Central Pennsylvania's Resource for Corporate Location and Expansion Decisions

Central PA's Resource for Corporate Location and Expansion Decisions

Economy

Pennsylvania Gets It Done

The Focus Central PA seven county region is a rural part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that is made up of a diverse industry base including agriculture, manufacturing, health care and education. The Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the region are State College and Bloomsburg-Berwick. The region is made up of river valleys along the Susquehanna and Juniata River, mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain range, college towns, small historical towns, and agricultural country farmland.

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Industry in Central PA

Central Pennsylvania has a dynamic and diverse industry base with over 19,488 business establishments, primarily small and medium sized businesses. 98% of businesses in Central PA have less than 100 employees. Leading industries in the Central Pennsylvania Region are Health Care and Social Services, Retail, Manufacturing, and Education. Key manufacturing industry clusters include metal fabrication, food processing/agribusiness, lumber and building products, and plastics.

Top regional employers include Penn State University, State College PA; Geisinger, Danville PA; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Regional; Weis Markets, Regional; Federal Government, Regional; Wal-Mart, Regional; Mount Nittany Medical Center, State College PA; and Federal Government, Regional and State.

Closings

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor manages the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act which is federal legislation that offers protection to workers, their families and communities by requiring employers to provide notice 60 days in advance of a covered-business closing and covered-business mass layoff. Pennsylvania initiates rapid response assistance as soon as information is received that a mass dislocation or plant closure is scheduled to take place. The Pennsylvania Strategic Early Warning Network (SEWN) offers five core services at no cost as part of layoff aversion consulting to help business get back on track which include financial restructuring; operational restructuring; diversification; market positioning and human capital strategies.

WARN Notices in Pennsylvania are list by year and include company name, address and locations impacted, number of individuals affected, effective date and if it was a closure or layoff.

Key Industry - Plastics

Central PA is in a prime northeast location to access major US and Canadian markets with an uncongested logistics network of highways, railways, and airports to move product efficiently. Available are existing industrial buildings and ready to build land sites with strong infrastructure, competitively priced with attractive financial and tax incentives. Long term, low cost, reliable energy resources abound. Billions of dollars in infrastructure investments are taking place to provide smart capacity in all areas of infrastructure.

Central Pennsylvania has a locally managed short line railroad company can supply value added services to the plastics industry such as loaded car storage (SIT or “Storage in transit”) and customized switching services to all local receivers of resins. Rail partners can can provide valuable assistance in the design and siting plastics plants along rail lines.

Pennsylvania’s Marcellus & Utica Shale play provides plastics manufacturers with assurance that they will enjoy unique cost advantages for decades. Pennsylvania is the second largest U.S. producer of natural gas.

Central PA is proudly home to diverse mix of size and types of companies in the plastics industry that are quality employers, community neighbors and growing. Incredible companies like SEKISUI SPI…“SEKISUI Polymer Innovations is committed to continued investments in central Pennsylvania because of access to an incredible natural resource – the talented, creative, and engaged people of central Pennsylvania. Our business model depends on advanced manufacturing skills. The combination of state support and local commitment to workforce development makes this the ideal location to manufacture next generation materials for growing global markets like aviation, mass transit, medical devices, robotics, and autonomous vehicles.” —Ronn Cort, President and COO, Sekisui SPI

“Ultra Poly with locations in Bloomsburg and Berwick, Central Pennsylvania are one of the largest and most efficient plastic recyclers in North America with annual production capacity of over 170 million pounds.”

Plastics Innovation & Resource Center at the Pennsylvania College of Technology is one of only 6 ABET accredited plastics degree programs in an existing shale play! Penn College provides a pipeline of well prepared new graduates from their plastics programs which means they take less time and money to onboard and quickly contribute to the bottom line. The Plastics Innovation & Resource Center (PIRC) offers customized training across all areas of operations so that employers get a highly trained workforce, improved efficiencies, better quality, and a reduction of scrap and employee turnover. PIRC augments a company’s R&D capabilities for material, products and process improvement projects thereby reducing costs by not disrupting ongoing production.

Pennsylvania leads the nation in food processing companies and the dairy industry ranks second in the nation in butter production and top ten in cheese and milk production. Central Pennsylvania has a proud history and promising future in agriculture, food processing and agribusiness due to access to natural resources, raw materials, talent, rail infrastructure and strategic proximity to the majority of the nation’s population and seaports. Key food processing employers in the region including JM Smucker Company, Del Monte Foods, Performance Foodservice, Conagra, National Beef, Bimbo Bakeries, Stroehmann Bakeries, Hanover Foods Corp., Furmano Foods Inc., River Run Foods, Middelswarth, UTZ Quality Foods, Wise Foods, Weis Markets, Diamond Drinks, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Asher’s Chocolates Kellogg’s, and Frito-Lay, have found a dependable workforce and supportive communities.

