On Monday, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) delivered remarks on investments into small businesses at the 2025 Main Street New Conference.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Well, good morning folks
00:02My name is Rick Seiger. I have the great honor of serving as Pennsylvania's Secretary of Community and Economic Development. Welcome to Philadelphia
00:14You know as I look around this room first of all what a crowd I
00:18See people with incredible energy with incredible passion and a real get stuff done attitude
00:24Which for those of you who aren't from Pennsylvania is the motto we like to use around here
00:28It's what gets us out of bed in the morning drives our desire to affect real change here in Pennsylvania
00:34to make our main streets, which are the heart of our communities the best they can be and
00:40Of course everyone in this room knows that that can't happen without great people
00:44Without the work that each of you do every day as advocates for your communities
00:49And at this conference, we're of course all here to network and learn
00:53But it's also important to step back and celebrate to celebrate each other
00:58Our main streets the wins we've had and the successes that we see in the future and what better place to do that?
01:05than Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
01:08You know here in Pennsylvania with the help of our partners like Julie Fitzpatrick and her team at the Pennsylvania downtown center
01:16And
01:17Like folks in our department DCED including deputy secretaries Mandy book and Rick Vilello and Christy Yerger who runs our main street program
01:25We're
01:27Putting in the investments in the work to make sure our main streets thrive
01:32the Shapiro administration is proud to support our main streets and Elm Streets and
01:37I'm also proud that our Commonwealth is a real leader nationally in supporting Main Street organizations, and it's no accident
01:44It takes coordination. It takes partnership. It takes dedication and strategy
01:49After all economic development and community development our team sports
01:54But maybe most of all it takes great leadership and
01:58We are very fortunate here in Pennsylvania to have that leadership start at the top
02:04Our governor is someone who has visited countless Main Streets all across, Pennsylvania
02:10Someone who is talking constantly to community leaders to residents to small business owners
02:15Someone who understands the work of strengthening Main Streets is hard, but it's what makes it so important
02:22Because after all Main Streets are about people and
02:25We have in our next speaker someone who always puts people first front and center and everything he does
02:31So it's now my distinct honor to introduce a true champion for Pennsylvania's Main Streets
02:37Pennsylvania's 48th governor Josh Shapiro
02:51Whoa
02:55Man you look good out there
02:58You know I was backstage when
03:00Seiger mentioned my name I heard one person go whoo just like one
03:06I'm like I thought they said there were hundreds thousand. Thank you very much
03:12This is a hell of a group first off
03:14Let me just say thank you to Secretary Seiger the head of the Department of Community and Economic Development
03:21in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
03:23This dude does a hell of a job for Pennsylvania and especially for Pennsylvania Main Street
03:29So put your hands together for Seiger
03:35And I know you you just got to hear from the mayor
03:39But I'd like his governor to welcome you to the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection
03:46the home of the world champion
03:49Philadelphia Eagles
03:52You
03:55We
03:57Any anybody out there
04:00Anybody out there you can raise your hands if you want or you can leave from a Main Street in Kansas or Missouri
04:10Anybody
04:12No
04:14All right
04:15Well, that's okay. It's okay. We welcome you here
04:18We welcome you here if you're still feeling down
04:22We got some great restaurants and bars and other places along our Main Streets
04:27You can go but in addition, of course to be in the home of the Super Bowl champs
04:33this of course is
04:35the birthplace of
04:38Democracy right here in Philadelphia
04:41I
04:50Heard your guv the other day Maura Healy who's a dear friend of mine
04:55Say that democracy was really born in Boston and we just filled out some paperwork here in Philadelphia
05:02So you you can go back and tell Maura I heard her shit-talk in Philadelphia, and I didn't like it very much
05:12But I hope while you're here you check out the original Main Street down in Philly because
05:18Let me tell you something now more than ever
05:21We need to make sure we're holding firm on the values that those founders set forth in motion here in
05:28Philadelphia that we don't live in a world here in the United States of America where we're governed by a king
05:35We're governed by the people
05:41And we're defending those values here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania every single day
05:51So
05:54We got some business to do while we're here and I want to thank Aaron Barnes and the entire
05:59Main Street America team. Thank you for the work you do to support our Main Streets
06:04I remember last year when I made a video for y'all. I think you were down in Mobile or somewhere down south
06:10I was so excited
06:13Birmingham I'm sorry. I'm sorry
06:16Sorry
06:17Holy cow
06:20Shout out to those from Birmingham you guys are like a you're like a convention out here with your signs. It's incredible
06:28But I was excited when I was making that video knowing you'd be here this year
06:32But you know, it's hard when you make a video you don't get a sense of the audience
06:36You guys have a great energy an amazing energy and it's no wonder. There you go. It is. No wonder
06:43It is no wonder why our Main Streets have such amazing energy all across this country
06:49And so I'm proud to host you now for the 2025 Main Street now conference and given the energy of hell
06:56I hope you come back in 26 and
06:5927 I'd love to host you. You know, one of the amazing privileges I get as governor
07:06Is I get the chance to visit all 67 counties of Pennsylvania, and I'm a governor that doesn't like sitting behind a desk every day
07:13I'm a governor. That's a doer a person of action
07:15I like getting out in the community and as you travel across this
07:21Amazing Commonwealth, right you see so much different terrain so many different people so many different
07:28You know vibes you get people doing different kinds of jobs wherever you go
07:32and for those who kind of leave Philly for the first time and travel out in the western part of our state or
07:37People who go from an urban setting to a rural setting they'll often come to me and they'll say how do you govern this state?
