Econsult Solutions Inc. (ESI) was retained by Team Pennsylvania Foundation (Team PA) to conduct an independent assessment and provide policy recommendations for improving the business environment in Pennsylvania and to position it to successfully compete among peer U.S. states. ESI provided an analysis of Pennsylvania’s performance in various state business and economic competitiveness rankings, highlighting Pennsylvania’s strengths and weaknesses.
ESI conducted research and analyses to prepare a rankings report, policy recommendations report, and metrics dashboard. Key points included:
Comparative Analysis: The report compares Pennsylvania’s performance with 20 other states, noting that states like Colorado, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington consistently score well due to their emphasis on technology, innovation, and educated workforces.
Ranking Variance: Pennsylvania’s rankings vary significantly across different reports, from a high of 13th in the Milken State Technology and Science Ranking, to a low of 41st in the Beacon Hill State Competitiveness Report and U.S. News Best States 2019 ranking.
Strengths: Pennsylvania performs well in areas related to technology, research and development, and higher education. It ranks 13th in the Milken State Technology and Science Ranking, with strong scores in R&D inputs, risk capital, and human capital investment.
Weaknesses: The state struggles with business dynamism, slow population and job growth, aging infrastructure, and poor business friendliness. It ranks poorly in the Beacon Hill State Competitiveness Report (41st) and U.S. News Best States 2019 (41st), particularly in fiscal policy, infrastructure, and business incubation.
Policy recommendations suggest focusing on talent attraction and retention, enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship infrastructure, promoting Pennsylvania’s strengths, and learning from past reports to improve future rankings. Examples and cases where similar policy action worked in other states, ESI’s recommendations included rationale for the policy, path for action in Pennsylvania, and outcome expectations.
ESI completed How PA Competes: PA in Business and Economic Competitive Rankings Report and Moving PA Forward: Policy Options for a Competitive Pennsylvania which detail how the business environment in Pennsylvania compares with other states and provides policy recommendations for improving the ranking of the Pennsylvania business environment. ESI developed a digital interactive dashboard that allowed users to find key business environment metrics and data about the State of Pennsylvania.
