BUILDING ONE PENNSYLVANIA SUMMIT HELD AT TSCT
The Statewide Summit Focusing on Economic Growth, Regional Opportunity and Sustainability was held Friday

Lancaster, PA - More than 600 people from every corner of the state attended the Building One Pennsylvania Conference Friday on the campus of Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. Participants included federal officials and members of the state House and Senate policy committees.

Federal officials who spoke included Deputy Secretary John Porcari from the US Department of Transportation and General Deputy Assistant Secretary Bryan Greene from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. State officials who spoke included Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato; State Senator Ted Erickson (R_Delaware County), majority chairman of the Senate Policy Committee; and State Representative Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster County), majority chairman of the House Policy Committee.

A coalition made up of organizations from across the state is reframing the discussions of policy for state and local governments.  The core issue shave primarily to do with reinvesting in first-ring suburbs and the downtowns of boroughs and cities, all of which are facing common problems: aging infrastructure, struggling schools, sprawl, rising taxes and often a lack of regional cooperation.

The non-partisan coalition has organized the summit so that state leaders hear what communities across the state are saying on these issues and begin conversations about finding substantive new ways to deal with these common challenges that are detrimental to the state's overall economi health.

Organizations involved in convening Building One Pennsylvania include 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, Good Schools Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council of Churches, Southeastern Pennsylvania First Suburbs Project and YorkCounts.