Editorial Columns

Life in Centre County in 2014

With one of the strongest regional economies in Pennsylvania and a highly educated population, Centre County is well positioned for the coming decade. I am certain that Penn State will continue to play a vital role in the progress that our region will experience in the coming years.

As the largest employer in the county and one of the three largest non-governmental employers in the state, Penn State is a major economic force. Beyond employment numbers, Penn State heavily influences the economy through the goods and services it purchases, the construction it undertakes, the visitors it attracts, the workforce it educates, and the jobs it helps create in the community.

One arena where I anticipate Penn State will continue to thrive in the coming years is in research. Already conducting more than a half-a-billion dollars worth of research annually, Penn State is ranked among the top 10 university patent recipients. With our current average growth rate in research expenditures of 7 percent a year, we could reach as high as $1 billion in research funding within a decade.

Renowned for our work in areas such as agriculture, acoustics, materials science, biotechnology, nanotechnology, health and human development, demography, chemistry, engineering, earth and mineral sciences, physics, and a host of other fields, Penn State faculty work closely with industry to transfer discoveries that benefit society to the marketplace.

We recently broke ground for phase three of our 118-acre Innovation Park, a magnet for technology-based firms. There are already 40 tenants employing more than 1,000 people at the park, and I anticipate that in 10 years, we will be at or near completion of the build-out of the park. It will include a mix of privately developed companies and Penn State partners bringing University discoveries to commercialization. When fully occupied, Innovation Park could be home to approximately 2,000 to 3,000 jobs.

The next decade also will be a time of tremendous progress for Penn State in the area of life sciences. Already a leader in the field, the current construction of our life sciences/chemistry complex will provide tremendous opportunities for our students and faculty. Penn State and Centre County will be on the cutting edge of emerging science, providing many human and commercial benefits in the areas of health care and the environment, to name a few. Our materials science research also will continue as one of the top programs in the nation and a new materials science building will help bolster that work.

An exceptional asset to Centre County is the University Park Airport, now the seventh busiest commercial airport in Pennsylvania. In the coming decade, the airport will become a regional transportation hub, with quiet, 50-passenger jets taking off from its runways on a regular basis. By 2020, the airport will handle 225,000 enplanements a year.

By 2014, we hope to see progress on nearly 400 acres of land near the University Park campus that will become the Penn State Arboretum, serving as an outdoor classroom, living laboratory, and valuable community resource. This ecological and educational site could draw thousands of additional visitors to our community and will be preserved for generations to come.

The University will continue to participate in the revitalization of Downtown State College. Our new Downtown Theatre and other initiatives will help create a more vibrant, mature, and lively downtown district.

The Bryce Jordan Center, which has averaged up to a million visitors a year for the last eight years and contributes $8.2 million to Centre County's economy, will continue to be an economic force for the region.

The infusion of hundreds of new residents of the Village at Penn State will bring further economic stability to the community, along with individuals who pay taxes but do not send children to school. These people will become wonderful volunteers in our community, and loyal Penn Staters who can take advantage of the great leisure activities offered here.

As our region becomes more accessible, we must work together to take advantage of the strengths of Centre County and to preserve the quality of life that we cherish. Penn State's presence enriches Centre County, and our commitment to the future of this region remains strong.