Revitalizing Pennsylvania’s Economy Through Innovation, Improved Job Creation & an Educated Workforce

Putting Pennsylvanians Back to Work

Creating and maintaining an environment in which good, family-sustaining jobs can grow is one of Tom Corbett’s top priorities. He understands how hard Pennsylvanians have been hit by the recession and our state’s record unemployment numbers show the full impact of this downturn on our families. For far too long, Pennsylvania has consistently ranked at the bottom of every job creation indicator and near the top of every tax burden list. The policies of Harrisburg have driven jobs to other states, and unless we change our business philosophy, Pennsylvania will continue to have one of the worst tax burdens for job creators in the nation.

That is why Tom Corbett is determined to revitalize Pennsylvania’s economy and restore the commonwealth’s position in the global marketplace through innovation, improved job creation and 21st Century workforce training. Pennsylvania is blessed with unrivalled resources. We are home to the second largest energy resource field in the world with our abundant coal, natural gas, oil and timber. Our agriculture, established manufacturing base and work ethic set Pennsylvania apart from other states. Every region of Pennsylvania boasts a dynamic mix of major corporations, small businesses, and emerging industries in biotech and life sciences. Combine all of this with our world class, higher education institutions, and our proximity to close to one-half of our nation’s population and the possibilities for Pennsylvania are limitless.

Tom Corbett’s plan for Pennsylvania will embrace this innovation to improve our economy and move us from the bottom of the pack to the top of the list. To make the commonwealth a global leader, he will partner with private industry to harness Pennsylvania’s resources and foster a business climate that says “yes” to new jobs, “yes” to certainty for employers and “yes” to competition. Tom Corbett will work with public and economic leaders to build the bipartisan, strategic policies today that will secure our future for tomorrow. Reforms that work to reduce the tax burden on Pennsylvania families and job creators, cut regulatory barriers that are crushing job growth and sending entrepreneurs to other states, and expand opportunities for new industry sectors to call Pennsylvania home.

Tom Corbett’s economic development and jobs plan will work to propel Pennsylvania forward through seven core areas:

• Expanding Pennsylvania’s Economy Through Innovation
• Reforming Pennsylvania’s Jobs Climate
• Strengthening Pennsylvania’s Regional Economies
• Growing Small Business in Pennsylvania
• Harnessing Entrepreneurial Leadership from Higher Education
• Developing a World-class Workforce
• Expanding Pennsylvania Worldwide

In the coming weeks, Tom Corbett will be traveling the state detailing separate aspects of his seven-point economic development and jobs plan. The first component of his plan, “Expanding Pennsylvania’s Economy Through Innovation,” is below.

EXPANDING PENNSYLVANIA’S ECONOMY THROUGH INNOVATION

For Pennsylvania to be a global leader and a top performing state, we must embrace innovation in our economy to attract broad industry sectors and new jobs. Tom Corbett is determined to build the foundation for innovation that will put Pennsylvania at a world class level, allowing us to compete with leading regions in the world – like the Silicon Valley, Boston and east Asia. He believes that Pennsylvania has the opportunity to embrace public-private sector collaboration; harness higher education and a broad base of R&D disciplines; grow entrepreneurial support; and incorporate sustainability and green infrastructure into all sectors. The following is Tom Corbett’s vision to elevate innovation in Pennsylvania’s economy to support 21st Century job growth.

• Broadband access is a key to economic growth

The United States is currently ranked 28th globally in broadband speeds, and Pennsylvania ranks in the middle of the pack among all 50 states. As Governor, Tom Corbett will work to make Pennsylvania a leader in rolling out a fiber and wireless 4G broadband infrastructure to compete at the global level to drive innovation and competitiveness. By doing this, brand new applications and services in areas such as energy, healthcare, R&D collaboration, scientific development, education and industrial management that drive economic value can be developed. Tom Corbett’s plan is to:

• Focus on an integrated statewide broadband strategy that leverages both public and private investment to make best use of state level assets – towers, access points and government networks.
• Partner with network providers and technology vendors to build out and use Pennsylvania as the success case. We must also build an innovation ecosystem around wireless/broadband application development that includes major technology players in state.
• Make sure spectrum policy at the state level supports broadband leadership. Even though spectrum policy is typically national, Pennsylvania can encourage shared use of public safety and TV channels as well as “whitespace” bands that leverage new technologies to manage interference. Tom Corbett also will identify opportunities to expand commercial use of the statewide radio network into rural communities in Pennsylvania and fight for regulations and procedures at the FCC that enhance Pennsylvania’s broadband competitiveness.
• Ensure that state government becomes a world class example of “anywhere” government utilizing this new infrastructure for everything from mobile/new media communications to tele-presence interactions to save both cost and energy. 