07:44It's so different
07:45it's so diverse people seem like they're just from kind of different planets wherever you go and the truth is
07:53Actually, most people are kind of joined by the same core values, right?
07:58They want good schools for their kids and their grandkids they want safe communities
08:02They want economic opportunity in the communities that they live in
08:06That's what most people want. You know, most communities are defined by a Main Street
08:11I have found that wherever I go you go to a rural community those Main Streets
08:16Maybe a little bit shorter the buildings smaller
08:19But nevertheless that Main Street is vital to that community
08:23You can walk around a Main Street here in Philly. Those buildings are a lot taller
08:27The Main Street is a lot longer, but it's still a place where folks come together
08:32They grab a cup of coffee a beer they have a meal. It really becomes the economic engine of that community
08:40I think our Main Streets are the beating heart of a community rural urban and
08:46Suburban and there are present everywhere around our Commonwealth
08:54I
08:54Think further you can tell
08:57Whether a community is vibrant or not based on the success of a Main Street
09:04That Main Street is successful
09:06Chances are that broader community is going to be safer
09:10Chances are those schools are going to be stronger and there's more economic opportunity in those communities
09:17I want to thank Julie Fitzpatrick for the incredible work
09:20She and her team do here at Pennsylvania downtown
09:24understanding the need to invest in Main Streets all across
09:28Pennsylvania and I want you to know as governor I make it a priority no matter where I am to stop by that Main Street
09:34I prefer to stop by when folks aren't expecting me. That's when you get you know, for real for real from them
09:39They tell you what's really going on
09:42And I must tell you my experience visiting Main Streets has transformed the way I think about how we budget in this
09:49Commonwealth when it comes to economic development
09:55Yeah
09:57last
09:58Last February I went to Mount Lebanon just south of Pittsburgh on the other side of our Commonwealth
10:04We got some folks from Mount Lebo here, huh? All right. I don't know you're probably from Birmingham, but you're clapping anyway
10:12And Mount Lebanon is an example of just this amazing
10:16Bustling walkable Main Street that drives the whole community
10:20It's where everybody in the neighborhoods go to hang out to eat to be with their kids to be with their friends
10:28Just after that I went to visit Bedford this small town and rural community a Bedford person here
10:35There you go
10:36In the middle of our state about halfway between Philly and Pittsburgh
10:41That sort of quaint
10:43Main Street vibe with incredible shops and friendly people who were shared who are proud of what they've built
10:50Or Main Streets right here in Philly while you're here
10:53I want you to go check out the 52nd Street corridor an amazing place in Philadelphia
11:01Home to a bookstore called Hakeem's which is the East Coast's oldest
11:07Oldest black-owned bookstore. I think it's the oldest black-owned bookstore in America. They tell me
11:13Just on the East Coast. These are three different Main Streets. They look completely different
11:20but as I said before each
11:23represent the beating heart of their community and each
11:27Require investment from the Commonwealth. I'll share with you that Main Streets have always been
11:33Critically important to me and I'll give you a concrete example of that in the ninth grade
11:39I saw a girl across the classroom. I thought she was cute. I flirted with her
11:45Story ends. Well, so just follow me on this
11:48and
11:50We went on our first date to the extent that you can go on a date when you're a ninth grader back in you know
11:56the 19 whatever it was 1980s and
12:00We went to a place called good. No farms on a Main Street in historic Bucks County, Newtown, Pennsylvania
12:08We shared those of you know historic Bucks County. We shared a milkshake
12:14black and white milkshake the best milkshakes around and
12:17Cheese fries, which by the way, if you try to have a milkshake and cheese fries now and 51 years old
12:23It's not gonna feel as good as when you're in the ninth grade
12:26But
12:28I want you to know that girl and I have been married for 27 years
12:32We're blessed with four kids and she's the first lady of Pennsylvania and our first date
12:38Happened on a Main Street right here in Pennsylvania
12:46So it's personal to me
12:49I've seen it just in my own life the importance of a Main Street and I've seen it as
12:55Governor how we've got to invest in these places before I was governor
13:00Pennsylvania did not have an economic development strategy
13:03In fact, we hadn't had one for more than two decades under secretary Seiger's leadership
13:08We wrote our first economic development strategy
13:11We focused on a few key areas things like life sciences energy manufacturing things like that
