Earlier this year, Gov. Josh Shapiro rolled out a plan for economic development in Pennsylvania that is expected to unfold over the next decade. Progress is likely to be measured in shorter increments of time.
State lawmakers, who are being asked to fund parts of the plan, could start asking for results by next year.
And therein lies one of the challenges to putting the strategy to work, according to Abby Smith, president and CEO of Team Pennsylvania, a public-private partnership that promotes economic development in Pennsylvania.
“I wish we were funding a 10-year plan so that we knew every year where this is going to fall,” said Smith, whose organization had a hand in shaping the strategy.
Lawmakers, for example, may choose to boost spending in areas where they see returns, she said. They could cut programs that seem to be taking more time to bear fruit
“That’s going to really be the challenging part,” Smith said, while acknowledging the need to be accountable to taxpayers. “Nobody wants to be bad stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
The 52-page plan itself is an effort to make Pennsylvania more competitive in retaining and attracting workers and businesses. At its foundation is a concentration on five key sectors – agriculture, energy, life sciences, manufacturing and robotics/technology.
But it also offers up new programs designed to steer money into a variety of causes, from sprucing up downtowns to spurring innovation and entrepreneurship to preparing industrial sites for redevelopment.
Smith talked to biznewsPA about her organization’s role in crafting the plan and some of the driving factors behind it. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity
biznewsPA: What was Team Pennsylvania’s role in developing the strategy?
Abby Smith: Team PA played several roles. The first was providing assistance to make sure key stakeholders across the state were engaged in the planning process through roundtables and an online survey. The second way was on the analytical side. We wanted to make sure that the plan was grounded in data, that it benchmarked against what other states are doing, that we were tapping into best practices from across the country and internationally as well. We also hosted site selectors.
biznewsPA: Did the roundtables and survey bring up any fresh insights?
Smith: There was an emphasis on small business, which did not surprise us, but it was definitely heard loud and clear. We also heard across the board about challenges on housing. And we heard a lot about opportunities around outdoor recreation and tourism.
biznewsPA: What did site selectors bring to the table?
Smith: We heard Pennsylvania is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades but that they want to be able to tell a cohesive story about Pennsylvania’s strengths. With other states you can say, ‘These are the top two or three.’ With Pennsylvania it’s like a top 10 to 15. That’s not helpful. Some of that is because of our geographic diversity. But some of it’s also that we don’t do a particularly good job telling a cohesive story. That is partly why there was a commitment to limit the number of priority sectors in the report. They also talked about the ease of doing business in the state. They said it just takes a long time. And they found the incentives to be spread a little thin. It was hard to concentrate efforts in any particular area because you have lots of little potential incentives in lots of different pockets. They also talked about how there’s a real variation in terms of regional resources and coordination. Some states are coordinating at state level. We have a much more regionally led system of economic development. And so that means there’s greater variation from region to region in terms of the experience that site selectors might have.
biznewsPA: Were you surprised to see the concern about housing?
Smith: We were not that surprised about it in part because I do a lot of talking to and visiting businesses, and this is something that I’ve heard time and time again. The economic development community is also saying, ‘Look, we have some significant housing needs here that need to be addressed.’
biznewsPA: What role do you see the economic development strategy playing in making housing more accessible?
Smith: It is one of several enabling conditions. That list for me includes housing, transportation and childcare. Those are going to have to work in coordination with the strategy, but they’re not necessarily in the purview of DCED. This is going to be a multi-agency effort, as well as something that’s going to have to be in partnership with the private sector. There’s no way that state government can do it alone.
biznewsPA: Taking the strategy as a whole, what do you see as the most promising elements?
Smith: No. 1 is the idea that there is going to be such an investment in sites. This was the No. 1 thing that we heard from site selectors. They said, ‘I can’t always put Pennsylvania on the list for my prospective businesses because you’re not going to have a site that’s ready for me.’ No. 2 is being much clearer about what we’re offering. Third is the continuing improvement to the permitting process. That’s something that’s not specific to this plan but something that the administration is investing in already. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is that we need timely and responsive processes and systems. And fourth, it’s having priority sectors, being clear about who we are as a state, what we’re good at. Being able to highlight that allows us to be targeted in who we attract and how we attract, as well as who we retain.
biznewsPA: Are there any sectors that did not make the cut?
Smith: There were a lot of conversations about where aerospace fits in. While it touches manufacturing, innovation and robotics, it really is its own industry, and we do have some specialization there. But it is in smaller pockets across the state. We had a lot of conversation about where outdoor recreation and tourism fit in as a priority. There are real and legitimate challenges with how you capture and invest in that at a state level.
biznewsPA: What would success for this strategy look like in 10 years
Smith: One is that this is an easier state to do business in. Pennsylvania, in 10 years, needs to be known as a state for innovation, and we cannot only be talking about innovation in our urban cores. We have to talk about how innovation has shown up on Pennsylvania farms, how innovation has shown up within manufacturing, that in all of those five priority sectors, growth is dependent on real advances in tech and innovation that can be developed in Pennsylvania and then implemented and put to work in Pennsylvania. The other part of this is ultimately about Pennsylvanians. If we’re doing this right, we’re investing in communities and making it so people want to stay here as opposed to trying to get people back in the door.
biznewsPA: What are the challenges to getting there?
Smith: A big piece of the challenge is how do you mobilize disparate partners who, even if they have some of the same goals, are not day-to-day, arm-in-arm working together. They’re not at the direction of the state, but they’re going to be key partners. How do you get everybody on the same page? For me, it requires you to say, ‘This is not about a Democratic governor’s strategy. It’s a Pennsylvania economy thing,’ getting it out of a political conversation and into one where we have shared goals. That in and of itself is a challenge in a hyper-partisan environment but crucial to success. That is the truly the fun part of my job, that I get to say, ‘Hey, listen, I’m nonpartisan.’ It makes a huge difference to at least make sure that there is conversation happening in that place.
