The passage of Pennsylvania’s 2024-2025 budget is providing more funding for economic development than the Commonwealth has seen in a long time. Programs to support infrastructure improvements, apprenticeships, entrepreneurial support and neighborhood assistance tax credits are being created or expanded to advance key projects throughout the Commonwealth. At CCEDC, we’ll be tracking details on program guidelines and exactly when the application windows will open! A few specific highlights include:
$500 million for the PA SITES program: This funding can be used for comprehensive real estate plans and development or conversion of buildings and land for mixed use development. It also provides for development of infrastructure such as water and sewer lines at industrial sites. This funding for site development to attract and retain employers aligns directly with CCEDC’s mission of smart growth, and we’ll be aggressively pursuing grants related to this for the benefit of key sites in Chester County. We’ll be sure to share more details as soon as they emerge.
$20 million in state funding for small minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses: This funding aligns ideally with CCEDC’s deep commitment to serving disadvantaged businesses through programs like New Business Champions, the Pennsylvania Catalyst Loan Fund and our BusinessResource Center in Coatesville.
$30 million increase in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming and equipment &investment in apprenticeship programs: Chester County’s people are its most valuable natural resource. We know that it takes human capital to grow companies and maintain a vibrant economy. We recognize the increasing importance of apprenticeships and plan to invest more resources in that area, even as we remain committed to our Industry Partnerships and STEM/Youth programming.
In general, the increased breadth of economic development tools and their flexibility is extremely promising, and you can feel confident that CCEDC is aggressively pursuing these opportunities on behalf of the region’s businesses.
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