Jack Palance was Pennsylvania-tough. In 2002 he won an Oscar for best-supporting actor and he famously did one-armed push-ups on stage in front of Whoopi Goldberg. A few years later, during my State Rep days, I was asked to introduce Jack Palance for a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Pocono Mountains Film Festival. It didn't start out well. Literally, Jack growled at me after I introduced him and he walked on stage. I was told to stay on stage during his speech so I drifted to the back of the small stage while he spoke. About half-way through his speech, he unexpectedly turned, looked at me and said, "What are you still doing on stage, boy. I don't care if you're some kind of politician, get off my stage." The crowd thought this outburst was rehearsed and vintage Jack so they laughed heartily. For me, I had no idea what to do next. When I said, I was told to stay on stage he said, "I don't care what they said, get off my stage." Now, I'm not sure why, but in the spur of the moment, I loudly said, "I'm not leaving this stage until I do one-armed push-ups with you." And with that, his eyes sparkled and soon enough, in front of hundreds, I was doing one-armed push-ups on stage with Jack Palance. It was great. The crowd roared. They counted each push-up. I made darn sure I did 2 more than my 76 year old Pennsylvanian, making him huff, "I'm coming back next year to teach this politician a lesson." True to his word, he returned the following year but his health had finally caught up with him. Instead of push-ups, I got the growl. Every state has interesting and famous residents and former residents. I will always remember meeting Richard Dick Winters of Hershey, PA, Babe Heffron and William Guarnere of Philadelphia, PA, part of Pennsylvania's contingent in the Band of Brothers, the 101 Airborne, Easy Company. Michigan has many famous residents and former residents. To market Michigan's state's economic opportunities for some reason they asked and got Jeff Daniels. Now, Jeff Daniels is a fine actor and he loves his home state. But Mr. Daniels also starred in a move aptly called, "Dumb and Dumber." A few years back, Michigan decided it was going to tax its way to prosperity. In an interesting choice of options, Michigan increased taxes on existing residents and businesses in order to market new Michigan opportunities, subsidies and tax-breaks to non-residents. In other words they taxed their existing job producers, in order to market to others to move to Michigan and create jobs. This type of thing occurs all the time in government. I don't get it. In my opinion, we should help our existing businesses grow through lower taxes so they can add more jobs. We should ask, "Dear Pennsylvania employer, how can we help you grow!" Most would say, "If you let me keep more of our investment, we will create more jobs, make new products, hire interns, spend more on research and development." And when Pennsylvania companies better compete through lower taxes, companies in other states will notice and some will move to Pennsylvania. Michigan is hurting. Detroit is hurting. Their pain hurts us all. We compete against states for business and prestige, but we are all Americans. Everyone is extremely sympathetic to the human tragedy occurring in the great State of Michigan. Unlike Hurricane Katrina, Michigan is a national tragedy playing-out in slow motion.
TechQuest Pennsylvania has helped and will continue to help many Michigan technology and research professionals find employment in Pennsylvania amid the economic wreckage brought on by disastrous auto industry decision-making, Washington auto-protectionism, and Michigan regimes of high-taxation that have killed the incentives for innovation, talent-retention and investment.
In my opinion, Michigan is a bloody pure example of what high taxation does to a proud state with many smart people and great universities. The high taxation becomes a self-reinforcing cycle driving away talent, investment and innovation. Despite Mr. Daniels' fancy TV commercials, Michigan is not an attractive place for capital investment, without vast subsidy, which becomes part of the vicious cycle! Tragically, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University have become their leading export vehicles, of top talent.
Pennsylvania - at the Crossroads!
Unlike any other state, Pennsylvania still has no state budget and simply put; the pitched battle is over the path to high taxation, low/no-growth and people-flight; or the path to lower taxation with growth, innovation, and attraction for young people and talent.
It is the battle of innovation economics, the battle of our time. At the very bottom of this eNewsletter we continue to publish our Innovation Agenda for Pennsylvania.
Listen, we are at a crossroads. Yes, there is pain in the proposed Pennsylvania state budget, but we remain hopeful the pain will be shared equally across the entire budget so the incremental cuts are as small as possible. The most important thing is getting this state budget done, and making our tax rates more competitive against surrounding states! The budget saga is impacting almost every organization in Pennsylvania. Almost three months after the constitutional deadline, the budget saga is impacting thousands of technology companies and the Technology Council. Within this $27 Billion Pennsylvania General Fund Budget, we remain hopeful the state will keep taxes low, while transforming investment priorities toward infrastructure, talent and technology. We support valiant efforts to maintain the state's investments in technology projects to improve government services as well as the new projects for Department of Revenue to vastly improve revenue collection through technology. We support $20 million for industry-partnership workforce training. We support strong investment in critical infrastructures, including broadband and Health IT. Right now, we believe the proposed state budget should be moved forward in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by Speaker McCall and Majority Leader Eachus, and supported by the House Republican caucus. It's not a perfect budget, they never are, but the pain is starting to outweigh any perceived delayed gain. Stay the Course!
