Under Governor Shapiro, Pennsylvania is a National Leader in Economic Growth, AI Innovation, and Energy

Governor Shapiro’s bold, commonsense strategy is delivering real results for Pennsylvanians — securing more than $25 billion in private investment, creating nearly 11,000 new jobs, ranking Pennsylvania among the top states for responsible AI adoption, and streamlining permitting so projects get built faster — all while positioning the Commonwealth at the forefront of innovation and next-generation energy.

Just weeks ago, the Shapiro Administration announced the largest private sector investment in Pennsylvania’s history: a $20 billion initial investment from Amazon to build new AI and cloud computing campuses across the Commonwealth — creating high-tech and construction jobs.

Our Commonwealth’s economic and energy leadership was showcased at today’s Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh, PA – Under Governor Josh Shapiro’s leadership, Pennsylvania is emerging as a national model for economic development, innovation, and commonsense energy strategy — delivering real results that position the Commonwealth to compete and win, attract investment, and create opportunity for communities across Pennsylvania.

From day one, Governor Shapiro has worked to spur economic development in Pennsylvania — launching the Commonwealth’s first Economic Development Strategy in nearly two decades, securing historic funding for site development, main streets, and small businesses, and streamlining permitting, licensing, and certification processes to help projects get built faster.

Securing Historic Investment and Growing Pennsylvania’s Economy

With this strong foundation, the Shapiro Administration has secured more than $25.2 billion in private sector investment and created nearly 11,000 new jobs since taking office — transforming communities across the Commonwealth and positioning Pennsylvania for sustained growth.

The most significant milestone came in June, when Amazon announced a $20 billion investment to build AI and cloud computing campuses across the Commonwealth — the largest private sector investment in Pennsylvania history. This transformational project will create at least 1,250 high-paying tech jobs and thousands more construction and supplier jobs, while positioning Pennsylvania as a national leader in artificial intelligence and next-generation computing. As part of the agreement, the Commonwealth is investing $10 million to expand workforce training, vo-tech, and career and technical education (CTE) statewide — funding that supports Pennsylvania workers, not the company itself.

Driven by a commitment to move at the speed of business, the Shapiro Administration isn’t just making government work better — it is making Pennsylvania more competitive, innovative, and attractive for businesses to invest, grow, and create good-paying jobs.

Investing in Shovel-Ready Sites Across Pennsylvania

A cornerstone of Governor Shapiro’s Economic Development Strategy is addressing a critical barrier identified by national site selectors: Pennsylvania’s need for more development-ready industrial and commercial sites. To tackle this challenge head-on, the Governor created the PA SITES (Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites) program, securing $500 million in site development funding — including $400 million specifically for PA SITES — in the 2024-25 bipartisan budget.

In May, the Governor announced the first round of PA SITES awards: a $64 million investment in 11 projects across the Commonwealth to prepare shovel-ready sites that will attract businesses, generate hundreds of good-paying jobs, and drive long-term economic growth. The strong demand for PA SITES funding — with 66 applications requesting more than $377 million — highlights just how critical these investments are for communities statewide.

Cutting Red Tape and Moving at the Speed of Business

Governor Shapiro has made modernizing government and reducing bureaucratic delays a top priority, creating conditions that help businesses invest with confidence. In November 2024, he signed Executive Order 2024-04 establishing the PA Permit Fast Track Program to streamline permitting for high-impact economic development and infrastructure projects. Led by the Office of Transformation and Opportunity (OTO), this program coordinates reviews across multiple state agencies, increases transparency, and helps ensure timely decisions for major projects.

The results speak for themselves. The Department of State (DOS) cut business filing times from eight weeks to as little as one day, making it faster for entrepreneurs to launch and grow their companies. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) reduced its backlog of pending permit applications by 98 percent — from 2,400 down to fewer than 50 — while still protecting Pennsylvania’s natural resources. DEP also launched a new Permit Tracker so applicants and residents can see where permits stand in real time, increasing accountability and trust.

Complementing these reforms, the Governor launched PAyback, a program that requires state agencies to process completed license, permit, or certification applications by a guaranteed date or refund the applicant’s fee — providing greater certainty for businesses and residents.

Leading the Nation in AI Readiness

Under Governor Shapiro’s leadership, Pennsylvania has become one of the top three states in the nation for AI readiness, according to the July 2025 Code for America Government AI Landscape Assessment. The report praised Pennsylvania’s comprehensive policies, governance, capacity building, and pilot programs, highlighting the Commonwealth as a national leader in the safe, responsible, and effective use of generative AI.

In September 2023, Governor Shapiro signed Executive Order 2023-19, creating a Generative AI Governing Board and establishing clear principles of accuracy, transparency, security, fairness, and employee empowerment. The Administration has partnered with Carnegie Mellon University’s Block Center and InnovateUS to train Commonwealth employees on responsible AI use, and updated mandatory training to build AI literacy across the state workforce.

In a first-of-its-kind pilot, 175 employees across 14 agencies used OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise, with over 85 percent reporting a positive experience and average time savings of about 95 minutes on days they used the tool. The Commonwealth’s modern, cloud-based infrastructure also positions Pennsylvania to expand responsible AI adoption while keeping employees at the center of decision-making.

Building Pennsylvania’s Energy Future: The Lightning Plan

Governor Shapiro’s Lightning Plan is a commonsense strategy to strengthen Pennsylvania’s position as a national energy leader by building more in-state power generation, creating good-paying energy jobs, and lowering utility costs for families and businesses. Supported by a broad coalition of labor leaders, consumer advocates, and industry stakeholders, the Governor’s energy plan will create jobs, lower costs for consumers, speed up permitting, and protect Pennsylvania from global instability by building more energy generation in Pennsylvania — positioning the Commonwealth to continue to be a national energy leader for decades to come. Governor Shapiro’s leadership has already delivered real results: by pushing PJM — the regional grid operator — to lower its price cap, Pennsylvania helped save consumers across the region more than $21 billion in utility bills over the next two years.

The Shapiro Administration continues to move quickly and efficiently to process permit applications, get businesses answers, and land major deals that benefit the people of Pennsylvania. Learn more about the Shapiro Administration’s efforts to support Pennsylvania’s workers and businesses and spur the economy in the Governor’s 2025-26 budget proposal at shapirobudget.pa.gov and discover how the Administration is creating economic opportunity to build a stronger, more competitive economy for all Pennsylvanians.

For more information about the Department of Community and Economic Development, visit the DCED website, and be sure to stay up-to-date with all of our agency news on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Governor’s Office, ra-gvgovpress@pa.gov, 717.783.1116
DCED, dcedpress@pa.gov

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