• Innovation through collaboration & growth capital

Pennsylvania can become a world leader in accelerating innovation through collaboration. Whether it is advanced manufacturing, information technology or biotechnology, Tom Corbett believes we can grow and attract the best businesses and entrepreneurs by having the shortest time from idea to market launch of any state in the nation and region in the world.

• “Discovered in PA – Developed in PA.” Pennsylvania has world-class research in several major areas including life sciences, robotics, nanotechnology, energy, advanced materials and manufacturing and information technologies. Tom Corbett believes that university-based research and development needs to be better leveraged into commercial opportunities through the creation Technology Transfer Incentive Program, which will help to move new ideas from the lab to the marketplace. To help facilitate the start of the program, Tom Corbett will establish a collaborative public-private partnership, “Discovered in PA – Developed in PA,” among Pennsylvania’s universities and representatives of the Governor’s Office, Department of Community and Economic Development and Department of Education to unlock the full power of innovation within the higher education community with a focus on best practices. With more than 600+ university spin-outs created each year, the commonwealth must provide sustainable support to continue this invaluable momentum.
• Grow Venture Capital Investments. Often the first $500,000 of seed capital is the hardest to raise for any start-up company, and Pennsylvania’s lack of early stage capital hampers entrepreneurial innovation and job growth. Tom Corbett believes that Pennsylvania must leverage opportunities for new growth by encouraging and stimulating increased access to capital for entrepreneurs through investment from venture capitalists and angel investors in the commonwealth. Well-vetted startups, such as those from the Life Science Greenhouses and the Ben Franklin Partners can often take the seed capital and move to the next level. This includes raising federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding, angel funding and when appropriate, early-stage venture funds to launch new companies in Pennsylvania. Working with the Ben Franklin Partners and Life Science Greenhouses, Tom Corbett will promote programs that encourage and enhance federal SBIR funds via a competitive matching program. To encourage individual investors to provide “angel” investments/capital for new business start-ups, he will create an Angel Investment Tax Credit to stimulate the growth of key investments in the state.
• Regional Public Private Partnership Loan Fund. Tom Corbett will partner with local lenders and economic development organizations to pilot a regional revolving loan fund. With a modest initial seed investment from the state, the revolving loan fund would decentralize economic development by developing and leveraging local partnerships to support job creation and growth opportunities for Pennsylvania employers. State seed money would support a partnership of economic development groups and local lenders to invest in new companies with the loan repayments revolving to self-sustain future investments in new companies.
• Institutional Leverage. Pennsylvania is home to 185 higher education institutions and nearly 5,000 philanthropic endowments and foundations. The next decade will be marked by significant technological changes – new materials, green energy sources and technologies, personalized medicines, telecom, information technology, new industrial processes and significant advances in computing. Tom Corbett will work with higher education and philanthropic organizations to ensure that Pennsylvania is prepared to not only capitalize and support these changes, but also to lead them.
• Empower the Governor’s Action Team. The Governor’s Action Team (GAT) helps to connect Pennsylvania to rest of the world, serving as the lead sales team helping to bring new job creators to the commonwealth and expanding existing employers. Tom Corbett will empower the Governor’s Action Team to further its marketing efforts by creating a targeted marketing program to grow job development in Pennsylvania. He also will direct the GAT to facilitate interagency communication to ensure that the permitting process is expedited in a timely manner for new business development and current employer expansion projects. To ensure that businesses can find the right locations for new projects and site expansions, Tom Corbett will empower the GAT to coordinate across regions to make certain that Pennsylvania meets the needs of all jobs creators.