Kelly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ At 10:00 am on Tuesday, October 6th the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Group meets to develop and lead strategies to transform our aging infrastructures into the best infrastructures possible. If you believe strong infrastructures are the building block for strong economies, you are passionately encouraged to attend, participate and get motivated to help.
Great meeting of the Technology Take-Rate Committee, chaired by equally inspired David Bonsick of EMBARQ. This group is leading efforts to increase the number of Pennsylvania households with computers, and broadband, so that can partake in the digital revolution. We're talking about computers for farmers so they can use technology to increase crop yields, manage their flocks and save money, so they can maintain the cherished family farm. Computers for the disabled and visually-impaired so they can proudly work from home with dignity and dispatch. Computers for the poor so they can learn, gain valuable skills and get the hand-up they seek to change their world. Join us. It's free to help technology help others! Next meeting October 13th at 9:30 AM
Great Meeting of the EMR/HIE Adoption and Use Committee, chaired by totally-inspired Edith Dees, CIO of Holy Spirit Hospital. This group is undertaking strong strategies to help physicians and healthcare providers use electronic medical records (EMR) and health information exchanges (HIE) to increase patient safety, improve healthcare quality and reduce healthcare costs. Sub-groups are focused on front-end EMR adoption, driving use and Community-HIE, governance and the marketing/promotion of the same. The Committee is developing a Shared IT Services HUB so all kinds of related technology and other services are easily-accessed by physicians and healthcare providers to speed EMR/HIE adoption and use. This dynamic group has adopted aggressive 90 day plans to get things done. If you are motivated, passionate and want to make positive change, we need MORE. This Committee is part of the Harrisburg Health Information Exchange, chaired by Michael Fiaschetti of Highmark Blue Shield. Next Meeting October 23rd at 8:00 AM.
Then on 11:30 am on Tuesday October 13th, the dynamic TechQuest Workforce Governance Board, chaired by Larry Wasser, VP of Manufacturing at Phoenix Contact meets to develop and lead strategies to improve workforce training for the technology industry as well as TechQuest Internship, the nationally-recognized student internship system. If you are passionate about learning, transforming how people learn and the importance of learning, you are encouraged to get connected and help. Learn how we are helping workers with disabilities and visual-impairments get the technology and training they need to work with dignity! www.techquestpa.com to register and get more information.
~ ~ ~ ~ Special thanks to GANCOM, Gannett Fleming and GeoDecisions for supplying TechQuest with thousands of dollars of free printing in 2009. In these tough times, they continue their support in new and larger ways. From all of us at TechQuest and the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania, Inc. THANKS!!!
TechQuest TV - Dates and Times hosted by Kelly Lewis, featuring Technology Leaders from across Pennsylvania. Don't miss TechQuest TV on cable, TV, YouTube and video stations around the Commonwealth. TechQuest TV is a monthly program showcasing technology leaders from across the Commonwealth. The talk-show format, hosted by Kelly Lewis, TechQuest Pennsylvania President & CEO, focused on the important issues impacting technology and innovation in the State. September guests include, Jane S. Kochanov, Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Business Administration, Penn State Harrisburg, Alicia Haag, VP of Design & Strategy, Mudbrick Creative, Edith Dees, CIO, Holy Spirit Health System, Anna Hodges, former Regional Manager, WorkXpress, Debra A Pierson, President, Pierson Computing Connection, and Stephanie Glass, Linux Administrator, PHEAA.
In the Harrisburg region, TechQuest TV appears this week on Harrisburg Comcast Channel 20. The TQ-TV program is scheduled for 9:19 am and 1:35 pm, as well as additional program times at www.whbg.tv Check your local listings for the dates and times TechQuest TV appears in your region. Or visit us on You Tube! www.youtube.com/TechCouncilCentralPA "TechQuest TV showcases technology leaders and the exciting developments and opportunities in the technology and innovation industry," said TechQuest Pennsylvania President Kelly Lewis, a former state representative from Monroe County. "The tech industry remains very dynamic and I'm confident viewers will find the programs interesting, compelling and timely." Check www.WHBG.TV for future air times on the Comcast Harrisburg cable system. TechQuest Pennsylvania is the catalyst for sustained growth in technology business development in Pennsylvania. We lead strategies that build strong industry partnerships, robust technology infrastructures, and strengthen our technology workforce in order to discover, demonstrate and deploy advanced technology and innovations across regions and the state. TechQuest Pennsylvania programs include the Harrisburg Health Information Exchange, TechQuest Internship, TechQuest Insurance, TechQuest TV, TechQuest-Workforce Training, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Group, TechQuest Broadband, and the Military Information eXchange-MiX 2009. For more information visit:www.techquestpa.com, www.youtube.com/TechCouncilCentralPA, or call Leigh Twiford at 717.635.2172, ltwiford@tccp.org.