Lancaster County is one of six metropolitan areas that drive Pennsylvania's economy and that should be beneficiaries of targeted federal support.

So says a new report by the Brookings Institution, a non-profit public policy organization based in Washington.

Lancaster and Pennsylvania's other largest metro areas contain 68.4 percent of the state's population but generate 80.5 percent of its economic output.

Considering that economic strength, the Brookings report calls for an agenda at the federal level that "empowers states and metro areas to leverage their assets."

As they campaign in Pennsylvania, presidential candidates are promoting federal policies they believe will help improve the American economy.

But the Brookings report, "An Economic Plan for the Commonwealth: Unleashing the Assets of Metropolitan Pennsylvania," questions whether those policies actually will improve the prospects of a former industrial state struggling to find a new economy.

Rather, the report calls on the candidates to offer proposals that would augment state and local efforts to make improvements in four areas: business innovation, education and skills, transportation and other infrastructure, and the quality of life.

According to the report, the federal government will get more bang for its buck by focusing not on the entire state but on its largest economic drivers.

They are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg-Carlisle, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (Lehigh Valley), Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton, and Lancaster.

Early in the report, Brookings researchers point out that Lancaster County is a leader among these metropolitan areas in job growth. Between 2003 and 2007, only the Lehigh Valley surpassed Lancaster in percentage growth of employment.

The six metro areas share significant strengths, but each also has individual strengths and weaknesses, according to the report.

In Lancaster's case, the report emphasizes the state's manufacturing and agricultural output. The county's leading manufacturing operations are in food processing, heavy construction, business and financial services, and publishing and printing.

Perhaps surprisingly, the report also highlights Lancaster's "solid share" of workers in research and development and product patenting.

On the negative side, a relatively small share of the county's work force has a college degree — 22.9 percent, which is only 84.8 percent of the U.S. average.

The report also says the county has a "relatively thin network of air, rail and broadband infrastructure to serve a more modern, dynamic economy."

As a quality place to live, the county receives higher marks, especially for number of historic properties and performing arts establishments.

Returning to statewide concerns, the report notes that the state government has made strides in recent years in economic innovation, work force and transportation improvement, and investing in quality urban areas.

More could be done, however, if the federal government augmented these efforts, the report says.

Brookings calls on the federal government to focus on four initiatives:

• Establish a National Innovation Foundation to work with industries, universities, and local and state governments to spur innovation.

• Boost the skills and educational levels of citizens and work to attract talented workers to the state.

• Overhaul federal policy to help improve transportation of all types.

• Build healthy urban neighborhoods and quality housing by revitalizing historic cities and boroughs.

"The future of Pennsylvania rests in her metro areas," the report concludes. If the presidential candidates listen to leaders in those areas, it notes, they will hear solutions to the state's and nation's economic challenges.


Staff writer Jack Brubaker can be reached at jbrubaker@LNPnews.com or 291-8781.