• Sustainability/Green Infrastructure 

Pennsylvania must be a global leader in sustainability by driving green solutions across all sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, transportation, energy, technology, infrastructure and government for the social and economic benefit of Pennsylvanians. Tom Corbett believes this will encourage not only cost-savings, but also job growth within industries and companies that value sustainability and reduced energy costs as part of their business model. Tom Corbett will work to:

• Encourage investment and innovation in low carbon infrastructure, such as smart grid, natural gas, renewable, nuclear, biomass, to allow new and existing business to operate with a lower carbon footprint and make them more competitive in the global economy.
• Focus on Pennsylvania’s historic core communities as “smart cities” and “smart towns” with an emphasis on brownfield redevelopment, mixed-use neighborhoods, walkability, and other infrastructure investments to reinvigorate traditional cities and towns with new job growth and opportunities.

• Consumer Engagement

There is a growing wave of consumer-led innovation around the world with the app-store model, crowd sourcing, and open source projects. Tom Corbett believes that Pennsylvania should encourage consumer-led innovation, both in government and in private industry, and work to incubate/grow the companies that emerge. This will position Pennsylvania to become the state of choice for the tech savvy consumers and entrepreneurs by encouraging innovation at all levels. In addition to the other innovation ideas outlined in this plan, Tom Corbett also will work to:

• Develop grants and incentives for investors (larger companies and venture capitalists) by the state and other private entities that focus on solving big problems through innovation – like residential energy management.
• Seed innovation in government through transparency and access to information.

• Infrastructure across industry sectors

Pennsylvania is blessed with existing and growing industries that span all sectors of the economy. From energy to transportation to agriculture, Pennsylvania must meet the infrastructure needs of all industries to ensure maximum job growth and economic development opportunities. The following are a few highlights, and Tom Corbett will be releasing more specific and in-depth policy plans around these and other industries.

• Energy. Pennsylvania is home to the second largest energy resource field in the world with our abundant coal, natural gas, oil and timber and our alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal and hydroelectric facilities. Tom Corbett believes that it is time to harness our energy potential to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make energy affordable for all Pennsylvanians. He believes that we must blend our diverse portfolio of energy resources with a common-sense environmental policy that will help to reduce pollution and preserve our open spaces. As we work to grow Pennsylvania’s energy resources, such as the Marcellus Shale, Tom Corbett will work to expand our infrastructure to ensure that our energy resources can get to market, allowing the state to compete in the global marketplace.
• Transportation. Our roads, rails and airports not only move millions of people each day to work, school and home, but they also are our link to carrying Pennsylvania’s goods and services within the commonwealth and to the rest of the world. Tom Corbett supports maintaining our infrastructure and planning for the future through a well-balanced program of design, construction and maintenance. He knows that Pennsylvania must address the critical transportation funding situation and develop real solutions to support and grow our transportation infrastructure. Tom Corbett believes this is critical to jump starting Pennsylvania’s stalled economy and to enticing new business and new jobs to the commonwealth.
• Agriculture. Agriculture is one of the state’s top industries, and Pennsylvania’s farms are a cornerstone of the commonwealth’s economic prosperity. Tom Corbett believes that we must work to support the infrastructure needs of Pennsylvania’s farmers to ensure the delivery of their goods to market not only in Pennsylvania, but across the world through a solid transportation network and superior information technology.
• Manufacturing. Manufacturing in Pennsylvania is a core component of Pennsylvania’s economic engine. Whether it is traditional manufacturing or high-tech/advanced manufacturing, it all is critical to the achievement and success of Pennsylvania’s economy and growth. Tom Corbett believes that we must have in place an infrastructure – from a knowledge-transfer network, to high tech services, to roads and intermodal transportation – to improve the reach of Pennsylvania’s manufacturing base.
• Water & Sewer. Having reliable water delivery and wastewater infrastructure is a critical component of promoting economic development. Pennsylvania draws its water from resources including more than 83,000 miles of waterways, including more than 100 lakes and nearly 400 rivers. A unique system of underground aquifers and natural wetlands supplement the commonwealth’s ability to provide abundant potable water to serve both residential and industrial needs. With over 1,000 businesses having current state permits to operate under the discharge elimination system, Pennsylvania is prepared to act as a partner with entrepreneurs to serve water delivery and elimination needs while safeguarding the commonwealth’s environmental quality. Tom Corbett believes that Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) provides critical funding and programs to support Pennsylvania’s water and wastewater systems, and he will work to partner with local governments to ensure that their infrastructure needs are being met. Responsible stewardship of Pennsylvania’s water resources will be necessary to preserve our quality of life and continue to provide ample delivery capacity for Pennsylvania’s business community.