A proposed $3.5 billion fertilizer and chemicals facility in Clearfield County could generate business opportunities for manufacturers across Pennsylvania, supporting jobs, suppliers, and economic activity well beyond the plant itself, according to a new economic impact study conducted by the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association (PMA).
“We know manufacturing has the highest wages and largest multiplier effects across the economy, but studies like this take that idea out of the abstract before ground is broken on a major project,” Carl Marrara, executive director of PMA, told Pennsylvania Business Report.
PMA prepared the report for KeyState Nitrogen, the subsidiary of KeyState Energy that’s developing the multibillion-dollar natural gas synthesis and blue ammonia/fertilizer manufacturing facility.
“When a major manufacturing investment like this is proposed, we believe it’s important to look beyond the price tag of the facility itself, or even just the direct manufacturing jobs at that plant, and understand the broader economic implications,” said Marrara.
The study examines the potential economic effects of the proposed facility, which would provide more than one million tons of fertilizers and chemicals annually to Pennsylvania and a 15-state Northeast/Mid-Atlantic region, which currently is without the production of essential hydrogen, ammonia, and urea products and is dependent upon international imports.
“KeyState’s proposed Clearfield County, Pa., facility will displace a majority of fertilizer imported into Eastern ports,” according to KeyState. “Historically, this high-cost, unpredictable supply has come from Russia and the Middle East.”
The company says it has secured more than 50 percent of funds needed to reach project final investment, and to date has invested more than $10 million of private funds and seven years of local hard work into the project.
“Much of the last four years has been spent navigating federal energy and emissions policy, all which has resulted in a larger, stronger, strategically significant mega-project,” said KeyState.
The report — which uses IMPLAN 2026 economic modeling to estimate the project’s effects during construction and ongoing operations — is intended to help policymakers, business leaders, and the public understand how manufacturing investments benefit the broader economy, according to Marrara.
One of the study’s key findings, he said, is that the proposed facility’s economic impact could extend well beyond its direct workforce.
Specifically, the study projects that 273 direct manufacturing jobs would support roughly 1,426 jobs across Pennsylvania annually, including positions tied to suppliers and household spending.
Annual operations are also projected to support approximately $151 million in labor income and $984 million in statewide economic output, the report says.
For Pennsylvania manufacturers, those projections point to potential opportunities to supply equipment, materials, and services to the facility and its network of businesses.
“The most important finding is the scale of the ongoing economic activity once the construction is completed,” Marrara said. “That is more than four additional jobs supported through suppliers and household spending for every direct operating position.”
The report identifies potential activity in equipment manufacturing, industrial maintenance, energy, transportation, warehousing, wholesale distribution, and professional services.
“For PMA members, the significance is that a major manufacturing investment can create business opportunities well beyond the company making the investment,” Marrara said.
He said the connections between manufacturers and their suppliers are a key reason investments in the sector can have far-reaching effects.
“This demonstrates why we view manufacturing investment as important to our broader membership: one company’s investment can become another Pennsylvania company’s next customer,” said Marrara. “We say it all the time: manufacturing employs more than 500,000 Pennsylvanians on shop floors, but sustains millions of additional jobs in supply chains and distribution networks. This proves it.”
In fact, construction and operations could generate millions in economic activity, says the study, which projects about $2.25 billion in economic output and $75.2 million in state and local tax revenue over a four-year period covering construction, related development, equipment purchases, and the first full year of operations.
Marrara said the economic benefits would extend beyond the facility through purchases from suppliers and spending by workers across the state. Once operational, the plant also would make ongoing tax payments to support public services, he said.
The report’s projections encompass both the direct activity associated with the project and the broader economic effects generated by its business relationships and workers’ spending.
A manufacturing facility requires machinery, energy, materials, maintenance, transportation, storage, insurance, accounting, and other services, Marrara explained, and the businesses supplying these needs, in turn, employ workers and purchase goods and services of their own.
“The results make that relationship tangible as ongoing operations are projected to support approximately 673 supplier-related jobs and 481 jobs through household spending, in addition to the project’s direct workforce,” said Marrara.
He noted that trucking, warehousing, rail transportation, natural gas distribution, and business services all appear in the projected operating supply chain.
“While it’s the epicenter, the plant gate is not the boundary of the plant’s economic impact,” Marrara said.
Benefits for Clearfield County
The proposed facility could have a particularly significant effect on Clearfield County. The study reinforces the importance of the facility after construction is complete with estimates for 271 direct manufacturing jobs that would support some 1,128 total jobs in the county.
The report also projects nearly $124 million in annual labor income across the plant, its suppliers, and businesses supported by household spending.
Marrara said those figures illustrate how the project’s potential benefits could reach people who never work directly for KeyState Nitrogen.
“They also reach local businesses and workers whose customers, contracts, or earnings are connected to its operations — as far down the chain as local restaurants, educational institutions, and healthcare facilities,” he said. “These types of investments are community building/sustaining projects.”
Potential benefits also exist for farmers and domestic supply chains as the proposed facility is intended to supply fertilizer and chemicals to markets that currently depend on imports.
Marrara said producing fertilizer closer to agricultural customers, using Pennsylvania natural gas, could provide another domestic supply option and reduce reliance on lengthy international supply chains.
He cautioned, however, that the potential supply-chain benefit should not be confused with a quantified finding about farm costs.
The economic impact study does not forecast fertilizer prices or estimate savings for farmers. Rather, its focus is the projected economic activity associated with construction and operation of the proposed facility, said Marrara.