Seizing upon the momentum of Penn-sylvania's job growth in 2000 (109,000 new jobs -- the largest annual increase in 12 years), Gov. Ridge earlier this year unveiled two programs designed to boost the number of knowledge workers.
      The first initiative, announced Feb. 6, authorizes a $10 million investment into a "Brain Gain" crusade to keep Pennsylvania's young people working in Pennsylvania. "In all the hard numbers -- jobs created, dollars invested and square footage of new plants and offices -- Pennsylvania now is one of the top states in the nation," the governor says. "We have seized the power of technology and re-established Pennsylvania as a center of innovation. But we won't be able to truly ensure our long-term prosperity without keeping our young people in Pennsylvania."
      Brain Gain funds 5,000 internships for Pennsylvania students with in-state companies. The Stay Invent the Future Internship Corps is designed to link the state's best students with Pennsyl-vania employers.
      In 1995, the U.S. Census Bureau predicted that Pennsylvania would lose 50,000 residents by 2000. Instead, the state gained 236,000. That's like "adding another Dauphin County to the state," says Ridge. "That's good, but not good enough."
      That's why the governor is putting his state's tax dollars where his mouth is on life sciences. On April 30, he announced a plan to make $90 million available to build on the biotechnology research taking place at Pennsylvania's top universities. The money will subsidize the process of designing the governor's landmark Life-Sciences Greenhouse initiative.

PENNSYLVANIA NEW PLANTS 20 Largest New & Expanded Plants in Pennsylvania First Quarter 2001 Corporate Announcements

Company Location Capital Investment Jobs Matrix Group Lower Makefield $250 million N/A Preferred RE Chester $150 million N/A Corning Inc. East Benton $140 million 1,500 Fay Penn Fiber Georges $130 million 220 O'Neill Properties West Norriton $90 million N/A Leggat McCall Philadelphia $80 million N/A Sony Electronics East Huntingdon $70 million N/A Archon Group Philadelphia $60 million N/A Bayer Corp. Myerstown $60 million N/A Croda Inc. Mill Hall $55 million 50 Vartan Enterprises Reading $50 million N/A ICT Group Newtown $45 million N/A Marriott Pittsburg $44 million N/A Alcoa Pittsburg $35 million N/A Alcan Packaging Bethlehem $30 million 321 Vanguard Financial Malvern $30 million 750 Officesupplies.com Upper Dublin $27 million 74 Cellomics Pittsburg $26 million 317 PPG Industries Meadville $23 million N/A Latrobe Brewing Latrobe $15 million N/A Source: Conway Data Inc. New Plant Database.

      "You represent a promise for Pennsylvania's future," Ridge told a group of biotech industry leaders at a Life-Sciences Summit in Harrisburg. "You have the ability to transform Pennsylvania by unleashing a new generation of medical breakthroughs that will improve the quality of life of our citizens in ways we could not have imagined only a few short years ago. And, in so doing, you will spark job growth across the state."
      The goal of the Life-Sciences Greenhouse initiative is simple: establish three centers -- one each in Southwest, Southeast and Central Pennsylvania -- to focus on the unique assets and potential of the region, linked by a statewide coordinating team. The program uses surplus tobacco settlement money to seed the growth of biotech firms.
      Pennsylvania's pharmaceutical and bio-pharmaceutical industries employ more than 31,300 people at a total payroll of more than $2.6 billion, according to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Community & Economic Develop-ment (DCED). The state's core biotech industry includes about 150 companies with some 6,000 employees. The state also ranks fourth nationally in employment by the medical supplies and devices sector.