Shapiro touts multimillion dollar investment at switchgear plant in Mon Valley
“We’re here today to invest in your success.”
That’s what Gov. Josh Shapiro had to say to a gathering of employees, elected officials and business leaders at the GE Vernova switchgear plant in Speers Thursday. The governor was there at lunchtime for the announcement that the company is planning on spending $166 million to expand its operations in the region.
It’s a slice of a $600 million investment GE Vernova announced last year to expand its facilities over the next two years across the country to keep up with what is expected to be increased demand for electricity. The company plans to expand its operations at its plants in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.
Shapiro said the expansion would create “good-paying jobs that strengthen our communities.”
“The Pennsylvania energy industry has created great jobs,” he added. “It has lifted people out of poverty. It has put food on the table.”
Shapiro is seeking a re-election for another term as governor, and he said that before he took office, Pennsylvania was “a sleepy afterthought when it came to economic development,” but he said his administration has quickened the pace of business growth in the commonwealth, thanks to such things as speeding up the permitting process. He also noted that Pennsylvania is the only state in the northeast with a growing economy, according to Moody’s Analytics.
“We needed to work as fast and efficiently as business does,” Shapiro said. “I’m a pro-growth and this is exactly the kind of growth we want to see in our communities.”
The state is chipping in $6 million for GE Vernova’s expansion, with a $5 million grant coming from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program and another $1 million for worker training through its WEDnetPA grant program. The plant in Speers builds switchgear equipment that is used in the electrical grid.
Rick Siger, the secretary of the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development, said GE Vernova’s expansion plans “reinforces that the commonwealth is a premier destination for advanced manufacturing and energy innovation.”