Don't know if this has been put up before, nothing really new apart from the picture it paints with regard to AS's relationship with Pennsylvania and the Governor:
Alan Shortall decided to bring his company's corporate headquarters and 35 new jobs to Pennsylvania during a lunch in January 2008. Shortall ate alongside Gov. Ed Rendell that day at the governor's residence. The CEO of Unilife Medical Solutions can't remember what was on the menu, only that the food was "extremely good."
A promise the governor made that day, however, is one that Shortall won't soon forget.
"We will support you," Shortall recalls Rendell saying.
That was all Shortall needed to hear. The Australian medical device maker's corporate office officially opened in the Fairview Industrial Park this week, Shortall said.
The company employs 65 people now, but will look for 35 more by Christmas to work as facilities managers, engineers, designers and developers, among other positions, Shortall said. Unilife's announcement marks the second time in the past week that a company has promised to bring new manufacturing jobs to the area. On Monday, Aztec Solar Power, based in King of Prussia, said it plans to open a plant in Springettsbury Township, creating 100 new jobs.
"It's very important that we keep the manufacturing and keep the jobs," said Jerry Robbins, Aztec's chief information officer. "Our money here will filter into the hands of Pennsylvanians."
Local manufacturing has taken a hit recently, with 1,300 jobs lost in York County between February 2008 and February 2009, according to Pennsylvania's department of labor and industry.
But this week's announcements of new jobs can have a positive effect economically and psychologically, said Mike Smeltzer, executive director of the Manufacturers' Association of South Central Pennsylvania.
Aside from creating jobs, the new companies are likely to rely on the services of other local businesses, Smeltzer said. The companies' moving to York County is also likely to attract even more attention from outside businesses that may consider relocating, Smeltzer said. But the local manufacturing industry is not out of the woods yet, Smeltzer said. Local education and training institutions for manufacturers must continue to grow, he said, which would cement the area's reputation as having a solid workforce. "There needs to be a sustained process," Smeltzer said, "to generate the type and the volume of workers (needed) for the future." The support that Rendell promised to Unilife came in the form of $1.8 million worth of loans, grants and job-training assistance. Unilife received a $1 million loan from Pennsylvania's machinery and equipment fund, according to the state's department of community and economic development. Robbins said that Aztec, too, would seek out some government funding. Given the importance of manufacturing to the local economy, Smeltzer said, the state's department of community and economic development should make every effort to devote resources to that sector.
"Those funds help," Smeltzer said. "But we're frequently advocating for a bigger-picture view."
Unilife has manufactured locally since 2006, Shortall said, when it bought Integrated BioSciences. Moving its corporate headquarters here is part of the company's transition into the United States. Its research department will likely stay in Australia, Shortall said, but its development department is slated to move to Fairview Township
Unilife considered other locations, Shortall said, adding that San Diego had been a possibility.
Shortall then looked out of his office window at the dark storm clouds that filled the northern York County sky Friday morning.
"San Diego," he said, "looks very attractive at the moment."
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