Pennsylvania is seeing a surge of more than $30 billion in new private-sector investments — including massive data centers and innovation hubs — but the state must double down on pro-growth reforms to remain competitive, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry President and CEO Luke Bernstein warned Monday.
Speaking at the Pennsylvania Press Club’s June luncheon, Bernstein highlighted recent major economic developments, including Amazon’s $20-billion data center investment and a $10-billion redevelopment project in Homer City.
“These are the kinds of projects that can change the trajectory of entire communities,” Bernstein told attendees. “The single most important thing we can do to set our state up for long-term success is to create an environment that attracts business investment.”
Bernstein credited recent bipartisan efforts in Harrisburg with sparking the investment momentum, pointing to reforms in corporate taxes, net operating losses, permitting, and workforce development.
“We’ve started to make progress,” he said. “We’re gradually lowering our corporate tax rate. We’ve improved the treatment of net operating losses. We’re making strides on permitting and workforce development. We’ve only just started to turn the dial up a little bit on our competitiveness, and already the response from private industry has been enormous.”
But Bernstein cautioned that the progress could stall unless lawmakers continue to enact reforms.
“We have to keep our foot on the gas,” he urged. “While other states are rolling out the red carpet, companies look at Pennsylvania and see us rolling out the red tape.”
Bernstein also outlined the chamber’s recently launched Keystone Initiative, a strategic roadmap aimed at making Pennsylvania the most competitive state in the nation for business. He discussed the four pillars of the plan during the luncheon:
- Tax Reform: Further reduce the Corporate Net Income Tax, increase the deduction cap on Net Operating Losses, and eliminate barriers to investment.
- Permitting: Build on bipartisan progress to create a faster, more predictable permitting system statewide.
- Energy Leadership: Leverage Pennsylvania’s vast natural gas resources to support modern industries, including AI and cloud computing.
- Workforce Development: Strengthen talent pipelines and align training programs to meet the needs of high-skill jobs.
At the same time, Bernstein also addressed Pennsylvania’s historic population decline, saying it’s not an irreversible trend — but turning it around will require action.
“We have lost businesses and people because other states have made it easier to invest, build, and grow there, while we have failed to do the same,” he said.
“The future will arrive no matter what,” added Bernstein. “But a future we believe in — a future worth fighting for — is ours to build. If we choose to compete.”