The Penn State Workforce Education and Development Initiative conducted an analysis of the economic impacts of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals in Bucks and Montgomery counties and prepared the Economic and Workforce Brief, “Role of Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals in the Economy of Bucks & Montgomery Counties.” The Brief quantifies the role of every 100 workers employed by the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industry in generating jobs, compensation, and property taxes in the region.  
 
This Brief explains the potential economic impact of Almac Group, which is constructing its North American headquarters in Lower Salford Township, Montgomery County. The company based out of Northern Ireland plans to bring at least 262 jobs to the area within three years. Almac Group is an integrated research, development, and manufacturing services provider for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The Almac Group’s 240,000 square-foot headquarters will combine existing operations in the area and retain 500 of the people working for the company in the region. The process of creating this facility will be completed in several phases and, by 2013, the company expects more than 400 additional people to be working at the new facility. For more information about Almac Group locating their North American headquarters in Lower Salford Township, refer to the following websites:
http://tinyurl.com/yvh89f  
http://tinyurl.com/26rfda
 
The analysis in the Brief focuses on the impact of the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industry in Bucks and Montgomery counties. The biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industry for the brief was created by combining information from the biotechnology research and development laboratories and services with pharmaceuticals and medicine manufacturing. Data from the 2002 Economic Census, the most recent economic census available, indicate that:

  • There were 480 establishments in the Pennsylvania involved in biotechnology research and development laboratories that generated $2.6 billion in receipts (4.3% of US receipts in biotechnology research and development laboratories) with 32,627 employees (5.9% of US employees in biotechnology research and development laboratories) and an annual payroll of $2.5 billion (6.3% of US payroll in biotechnology research and development laboratories).
  • There were 69 establishments in the Pennsylvania involved in other pharmaceuticals and medicine manufacturing that generated $21.9 billion in receipts (15.6% of US receipts in pharmaceuticals and medicine manufacturing) with 15,788 employees (6.3% of US employees in pharmaceuticals and medicine manufacturing) and an annual payroll of $1 billion (7.6% of US payroll in pharmaceuticals and medicine manufacturing).
An analysis behind a Penn State Economic & Workforce Brief targets an industry (a group of establishments providing similar products or services), not an individual firm. As a result, economic and workforce impacts calculated for a Brief represent an industry average, not the impacts generated by an individual firm.
 
For additional information about this Brief or about the work of the Penn State Workforce Education and Development Initiative, contact Rose M. Baker (814.865.9919; rmb194@psu.edu) or David L. Passmore (814.863.2583; dlp@psu.edu). To view other Brief reports produced about other Pennsylvania industries and regions, navigate to:
http://PSUBrief.notlong.com
Order a Brief for your area using a form provided on this web site.