The receipts on Pennsylvania's dealmaking
Every governor loves a ribbon cutting. Andrew Seidman and Ariana Perez-Castells went and added up the bill. Under Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania's BusinessPA team has spent an average of $121.8 million a year on incentives, more than double the $51.6 million a year under his predecessor. That includes $50 million for Chobani's $1.2 billion Allentown plant and $20 million for Burlington's headquarters move to University City.
The detail that stuck with me: a state board created in 2017 to review whether these programs work hasn't met since 2023. The state says it has clawed back $3.8 million from 64 companies that missed their targets. That's a real number, and it's also a small one next to $457 million in pledges. Anyone who runs an incentive program should read this as a preview of the questions coming their way.
Follow: Andrew Seidman and Ariana Perez-Castells
Read: The Philadelphia Inquirer — "Gov. Josh Shapiro lured companies like Chobani and Burlington with state incentives. Will it pay off for Pa.?"
A chip factory with strings attached
We usually think of a foreign company's U.S. plant as something states compete for. Karen Freifeld and Hyunjoo Jin reported that SK Hynix is treating its next one as a bargaining chip. Its U.S. unit, Solidigm, wants to build a new NAND flash factory here, and according to their sources, the plan depends on Washington letting the company ship more American chipmaking equipment to its plant in Dalian, China.
No state or site has been named yet. When one is, the economic developers involved will be negotiating a deal that partly runs through the Commerce Department's export license office. It's a good reminder that some of the biggest location decisions now get made in trade policy before they ever reach a site visit.
Follow: Karen Freifeld and Hyunjoo Jin
Read: Reuters — "Exclusive: SK Hynix conditions new US factory on more US chip equipment exports to China, sources say"
Wisconsin's NDAs went all the way up
The fight over nondisclosure agreements in data center deals has mostly been about town halls and county boards. Tom Kertscher found the state was signing them too, which isn’t terribly surprising. Sure, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has signed at least five NDAs with data center developers, bringing the state's total to eight projects that used one, and that’s not really out of the ordinary.
WEDC told the reporter that the agreements help it compete and comply with state records law, and that tracks with what most economic developers tell Location Decision. Both candidates for governor now say they support banning data center NDAs, and a Republican lawmaker plans to add WEDC to his ban bill in January. If your organization uses NDAs, it's worth knowing how you'd explain one to a reporter before you have to.
Follow: Tom Kertscher
Read: Wisconsin Watch — "Use of NDAs for Wisconsin data centers wider than previously known"
Indiana asked whether abatements work
Indiana's fiscal analysts told lawmakers this week they found little evidence that property tax abatements, the state's most-used local incentive, persuade companies to locate somewhere on their own. Abatement savings have grown from about $182 million in 2017 to $322 million in 2026. One senator put data center abatements alone at roughly $694 million as of June.
Benjamin Thorp's story is worth reading for the pushback as much as the findings. Sen. Scott Baldwin took issue with the "but for" framing at the center of the analysis, which is the oldest argument in our business, and it played out right there in a committee room. Expect it to come back when the legislature meets in January.
Follow: Benjamin Thorp
Read: WFYI Public Media — "Report finds tax abatements may not be effective. Republicans aren't so sure"