Strategic improvements made in Pennsylvania over the past two years are positioning the state as a national leader in innovation, job creation, and economic development.

More than 4,700 jobs have been created and more than $3 billion in private sector investment has occurred since 2023. 

The investments include Schless Bottles moving to Allentown from New Jersey, investing over $7.5 million and creating 98 new manufacturing jobs. 

“From cutting red tape to launching our first economic development strategy in nearly two decades, we’ve laid a solid foundation for continued success in the state. Pennsylvania is showing the nation how we get stuff done and deliver real results – and we’re just getting started,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said recently.

The state’s economic development strategy, unveiled by Shapiro at OraSure Technologies in the Lehigh Valley last year, targets high-value sectors. That strategy is being implemented with additional funding secured with bipartisan support of the state Legislature.

The funding includes $500 million to make sites shovel ready for development and $20 million to support small businesses. About 600 new workers have been hired to issue permits, licenses, and certifications, helping to make state government work at the speed of business.

Granting approvals sooner allows business owners to start projects, open new businesses, and hire certified staff sooner.

“I don't like things to happen tomorrow when they can happen today. We speed things up. We've sped up our permitting process. We've sped up our grant making. I want to continue to move quickly get the dollars out,” Shapiro said during a recent visit to the Lehigh Valley, where he toured small businesses in Easton to highlight the important role they plan in the regional and state economies.

His administration has prioritized filling vacant positions after he took office, to reduce backlogs and processing times. The administration also created a money-back guarantee system that offers refunds for processing delays.

“Gov. Shapiro has shown a real commitment to improve the permitting process with the state government. The reduction of wait times for reviews is a help for economic development and improves the attractiveness of Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley to those considering investing here,” said Don Cunningham, President and CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC).

Achievements include:

• Simplifying the application process for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP), one of the state’s most important economic tools.
• Reducing corporate filing processing times from eight weeks to two days.
• Reducing small business certification times by 33%. 
• The Department of Environmental Protection has reduced its permit backlog by 75% since November 1, 2023, and has eliminated the backlog for oil and gas permits. 
• The Department of Agriculture has substantially reduced license-renewal times. Renewals for food manufacturers and processors, retailers, and restaurants now occur in three days, a decrease in wait time by 85%.
• The Department of State has improved processing times for occupational licensing, with Pennsylvania now ranking among the top 10 states in the nation for efficiency. 

“We have really prided ourselves on the fact that we have sped up government when it comes to our small businesses,” Shapiro said during his stop in Easton. “The day I was sworn in as your governor, it took eight weeks to get a business license … today, it takes just two days.”

In November, Shapiro signed an executive order allowing targeted economic development projects to be “fast tracked” through the state permitting. 

The order directs the newly created Office of Transformation & Opportunity to identify major projects that require permits from multiple agencies, and to coordinate those approvals.

“By streamlining permitting processes and focusing on results, we're not just creating jobs and driving economic growth - we're getting stuff done for the people of Pennsylvania," Shapiro said at the time.

Pennsylvania is the first state to create a project-based permitting fast track program for complex and impactful economic development and infrastructure projects, according to the Shapiro administration. 

(Photo of ATAS International groundbreaking for expansion courtesy of ATAS International. Photo of Gov. Josh Shapiro courtesy of PA Cast).