Tariffs, energy policies and workforce development are major obstacles to Pennsylvania’s continued industrial competitiveness, witnesses said during a House Republican Policy Committee hearing on Tuesday.
During the hearing hosted by House Republican Policy Committee Chairman David H. Rowe (R-Snyder/Union/Mifflin/Juniata), state Rep. Chad Reichard (R-Franklin) and others, representatives from Manitowoc Cranes, Volvo Construction Equipment and the Franklin County Area Development Corporation discussed their views on how policymakers can ensure the state’s regulatory environment, energy policies and infrastructure systems support companies across the Commonwealth.
Witnesses said tariffs and workforce development were obstacles to overcome, as were access to infrastructure, like I-81, and regulatory policies.
Mike Reed, vice president and general manager of Manitowoc Cranes North America operations, said tariffs and anti-dumping enforcement policies were negatively impacting Pennsylvania manufacturers.
“Tariffs are a policy where they were supposed to help American manufacturing and bring jobs back domestically. As I stated, there’s mixed signals on that. I mean, it’s a Catch-22,” Reed said during his testimony. “We need to push the evaluation of what the tariffs are really doing for the state, for the companies, and is it really bringing back American manufacturing, or is just hindering the way it’s structured now? I would love to do everything in this facility. I would love to be fully integrated. But that’s just not reality, and the tariffs are just another hurdle on top of that, to be able to keep businesses here.”
Gustavo Casagrandi, general manager of Volvo Construction Equipment, said attracting and keeping talent was a key element for manufacturers’ success. Volvo employs more than 500 Pennsylvanians with a supply chain that runs from southern Virginia to Hagerstown, Md., and through Allentown, Pa. He said the company’s access to I-81 is crucial to its success.
“The I-81 corridor is a critical thruway for our supply chain,” he said. “The corridor impacts over 8,500 Volvo group employees and billions of dollars of goods and services that move in and out our facilities and our dealers in North America annually. Here in Shippensburg, we manage almost 600 employees, with vehicles coming and going each day as well… We continue to be involved with the I-81 Corridor Coalition to find ways to improve the safety and efficiency of freight and passenger movements. The result will save lives, reduce costs and expand economic development opportunities as policymakers consider infrastructure funding, domestic manufacturing incentives and workforce programs.”
Mike Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corporation, said workforce development is another crucial area policymakers need to focus on.
“Unlocking Pennsylvania’s future requires a practical competitive agenda to make it faster and more predictable to invest here, modernize the systems that move people and products and align training with the jobs employers are actually trying to fill. Pennsylvania’s geography, industrial base and research assets are major advantages, but other states win projects by reducing friction,” Ross said.
That strategy includes creating a more skilled workforce. And a workforce with more skills starts with retaining young people, he said.
“We’ve done an outstanding job in Pennsylvania at attracting and retaining seniors. We’ve done a horrible job at attracting retaining young people.,” he said. “If we’re going to change the dynamics in this state, we have got to figure that out, because It’s pathetic. We educate the world, then they move away from Pennsylvania upon graduation. We’ve got to figure out how we create incentives for young people. It could be tax incentives; it could be housing incentives for young people. It could be educational incentives. But if you have one mission as a body, it’s that you have to figure this out, because we continue to stagnate.”
In November 2025, Pennsylvania was ranked the 11th best business climate in the country by Site Selection Magazine. According to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office, the ranking was up seven spots from Site Selection’s 2024 list.
But witnesses said the site selection across the state was hampered by unwieldy state regulations.
“The biggest complaint from employers and site selectors is rarely the standards are too high,” Ross said. “It’s that the approvals are uncertain, sequential and slow … If Pennsylvania can reliably reduce the timeline from proposal to groundbreaking without compromising standards, it will win more projects.”
Permitting should also focus on infrastructure investment, he said, specifically modernizing I-81.
“A flagship investment should be widening and modernizing I-81 particularly in the south-central corridor, where freight volume safety challenges and congestion create high costs for carriers and employers,” Ross said. “Regional partners and PennDOT have already advanced a coordinated strategy… The I-81 study process reflects the reality that needs outpace available revenue, making prioritization and sustained funding essential.”
Ross added that Pennsylvania is locked in a competitive battle with states surrounding it, and that changing policies in the State House to support regulations that work for manufacturers and workforce development policies that support employees were the key to coming out a winner.