Next, work the rehearsals: Part of the new law, the state's R&D tax credit program has increased from $15 million to Gov. Rendell's proposed $40 million over the past four years.

High Times in Lehigh Valley H ere is just a sampling of the corporate project activity in the Lehigh Valley region comprising the Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton metro areas:    • Lutron, a lighting control product manufacturer which last expanded in 2002, announced in early August it would expand its Upper Saucon Township campus with the construction of a new 250,000- sq.- ft. (23,225- sq.- m.) office building, a 20,000- sq.- ft. (1,858- sq.- m.) expansion to the product evaluation building and an 850- space parking deck. Some 500 new jobs will be created, in addition to 1,100 retained. The company will also purchase some new equipment and extend water to the site. Highway improvements to Route 309 are needed as well to support the expansion. The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. worked with Lutron and the Governor's Action Team to secure $4.25 million from the Dept. of Community and Economic Development for the project. The company is also eligible to apply for a $10 million loan through the Citizens Job Bank program, which offers low- interest- rate loans to companies that commit to creating or expanding jobs in Pennsylvania.    • In Allentown, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) will establish an east coast telesales center that will create up to 300 new jobs within the next three years.    • Eastern Engineered Wood Products will consolidate from three facilities into one complex on a 30- acre (12- hectare) site in Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII at the former site of Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem. The $13- million project will be funded in part by a $2.25- million loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority and by Penn Vest.

R&D strength is a constantly accumulating draw in Pittsburgh, which this summer welcomed two major investments from Medrad and from Fairfield Scientific. The analytical instrument company will occupy space at a downtown office as well as the Molecular Medicine Institute at the University of Pittsburgh's Cancer Institute and at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson Institute RFID Center of Excellence. Topping off a Three Rivers triad, Bayer MaterialScience AG, a producer of polymers and high- performance plastics, has established the UV Centre of Excellence on its existing Pittsburgh campus, including an R&D lab component.
   Set construction is a two- stage task: First there's $130 million in the 2006- 2007 budget for transportation infrastructure, including $100 million for improvements to 400 miles (644 km.) of expressway. Next comes $46 million in funds approved by the Commonwealth Financing Authority in July to help 15 different communities take part in the state's Business in Our Sites site preparation program. That program, since its inception in 2004, has approved $300 million for 112 projects. Among the next 15 projects are the redevelopment of a 92- acre (37.2- hectare) former Westinghouse Electric Corp. site in Allegheny County now known as Keystone Commons; planning for the 171- acre (69.2- hectare) Archbald Business Park in Archbald Borough, Lackawanna County; and continued development at the 24- acre (9.7- hectare) Fort Pitt Industrial Park in Canonsburg, Washington County, where $20 million will be invested in 225,000 sq. ft. (20,903 sq. m.) of light manufacturing, office and warehouse distribution space through six new buildings on the former Fort Pitt Bridge Works site. The city has already welcomed a $50- million investment earlier this year from Consol Energy, a coal company based in Pittsburgh, which will move its headquarters from Upper Sainte Clair to the new Southpointe II development.
   As for final performance: The city of Philadelphia is in fine form on the environmental and quality- of- life stage. In June, SustainLane, a Web- based community resource for healthy and sustainable living, ranked Philadelphia fourth in the nation for its quality- of- life and sustainability measures, ranking behind only Portland, Ore.; Seattle and San Francisco in a study of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. Helping the city move up to the top shelf from 11th in 2005 were factors such as 27- percent public transit use by residents, progressive planning, 18 farmers markets and, as of early 2006, 29 certified or registered LEED buildings.
   No doubt adding to its sustainability index will be the city's forthcoming 50- sq.- mile (130- sq.- km.) WiFi network. Though others are in the works in cities such as San Francisco, this is one of the first to approach the project through its own non- profit agency.