In October of 2024 Country View Family Farms were joined by Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding to cut the ribbon on their new $47.3 million White Deer Feed Mill expansion project in Union County. The expansion project created 51 new, full time careers, and retained 231 existing Pennsylvania jobs statewide. The new feed mill is on a 100-plus acre rail-served site at 2142 Old Route 15 in New Columbia, PA.

Central Pennsylvania is proudly home to Pennsylvania State University main campus, that began it's journey in 1855 as the Farmers' High School and became the country's first land-grant institution that has grown into a world leader in hands-on pioneering research, cutting-edge technology and education building industry leaders. The College of Agricultural Sciences invests nearly $97 million in research and graduate study yearly and houses the Penn State Extension, that has a presence in every county in Pennsylvania providing access to expertise, resources and training.

The Pennsylvania Farm Bill is a bold, aggressive, and necessary investment in Pennsylvania agriculture to grow opportunities and resources, remove barriers to entry, and inspire future generations of leaders within agriculture. The PA Farm Bill provides support for the commonwealth's leading industry in six funnels: Resources for Agricultural Business Development and Succession Planning; Building a Strong Agricultural Workforce; Removed Regulatory Burdens, Strengthen Ag Business Climate in PA; Increased Processing Capabilities; New Market Opportunities, Investments in Organic; and Protection for Pennsylvania Agriculture.

PA Preferred® is a resource for finding locally grown and processed agricultural products from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The program is housed in the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Market Development. The program launched to identify and promote food and agricultural products grown, produced and processed in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania proudly hosts the PA Farm Show, the largest indoor agricultural exposition under one roof in the nation each year in Harrisburg, PA. The event showcases the quality and breadth of Pennsylvania's agriculture industry and the people who make it thrive. The show offers visitors a tiny slice of the industry that employs nearly half a million people and contributes $132.5 billion to Pennsylvania's economy every year.

Penn State's Ag Progress Days, held annually during three days in August, is Pennsylvania's largest outdoor agricultural exposition. With over 400 exhibitors from the United States and Canada, there is something for everyone to enjoy at no cost as parking and admission are free. The show is hosted by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and showcases educational programs, current research, and the latest innovations in agricultural equipment and technology.

Access to raw materials, a strong history and existing industry base in manufacturing of building products, proximity to major markets, low energy costs and world-class training and research institutions make Central Pennsylvania a uniquely competitive location to support manufacturing in the building products industry.

Pennsylvania lives up to its name with a hardwoods and forestry industry that’s known for its quality and sustainability. With 16.62 million acres of forestland, Pennsylvania has the most abundant hardwood forest in the United States. The forestry, logging, and lumber, paper, and secondary wood products industries employ nearly 66,000 workers across the state. Central Pennsylvania is rich with hard and soft woods including oak, cherry, maple, basswood, ash, poplar, hickory, walnut, birch and pine. Among our prominent lumber product manufacturers are First Quality, Bingaman Lumber, Conestoga Wood Specialties and Heister House Millworks.

The Keystone Wood Products Association (KWPA) strives to strengthen and expand the base of lumber and wood products manufacturers in the Central Pennsylvania region in order to maintain and enhance the industry's competitive position in today's global economy.

The Pennsylvania Timber Show is held annual near State College, PA. Pennsylvania is home to more than 2,700 forest products companies and more than

500,000 forest landowners. Exhibitors show off their forest product related machinery and equipment, technology advancements, financial options, and business assistance programs.

The diversity of products MADE IN CENTRAL PA that contribute to both the commercial and industrial building materials is significant! From cabinets to modular homes to doors to stone to drywall to bricks and much more!

As the second-largest producer of energy in the United States, Pennsylvania has played a pivotal role across three energy revolutions in coal, oil, and natural gas. The commonwealth is today positioned to lead a fourth revolution in low-carbon energy technologies including carbon capture, utilization, storage and hydrogen.

Pennsylvania is rich in energy resources with a significant history of energy production and innovation. Pennsylvania is strategically important to the regional and national energy landscape due to the diversity of energy resources, integration with surrounding markets, and mix of legacy assets and newly emerging resources. Pennsylvania has been one of the leading producers of coal for over 200 years and hosted the country’s first commercial oil well and the world’s first ever full-scale commercial nuclear power plant. Pennsylvania was one of the first states to advance an alternative energy portfolio standard to further develop ample renewable resources like wind and solar.

Explore Team Pennsylvania's Energy, Data Center, and Artificial Intelligence Roadmap

Central Pennsylvania offers semiconductor designers and manufacturers a smart, strategic location! Access to major northeast markets, infrastructure, energy, research and innovation resources, talent and sites and buildings ready for investment projects!

