Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to attend a news conference where Governor Josh Shapiro announced that Eli Lilly and Company has made a commitment to build a $3.5 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the Lehigh Valley. As the governor rightfully pointed out that day, the pledge from one of the world’s leading drugmakers represents the largest investment in Pennsylvania by a life sciences company in our commonwealth’s history.
As an Allentown native and a former state legislator who represented the Lehigh Valley for nearly three decades, this historic announcement was especially meaningful. I also found myself thinking that it wasn’t too long ago that major companies rarely considered Pennsylvania as a location for projects of this scope and significance.
Fortunately, Governor Shapiro has changed that reality. He’s done it in part by developing the first statewide economic development strategy in nearly two decades and securing $550 million to make Pennsylvania more competitive for business expansion. These are major reasons why the governor has already secured more than $41 billion in private sector investment and created over 24,000 new jobs since taking office — exceeding the previous 15 years combined…