Introduction

The Transportation Education and Economic Network (T.E.E.N.) has combined and integrated the expertise of its members to better organize, align and direct resources toward the Logistics and Transportation industry cluster as it interacts within the seventeen (17) counties of the Northwest, North Central, Tri-County and West Central Workforce Investment Areas (Armstrong, Butler, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Venango, and Warren). As a result of Governor Rendell’s Job Ready PA initiative, the T.E.E.N. partnership has improved the recruitment and retention elements and national and local employer partners have come to understand the benefits and opportunities of doing business in Pennsylvania. It is our hope that the attention to the industry will continue to open the door for the attraction of additional business elements such as depots and warehousing functions to the region.

An ever-present goal of the T.E.E.N. partnership, the creation, attraction, expansion and retention of business to the Commonwealth will provide needed expansion and diversification to Pennsylvania’s economic base with a quick, highly visible impact with new jobs, income, families, and potential community leaders. T.E.E.N. believes that Pennsylvania has a competitive advantage for recruiting L&T business. Employment in the L&T cluster is concentrated geographically along the major highways that connect ports to the east of the Commonwealth with western PA and states in the Midwest. Four major arteries (76, 79, 80, and 90) converge in Northwest PA providing rapid access to and from these densely populated areas. Despite continued declines in recent years, manufacturing employs nearly half a million jobs with wages 20% higher than the statewide average for all industries. Still, there remain a number of factors L&T firms must take into consideration before investing business elements, including market conditions, location factors, industrial manufacturing sites, availability of qualified labor, utilities, financial capital, tax structure, laws and inducements. Traditional costs associated with transportation and marketing will continue to be critical. The availability of financial capital will also be crucial. T.E.E.N. will continue to explore local, state and federal sources of capital and utilize those resources to their fullest potential.