistance. 

    - Jim Meckley, CEO of TyreFlow

    Shapiro secured hundreds of millions in private sector investments in the Commonwealth’s manufacturing and tech industries.

    • Amazon is investing an initial $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence campuses across the Commonwealth, creating at least 1,250- high-paying tech jobs and thousands of construction jobs. This announcement is the largest capital investment in Commonwealth history. 

    • Astrobotic announced its $20 million expansion in Pittsburgh with a new facility and plans to create 283 new, high-tech jobs.

    • Berger International announced it will invest $15.4 million to expand its manufacturing operation in Lawrence County, creating at least 74 jobs.

    • Corrugated Partners Group will invest $52.7 million to build a new manufacturing operation in Chambersburg, creating at least 80 new, good-paying jobs.

    • Eli Lilly and Company announced a $3.5 billion investment to build a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Lehigh County, creating 850 manufacturing jobs and 2,000 construction jobs. Lilly’s investment is the largest by a life sciences company in Commonwealth history.

    • EMD Electronics announced a $300 million investment in Schuylkill County to build the largest integrated specialty gas facility in the world and create nearly 200 jobs, including 68 permanent union jobs.

    • Johnson & Johnson will invest over $1 billion to build a cell therapy manufacturing facility in Montgomery County, creating more than 500 permanent jobs and 4,000 construction jobs, and retaining nearly 6,000 full-time jobs.

    • Mitsubishi Electric Power Products will invest $86 million to build an advanced switchgear factory, creating at least 200 new jobs in the Pittsburgh region. 

    • Rhoads Industries announced a nearly $100 million investment in the Philadelphia Navy Yard to support the U.S. Navy’s submarine program, creating at least 450 new, good-paying jobs. 

    • Premier Automation will invest $13.6 million to expand its manufacturing operation in Westmoreland County, creating 111 new jobs. 

    • Schreiber Foods announced a $132.9 million expansion of its manufacturing footprint in Cumberland County, creating 47 new jobs and retaining 516 existing positions. 

    • Versatex will invest $40 million to expand its production capacity in Beaver County, creating at least 80 new jobs.

    • Victaulic announced it will invest $100 million in Lawrenceville, Tioga County, creating at least 214 full-time roles, and retaining 1,611 roles across the Commonwealth.

    • Westinghouse announced it would further develop its microreactor in Allegheny County with at least an $18 million investment, creating more than 40 new, high-paying jobs.

    The Shapiro-Davis Administration secured investments in agriculture, dairy, and food industries.

    • Little Leaf Farms expanded its production in Carbon County, with plans to open three additional greenhouses.

    • Maid-Rite Specialty Foods will invest $40 million to expand its Dunmore ready-to-heat meals operation and create 75 new jobs. 

    • The Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association announced it purchased the HP Hood Milk Manufacturing Plant in Philadelphia and will expand the operation’s capacity from 10 million to 25 million gallons annually. 

    • Pittston Co-Packers Corp. will invest $30 million to open its first beverage production operation in the U.S., creating at least 226 new, full-time jobs in Luzerne County. 

    • Shank’s Extract plans to invest $30.5 million into expanding its operations in Lancaster, creating 83 new jobs and retaining over 230 jobs.
    Infographic that reads: In the first three years of the Shapiro-Davis Administration: Pennsylvania gained over 130,000 jobs, received two credit rating increases for our sound financial management, secured new private sector investments totaling over $41 billion dollars (creating over 23,000 jobs), and has an unemployment rate lower than the national rate.

    Shapiro supported the biomedical industry’s expansions in the Commonwealth

    • GSK announced an investment of up to $800 million in Pennsylvania that will create 200 new, high-paying jobs and further solidify Pennsylvania’s global reputation as a life sciences leader. 

    • C&J Industries announced it planned to invest $7 million to grow its operation in Crawford County, creating at least 66 new, full-time roles and retaining an additional 262 existing roles. 

    • First Ascent Biomedical announced it will invest $1.13 million to lease new laboratory and office space at Gannon University, creating 38 new jobs and growing the life sciences industry in Erie. 

    The Shapiro-Davis Administration is expanding opportunities for minority-owned businesses.

    • Secured $60 million for the Historically Disadvantaged Business Program to invest in small, minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses in the Commonwealth.

    • Signed an Executive Order opening up new opportunities for small and small diverse businesses to compete for state contracts and taking actionable steps to help these businesses grow, succeed, and create good-paying jobs. 

    • Directed more than $1 billion to small businesses two years in a row. 

    • Channeled more contracting dollars to small, small diverse, and veteran-owned businesses – including a 45 percent increase in spending with Black-owned and Latino-owned businesses.