Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the Keystone Trade Center in Falls Township Thursday to highlight how his administration’s efforts to speed up state permitting processes helped secure Amazon’s $20 billion investment in Pennsylvania.
The visit comes weeks after Shapiro, a Democrat, announced that Amazon Web Services will establish two cloud computing and artificial intelligence campuses in the state, including one at the former U.S. Steel site where NorthPoint Development is creating one of the largest logistics hubs on the East Coast.
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“We showed a major global employer like Amazon that we can move quicker than any other state,” Shapiro said during the event. “We didn’t cut corners. We didn’t sacrifice environmental protection or public health. Instead, we held them to the same standards as every other permit. We just did it quicker than ever before.”
The Amazon investment represents the largest private sector investment in Pennsylvania history by more than three times, according to Shapiro.
The two initial campuses are expected to create thousands of construction jobs and many permanent positions. However, the governor and Amazon have not laid out specifics on how many jobs.
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Shapiro said his administration’s efforts to speed up permitting, while also keeping safety in focus, helped lure Amazon and also has aided in the Keystone Trade Center’s development, which is expected to create thousands of jobs and a large economic impact.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Jessica Shirley highlighted specific improvements her agency has made to the permitting process.
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DEP processed Amazon’s air quality permit for construction in under four months, cutting the typical six-month timeline by two months.
“At DEP, we’ve issued 68,000 permits with zero refunds” under the administration’s payback program, Shirley said.
The program returns application fees to applicants if permits aren’t processed within specified timeframes.
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Jeremy Michael, executive vice president for NorthPoint Development, praised the collaboration with state agencies.
NorthPoint acquired the 1,800-acre site from U.S. Steel in December 2020 and has since developed six warehouses, which totals nearly 5 million square feet.
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“We’ve seen substantial improvements in visibility to the permitting process, adherence to permitting timelines and collaboration between agencies to provide a clear roadmap for permitting,” Michael said. “That’s government operating at the speed of business.”
The Shapiro administration launched the Pennsylvania Permit Fast Track Initiative last fall and noted it is designed to expedite permitting for major economic development and infrastructure projects.
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Under the fast-track system, DEP has implemented several efficiency measures. The agency now requires pre-application meetings for complex projects and offers a “speed program” that allows applicants to pay additional fees for expedited review by qualified professionals.
“We review more than 40,000 permits every single year, and at any given time, there are between 2,500 and 3,000 permits in the queue for review,” Shirley said. “By working closely with industry throughout the permitting process, we can build trust.”
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The governor said that Pennsylvania’s energy production capabilities give the state advantages in attracting energy-intensive data center projects.
The state is a net energy exporter and recently brought Three Mile Island back online to increase generation capacity.
“Energy means freedom and energy means opportunity,” Shapiro said. “Because we’re able to generate more energy than we need, we have an opportunity to bring companies like Amazon and others to do these energy intensive things here in our commonwealth.”
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The governor indicated more announcements related to the Amazon investment are forthcoming, saying “we are not done” with the initial two sites.
Jim Snell, business manager for Steamfitters Local 420, pointed to the Keystone Trade Center’s impact on local workers.
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His union has 850 members living in Bucks County, and the Amazon project has allowed him to significantly increase apprentice recruitment.
“Because of this project alone, I’m bringing in apprentices and organizing men and women. In the last two months, we brought in about 80,” Snell said. “Normally somewhere around the 35, 40 range.”
The construction project is expected to employ approximately 1,500 people by the end of the year and 3,000 by next year, according to Snell. He noted that construction workers support local businesses, from convenience stores to restaurants.
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Snell, who worked on a project at the then-U.S. Steel site 23 years ago, said he would go into a local Wawa every morning for breakfast to get a hoagie, Tastykakes, and raspberry ice tea.
“That’s a Philly breakfast,” Shapiro joked.
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat, credited the approval of the Keystone Opportunity Zone designation at the former U.S. Steel Fairless Works site as key groundwork for attracting NorthPoint Development. The zone designation was secured in late 2020 and provided tax incentives that made the development financially viable.
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“Without that, of course, NorthPoint never comes here,” Santarsiero said. “But having your administration expedite the regulatory review process was critically important because Amazon doesn’t come here even with the opportunity if they’re looking at a daunting regulatory process.”
The Bucks County Commissioners, Falls Township, and the Pennsbury School District designated the site a Keystone Opportunity Investment Zone from January 2021 through December 2035. The designation offers significant tax breaks to incentivize development.
State Rep. Jim Prokopiak, whose district includes the site, noted the transformation from the former steel mill that employed 7,000 workers until largely closing in 2001. The site still includes a small U.S. Steel finishing facility.
Much of the site sat vacant for nearly two decades before NorthPoint’s redevelopment began.
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“Since the governor has taken over, it has been light years of progress here,” Prokopiak said. “What was stop and start is now a steady stream of successes here in Bucks County.”
NorthPoint Development acquired the former U.S. Steel property for $160 million in late 2020. The overall project aims to build 20 or more industrial warehouse buildings, distribution centers, and data centers, totaling 10 million to 15 million square feet and potentially creating 14,000 jobs.
The Keystone Trade Center has Cirro, FedEx, Italian shipping and logistics company Savino Del Bene and logistics firm Jillamy are already in the complex.
Bucks County Commissioner Chairperson Bob Harvie, a Democrat who attended the event, heralded the project and its economic benefits for the area.
State government, according to Shapiro, has also reduced processing times for other permits.
PennDOT’s highway occupancy permits, which previously took a month to process, now take less than two weeks under Secretary Michael Carroll’s leadership, Shapiro said.
Business license processing time has dropped from eight weeks to one day statewide. In Bucks County alone, the state issued 213 business licenses in the past month, including five barber shops that previously would have waited weeks to open, according to the governor.
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Shapiro said state government has “increased the focus” of agencies to make sure permits are a priority without increasing the cost to taxpayers. He noted that Ben Kirshner came from the private sector to serve as the state’s inaugural chief transformation and opportunity officer and there has been a focus on improving processes and technology.
“We’re not here to throw up roadblocks,” he said. “We’re here to get to yes.”
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