Regional Collaboration Can Help to Create ‘Good Jobs’ in Southeastern Pennsylvania

Although overall employment has grown steadily in Southeastern Pennsylvania in recent years, an analysis by the Brookings Institution highlights a continuing challenge for the region: the need to create more of the quality jobs that provide greater economic mobility. The analysis finds that the region has the potential to rise to that challenge and realize greater growth in the number of quality jobs. 

Last July, Brookings released  a detailed assessment of the regional economy and how it could better serve area residents. The report marked a major step in an effort that has been gaining momentum in recent years.

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With support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and Brookings, a coalition of business, higher education, nonprofit, and civic leaders  from Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties launched  the Southeastern Pennsylvania Economic Collaborative in 2023 to help improve regional competitiveness, increase the number of high-quality jobs, and expand residents’ access to economic opportunity. Spurred by data that highlights the interconnectedness of the five-county economy and workforce, the group prioritized regional collaboration to overcome the challenges of the status quo and ensure broader strategic changes.

Which industry sectors have the potential to create more  ‘good jobs’?

Regional leaders are committed to aligning economic growth strategies with sectors that have a high concentration of “good jobs,” as defined in the Brookings research: jobs that pay a living wage, offer health insurance, and provide workers with paths to upward mobility.

Looking to the future, Brookings’ market assessment identified three tradeable (those that sell goods and services beyond the region’s borders) industry clusters in which the Southeastern Pennsylvania region is well positioned to compete and expand jobs. Those clusters are:

• Enterprise digital solutions. The sector comprises companies that create business-to-business cloud-based software tools and platforms that manage and optimize back- and middle-office functions, such as customer relationship management. These tools and platforms are applied across a range of industries. Although the region has been expanding venture capital investment in startup companies, the sector has not yet been generally recognized as a defining technology niche. As of 2023, it accounted for 39,284 jobs in the region, up 23.5% from 2012.
• Precision manufacturing in industrial technologies. This cluster includes a wide range of manufacturers and distributors that offer specialized value to several advanced industries and supply chains. Businesses make products to exact specifications with high accuracy in four industrial technologies:
  • Machined components, which are pieces of complex devices (not consumer goods) such as medical devices or electronic systems.
  • Industrial electronics, which are sensors or controls.
  • Interconnects, which refers to physical links for power and data.
  • Structural fabrication, which includes complex, larger-scale metal structures and assemblies such as pressure vessels, equipment skids, and aerospace/maritime frames.

  These manufacturers engage across various supply chains such as defense, life sciences, industrial automation, and energy. In 2023, there were 25,772 jobs in this cluster, up 3% from 2012.

• Biomedical engineering and production. This industry cluster could deliver near-term growth in life sciences jobs through underleveraged opportunities in therapeutics production and medical devices as well as greater retention of emerging entrepreneurial ventures. Additionally, the findings on this sector support maintaining the region’s focus on emerging platform technologies, such as cell and gene therapy. The sector had 50,198 jobs in 2023, an increase of 27.5% from 2012.

Each of these sectors and their associated value chains produced greater percentages of specific higher-wage positions during the period studied than did other sectors in the region. And these new jobs tend to be accessible to workers with a broad range of education levels.

What is the concentration of good jobs in each of these sectors?

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In the market assessment, Brookings defines opportunity jobs as ones “that create opportunities for worker mobility through family-sustaining wages, employer-sponsored health insurance (a proxy for job stability and other benefits), and pathways for upward economic mobility.” These jobs can support access to the middle class.

Brookings uses opportunity as a general umbrella term, with “good jobs” and “promising jobs” as more specific subtypes. According to these definitions, “promising jobs” may not have all three key elements but are often a steppingstone to higher-quality “good jobs” within 10 years (see Table 1).

What are the next steps?

The report findings show clear opportunities to increase collaboration on economic development efforts and job growth in these sectors. Economically strong regions nationwide typically have a clear leadership structure in place that crosses municipal lines to carry out shared plans and joint efforts. To ensure success in this area, regions often use operating agreements that spell out key roles and responsibilities among partners. Such structured collaborations help to deliver resources at the pace and scale needed for the regional economy, rather than the local or community level.

Now armed with the insights, rationale, and evidence from the market assessment, the leaders of the regional economic collaborative are building a shared playbook for reshaping Southeastern Pennsylvania’s economy. A multiyear vision to advance quality job growth in these priority sectors will be formalized into a regional growth strategy to be released in April.

The collaborative is now working through a consensus process to prioritize near- and longer-term tactics that can leverage the strengths of each county. Regional leaders are also developing workplans for each sector, outlining specific tasks to be carried out by various contributors, and the resources and coordination needed to do that effectively. Among the top priorities are ensuring access to capital, expanding talent systems and pipelines, and building small and medium-sized enterprise capacity. The development arms in each of the five counties are aligning under a new model, with support from Pew and Brookings, so that they can share their successes and leverage opportunities for growth.

The assessment makes clear the potential benefits from such a coordinated approach. Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties account for about 40% of Pennsylvania’s economy. State and local leaders understand that the success of the region is linked to the future health of the state.

With a boost of momentum from Pennsylvania’s first statewide economic development strategy in 20 years, public and private sector leaders from across Southeastern Pennsylvania are committed to creating a truly thriving regional economy that advances job growth and accelerates economic mobility.

Amanda Colon-Smith is an officer, Larry Eichel is a senior adviser, and Catie Wolfgang is a senior officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia research and policy initiative.