A    S I T E    S E L E C T I O N    R E G I O N A L    R E V I E W    F R O M    S E P T E M B E R    2 0 0 0

---

Pennsylvania
Drops the Tax Ax

Enter Pennsylvania on almost any major road and one is greeted with the imposing reminder that the Keystone State is "where America began."

Like New York, Pennsylvania has based a goodly portion of improving its already healthy business climate on cutting taxes, which helps free up investment money and spurs economic growth. In May, for instance, the state cut taxes $775 million, the state's biggest tax cut ever.

Such programs are giving new life to the state's economy. Pennsylvania boasts that Gov. Tom Ridge's Action Team has helped create 12,000 new jobs since January.

Some of those jobs have just been announced and will take place over a period of time, such as the 6,000 new jobs to be created by a $500 million expansion of The Vanguard Group, the country's second largest mutual funds company. Vanguard announced the expansion of its world headquarters in Malvern (west of Philadelphia) in May. It is the largest job-creation announcement in the state since Volkswagen came in 1976. Vanguard already employs 8,200 in Malvern.