ABB 2006/7 | State Profiles | North Atlantic region | Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s great location – within a 500-mile radius of six of the 10 major American market areas – offers access to vital markets making up 40% of the country’s population and purchasing power; over 60% of Canada’s population; 45% of US manufacturers; and 41% of the country’s domestic trade and service industries. Four of the top 10 logistics metros in the American northeast are located in Pennsylvania. The state has 120,000 miles of highways and invests nearly $3.5bn annually on road and bridge construction and maintenance. It has six international airports, 134 public-use airports and 16 scheduled service airports servicing 24 million passengers annually. Nearly 800,000 metric tons of air cargo is moved in Pennsylvania each year. It has 69 railroads that include more than 5,100 miles of railways. It also has access to the Atlantic Ocean via the Port of Philadelphia and access to the Great Lakes via the Port of Erie. More than six million people comprise Pennsylvania’s workforce. Over 86% of Pennsylvania adults have earned at least a high school diploma and more than 24% have a Bachelor’s Degree or higher.

The state is home to five of the nation’s top 50 universities, the nation’s top undergraduate business school and second ranked graduate school, and one of the country’s top graduate computer engineering schools. Aditionally, the world’s best materials science programme is located at Pennsylvania State University. Pennsylvania’s $450bn economy ranks 17th largest in the world, making it a major player in the global economy. It is also a technology leader, with more than a million miles of fibre optic cable criss-crossing its borders. It is home to more than 6,600 high-tech establishments and has a growing biotech cluster, which has the nation’s largest concentration of tissue engineering firms.

It ranks in the top five nationally for life sciences and medical device firms, first for healthcare industry employment and is a leader in pharmaceutical and medicine production. Pennsylvania is the sixth leading state for new and expanded business plants overall, as well as fourth for new manufacturing plants. It is a leader in Research and Development and ranks ninth in industry spending, investing $9.8bn annually on R&D. Pennsylvania is also a leading biotech location. In 2004, the state directly and through its partner organisations awarded approximately $175m to over 80 biosciences companies and 12 biosciences-related infrastructure projects in the form of loans, grants and tax credits.

The capstone to all this activity came in June last year, when Pennsylvania hosted the largest gathering of life science professionals in the world. Located in Philadelphia, the BIO 2005 Annual International Convention welcomed over 18,000 participants from 56 countries and all 50 US states. For international companies, it all starts with the Pennsylvania Center for Direct Investment, a group of professionals with more than 15 international representatives around the world, chosen to help international businesses with every aspect of expansion or relocation projects, in close partnership with the Governor’s Action Team (GAT). The Pennsylvania team works with individual companies to provide “one-stop shopping” for any relocation or expansion needs. The team members provide liaison with local governments, subcontractors, and utility companies. They identify available grants, loans, and other financial incentives. And they help find the best place to locate the business.

For more information, contact:
Richard Kilner, PA’s International
Representative for Direct Investment
in UK, (also Ireland, Italy, Netherlands,
Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia)
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8944 6589
Fax: +44 (0) 1347 811423
E-mail: rjkilner@aol.com
Website: www.newPA.com

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