Revving up Pennsylvania's economy, Governor Shapiro's Office of Transformation and Opportunity (OTO) is kicking bureaucratic delays to the curb and smoothing the way for businesses to prosper. Chief Transformation Officer Ben Kirshner, handpicked by Shapiro, is the face behind the mission to cut red tape, streamline processes, and give businesses a one-stop-shop experience that defies the Commonwealth's history of sluggish permit, license, and certification handling, as reported by the Official Pennsylvania Government Website.
When Shapiro laid down the law with an Executive Order to measure up state government to business tempo, he knew it was high time for Pennsylvania to shape up. Since November, there's been a pioneering money-back system, PAyback, that's grabbed the attention of 33,000 visitors eyeing a refund for snail-paced applications – all this according to the OTO's website on which interested movers and shakers can glean more details or reach out directly at www.oto.pa.gov.
It's no secret that Pennsylvania has been playing catch-up with its neighbors, offering less in incentives and shouldering one of the highest corporate tax rates in the nation – a combo that left many businesses cold, Rick Siger, secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), dished out some hard facts with an admittance that the Keystone State spends up to eight times less to attract companies compared to Ohio, a state with even fewer people, as per the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Yet the winds are changing, with Kirshner at the helm, navigating through the bureaucratic quagmire, things are picking up speed, agencies recognize their shortcomings and they're making amends, optimistic of the OTO's drive; Shapiro's gutsy 'Get shit done' approach is accentuated with the impressive 12-day turnaround of a collapsed I-95 chunk, and it's signaling a new era for Pennsylvania, Shapiro himself boasts about injecting a "private-sector, fast-paced mentality to the government", according to Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
