Delco leading charge Pa. job improvement in

At the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce, our mission in action is underscored by member programs and services to enhance business throughout the region, promote the economic wellbeing of the county, provide valuable benefits to members, strengthen the quality of life within the community, serve as a liaison between business and government, and prepare our future workforce.

Thus, we took great interest in a recent piece in the Philadelphia Business Journal that detailed a “county-by-county analysis of the region’s workforce” and found that “Philadelphia’s booming health care industry and growing education workforce has spilled over into neighboring counties, where the education services and health care industries now employ more than 1.1 million people.”

The piece looked at data from 20 counties across Pennsylvania and found that “Delaware County has experienced the most growth in its workforce, gaining 4.71 percent from 2014 to 2015.”

This workforce development and economic growth is good news for our state – and is progressing across the board. The energy industry has been steadily increasing, with specific growth of energy infrastructure in Delaware County. The revitalization of the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex here in Delaware County has already provided a huge economic boost for our area.

Despite claims to the contrary by those with political agendas, projects such as the Mariner East pipeline project will directly benefit Marcus Hook by transporting energy products such as propane, butane, and ethane from the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations in western Pennsylvania to Marcus Hook for processing, storage, and transport to market. Mariner East will create over 30,000 direct and indirect jobs using union local labor through the construction phase and over 300 permanent jobs throughout Pennsylvania once completed.

These jobs mean more than just steady employment for our local workforce; they provide a means for providing for our families and our communities. A recent piece in the Adviser-Tribune stressed that “infrastructure investment stimulates economic growth, which strengthens communities. That economic growth brings more jobs. It brings hope, happiness and stability.” This revitalized industry has harbored new business with family-sustaining wage jobs that enable people to live the stable middle-class life they want for their families and their communities. This is happening in Delaware County and across Pennsylvania thanks to linked development across our industries and marked revitalization of our energy industry.

This project will also provide Pennsylvanians with increased access to a number of energy resources that are in high demand by both personal and business consumers alike. Propane is still used by many Pennsylvanians for winter heat as well as to fuel their local barbecue during the summer months; ethane along with propane, are key for Pennsylvania’s rebounding manufacturing sector; and butane is a critical component for gasoline.

We are keenly aware of the workforce dynamics in our county and have been engaged in the process throughout, fully appreciating the associated benefits that have come to our county and state at-large through increased dispensable income and general workforce stability.

At the end of the day, it comes down to people being able to provide the right life for their families. The numbers have spoken. The industry shifts occurring in Delaware County and across Pennsylvania are good omens for Pennsylvanian families – and continue to head in the right direction.