Governor Tom Corbett announced Friday that U.S. Steel is keeping its headquarters in Pittsburgh and expanding its Mon Valley Works operation.
The announcement came as state officials fanned across Pennsylvania to mark National Manufacturing Day.
U.S. Steel employs some 4,300 people in the Pittsburgh region. In an effort to keep them headquartered in the steel city, Corbett says the state has committed up to $30.7 million in grants for expansions and improvements.
“They were considering other locations, you know their biggest steel mills are not in Pennsylvania, they’re over in the Gary, Ind. area, Chicago is a big area nearby, so I think they were considering it,” said Corbett.
U.S. Steel will reline one of its blast furnaces and make improvements and repairs to its railroad transportation infrastructure.
While Corbett stopped in Pittsburgh, other state officials made stops in other locations – they gave updates of work on 15 recommendations from the Governor’s Manufacturing Council.
“We have made great progress in all 15 recommendations,” said Corbett. “For instance, we invested more than $450 million in developing our highly-skilled workforce, and we need to continue to do that.”
Corbett said there are many jobs in the science and engineering side of manufacturing, but companies are having a hard time finding qualified workers. Other recommendations include: strategic investments in workforce development and education, creating a state energy policy, investing in infrastructure improvements via Act 89, opening new domestic and international markets, implementing tax and regulatory reform, and improving access to capital and making government work better by encouraging innovation.
Corbett added that manufacturing is important to the state’s economy – as it makes up about 10 percent of industry in the state.
“It employs more than half a million people,” said Corbett, “for every one manufacturing job in Pennsylvania, 3.1 jobs are created in other industries. It’s critical to the economy of Pennsylvania and the economy of the United States.”
Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley, Agriculture Secretary George Grieg, Labor and Industry Secretary Julia Hearthway, Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker, Health Secretary Michael Wolf, Revenue Secretary Dan Meuser, and PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch also participated in manufacturing-related events throughout the state in recognition of National Manufacturing Day.
