SOUTH AVIS - The race for Pennsylvania governor came to Clinton County on Friday as Republican nominee Tom Corbett toured Jersey Shore Steel Co., followed by a brief press conference with reporters.
Corbett talked about his plan for the state - if he beats Democratic nominee Dan Onorato in the November General Election - and lauded the steel company for its recycling efforts.
"I really enjoyed the last 30 minutes that we've been looking around the plant and to really understand how you're recycling here ... and turning used rail into furniture frames," he told company officials and others gathered in the plant's machine shop. "One of the best things about this campaign, in addition to meeting the people, is to take all of these tours and see all these different factories and different ways people here in Pennsylvania work."
Corbett, the state's attorney general, noted much of the plant was modernized a decade ago, and he was encouraged about Jersey Shore Steel using methane gas from the nearby Wayne Township Landfill to heat its furnaces while producing 120 tons of steel annually.
"That's a tremendous environmental savings using gas that's going to be burned off anyhow and using it here," he said. "I think more industries, if they had the opportunity, should be doing the same thing."
Corbett said he believes that, for companies like Jersey Shore Steel to succeed in the future, the next governor has to create an economic environment to allow businesses to grow. He then derailed the eight-year term of Gov. Ed Rendell for increasing taxes, increasing the state's debt and its budget from $22 billion to $28 billion during two terms.
"Under the governor's watch, the state has gained another 237,000 unemployed Pennsylvanians, which brings us up to nearly 600,000 unemployed Pennsylvanians," he said, noting the state's current unemployment rate of 9.2 percent is the highest it's been since the early 1980s.
"We're near the bottom in the nation in job growth and near the top in the nation in taxes. I have a vision to change that," Corbett said. "I have a vision and a plan to turn our economy around and it really depends on companies like this, and unleash the power of the private sector with places like Jersey Shore Steel leading the way."
Corbett said his plan is comprised of three principles: fiscal discipline, limited government and free enterprise.
"I've listened to people from all across the state as I tour the state, from Philadelphia to Jersey Shore to Erie, and everywhere I go they're telling me the same thing. They're paying way too much in taxes," he said.
Corbett said he has signed a no new tax pledge, while Onorato has not. Moreover, Corbett said, Onorato implemented the largest tax increase in the history of Allegheny County, where he currently serves as chief executive, and that county has lost 20,000 jobs during his tenure.
"He has no plan, he has no vision for Pennsylvania," Corbett said. "We have a plan for economic opportunity."
Corbett said his plan is to limit the size of state government and reducing regulations.
"DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) should work with businesses instead of being an adversary of business," he said. "We're going to promote the free enterprise system. It's like the tip of our nose that the private sector is what creates jobs, not the government sector."
Corbett also said he plans to reduce the state's corporate income tax from 6.9 percent and repealing the "death tax" that taxes family-owned businesses that are passed on from one generation to another.
Jersey Shore Steel has been owned and operated by the same family for three generations, after it was founded in 1938. It recently named Marshall Welch III as its newest president and CEO, the first person from outside the family to hold that position in its history.
The attorney general said in order for people to trust government, they have to believe in government. That principle, Corbett said, led to his office's Public Corruption Unit.
"We've been very busy since I took office in 2005," he said. "Many people said you shouldn't do this, you're going to upset people. That's not the role of the attorney general, which is to enforce the laws in Pennsylvania and to have the courage to do it no matter what the consequences are.
"I have a vision for Pennsylvania that we are the standard of excellence for all sectors, not only for business, like your's here at Jersey Shore, but in agriculture, job creation, tourism, education and energy production," Corbett continued.
"We have, without a doubt, the people who can do this. We have the resources to make this vision a reality. What we need is a governor with the courage and the conviction to follow through on the plan. I promise you when I'm governor, we will do that."
Corbett was scheduled to tour Playworld Systems in Lewisburg following his stop in South Avis, then tour L/B Water Services in Selinsgrove.
Jersey Shore Steel manufactures high-strength rail steel angles from re-rolled T-rails for a number of applications.