EMD Electronics, located in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania to invest $300 million to expand their semiconductor specialty gases manufacturing facility creating 200 jobs. This facility expansion will allow the company to double the production capacity of tungsten hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride, critical components in semiconductor manufacturing.

Penn State University

Penn State main campus in State College, Pennsylvania is an innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem with over 75,000 students on campus. A leader in multiply areas of research expending over $1 billion allows access to interdisciplinary, cross-cutting research and innovation, interaction with other industrial companies, and access to top talent for semiconductor growth strategies. Penn State is home to the Materials Research Institute (MRI); Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE); Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS); Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) and much more. Semiconductor Research highlights include 3DFeM Center for 3D Ferroelectric Microelectronics; 2DCC; Center for Nanoscale Science; Department of Defense (DOD) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) on programmable systems with Non-Hermitian Quantum Dynamics; DOD MURI on the effects of radiation damage on performance of wide-bandgap electronics; and more. The Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)’s Joint University Microelectronics Program 2.0 (JUMP 2.0), a consortium of industrial partners in cooperation with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has announced the creation of a $32.7 million, Penn State-led Center for Heterogeneous Integration of Micro Electronic Systems (CHIMES).

Pennsylvania College of Technology

Penn College, an affiliate of Penn State University, is uniquely suited to support semiconductor design and manufacturing talent needs. Penn College students are in nearly 100 programs including electronics, manufacturing engineering, automation engineering, industrial design, cybersecurity and networking. A $4 million MIDAS+ grant award, funded through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Apprenticeship Building America initiative, will launch Penn College as one of the key providers of needed training programs, starting with a semiconductor technician apprenticeship with an anticipated start date of July 2025. Employers locally, across Pennsylvania and the U.S. can enroll apprentices in the Semiconductor Technician program, or any of the other seven registered Advanced Manufacturing apprenticeships offered by the College. MIDAS+ will also expand the College’s registered pre-apprenticeship programs for high school students, WIOA youth , and re-entry populations. We’ll grow existing and new programs, and partner with local organizations to remediate barriers preventing individuals from successfully entering a family-sustaining wage occupation. Pennsylvania College of Technology also has a robust Workforce Development division that provides training to incumbent workers in a variety of sectors and disciplines. The College offers leading-edge apprenticeship programs – organizing, registering and executing them for companies of all sizes, while incorporating state-of-the-art related technical instruction. Of the registered apprenticeship programs in the College’s repertoire, mechatronics technician, industrial manufacturing technician, robotics & automation technician, and industrial maintenance mechanic. Penn College is the statewide administrator for WEDnetPA, the Commonwealth’s $8-$10M annual investment that helps companies train incumbent workers.

Mid-Atlantic Semiconductor Hub (MASH)

In the Mid-Atlantic region, Penn State has many neighboring universities that also hold a lot of semiconductor expertise. They complement each other and offer unique resources, skills, and strengths. Penn State has forged relationships with these universities over the years, and the CHIPS and Science Act offers a significant opportunity to build on these connections and take the lead in forming a Mid-Atlantic version of a regional semiconductor hub. Penn State’s role in leading the revitalization of this industry as it pertains to both innovation opportunities and challenges, industry partnerships, and establishment of the Mid-Atlantic Semiconductor Hub (MASH), which intends to fill important gaps in the “lab to fab” ecosystem.

Sensor Valley: Central PA’s Sensors & Materials Cluster - Central Pennsylvania is quietly becoming one of the most innovative tech hubs in the country, thanks to decades of investment in research, industry, and entrepreneurial talent. Known today as “Sensor Valley” or “Materials Valley,” the region is home to a dense cluster of companies working in sensor technology, materials science, chromatography, spectroscopy, ultrasound, and advanced measurement systems.

Sensor Valley is the growing hub of companies in Central Pennsylvania building the sensors, advanced materials, and test/measurement systems that power healthcare, energy, manufacturing, and research worldwide. Decades of industrial know-how, university research, and entrepreneur-led spinouts have created a uniquely dense, collaborative cluster across our region. Sensor Valley connects the companies, talent, research, and infrastructure that make Central Pennsylvania a global leader in sensor-enabled technologies. Through collaboration, workforce development, and shared infrastructure, we advance innovation, create high-quality jobs, and drive transformative outcomes in test and measurement.

Why here? Deep roots: From early metals and glass to today’s precision engineering, Central PA has long paired making with problem-solving.

Research engine: Penn State’s world-class labs and talent (MRI, ARL, Materials, Acoustics, Engineering) connect directly with industry needs.

Entrepreneurship: Legacy firms seeded dozens of spinouts; new startups continue to form around real market demand. Local companies include ultrasound and acoustics; chromatography and spectroscopy; nondestructive testing; metrology and controls; sensor-grade materials; and the data/analytics that make these tools smarter. Products made here show up in hospitals, factories, labs, and field operations across the globe.

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