13:17Only five areas like that, but throughout it all we said we were going to drive our
13:23Investments out to Main Streets across Pennsylvania to foster that type of growth in those areas and also
13:30To make sure that we create an environment that's great for recreation for tourists and for neighbors
13:36So for the first time in more than 20 years
13:39Pennsylvania not only has an economic development strategy
13:42we have an economic development strategy that runs right through our Main Streets all across Pennsylvania rural urban and
13:50suburban but it wasn't
13:53It
13:55Wasn't just a desire to invest in our
13:59In our Main Streets sort of born out of nostalgia, right or born out of this sort of feeling like oh, that's quaint
14:05That's interesting. We know that if you invest in your Main Streets
14:10You get a hell of an ROI for every one dollar the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
14:15Invest in our Main Streets. We get back nearly eight dollars in return
14:20I don't know of too many other ROIs in government that are that strong. So we've got this strategy
14:27It's grounded in
14:30Firm economics and it's also grounded in the good vibes the good feels that you get
14:36From being on a Main Street. And so for years we did invest in Main Streets, although it wasn't a whole lot
14:43In fact, we had something called the Keystone Communities Initiative and just to give you some context last year
14:49We drove out seven million dollars for Main Streets through that program for 49 different projects
14:56I thought that was a nice start, but it was certainly not enough for our Commonwealth
15:02We needed to invest more to create walkable streets
15:05We needed to improve facades and we needed to support more of
15:09Pennsylvania's small businesses the lifeblood of our Commonwealth's economy
15:14And so about a year ago I launched a new initiative called Main Streets matters
15:21building on the strengths of Keystone Communities and
15:24Incorporating more flexibility to be able to meet the unique needs of our communities and it wasn't just talk and it wasn't just
15:32Something written on paper. We put our money where our mouth was
15:36Remember before I said we supported our Main Streets with seven million bucks more than a year ago
15:41My first budget for Main Street matters called for an investment of 20 million dollars
15:48exclusively for our Main Streets
15:51across Pennsylvania
15:56We put out the applications and lo and behold we received
16:02200 different
16:04Applications and today I wanted to make this meeting this gathering the backdrop
16:10to announce that my administration through the Department of Community and Economic Development through the leadership of
16:17Secretary Saiger are now poised to invest in
16:2281 different Main Street projects across Pennsylvania with that 20 million dollar
16:29initial investment
16:3081 Main Streets across Pennsylvania
16:34benefiting from this investment
16:36We are now
16:38Driving out with this announcement here today more funding for Main Streets than ever
16:43Before in the history of Pennsylvania and these investments will support everything from small business
16:50Microloan initiative in rural Mercer County on the western part of our state got a Mercer County folks here
16:58To accessible housing along Main Streets in historic Bucks County
17:02They'll help dozens of communities improve lighting and sidewalks and building facades
17:07so our Main Streets are ready to welcome the shoppers and the diners and the tourists that make our Main Streets home and
17:15These dollars are going to be used to redevelop
17:18vacant storefronts and provide small businesses with the funding they need and the
17:24Opportunities to expand into bigger digs because some of Main Streets
17:29Some Main Streets, of course are operating really really well
17:33But some need a boost some need help building a walkable
17:37Affordable community the Main Street matters initiative is delivering for them and I'm proud to announce those grants here today
17:45We're going to continue to make Main Streets a major priority in my budget that I just announced a couple months ago
17:52We're doubling down on our investment Main Streets asking for another
17:5720 million dollars on top of the first 20 that has already been appropriate
18:04so listen
18:07We know how important our Main Streets are and we know how important it is to have
18:13Creative big brains like yourselves who love our communities who care deeply about the people who live in it
18:20Who care deeply about our small businesses who care deeply about attracting tourists to come visit?
18:27We need people like you to continue to do the amazing work
18:31You're doing and I want you to know that here in Pennsylvania
18:34you have a governor who cares about what you're doing who gives a damn about what you're doing and who's going to continue to
18:42Invest in the important work that you are doing and I'm going to keep
18:46Shouting from the rooftops the importance of having vibrant Main Streets in rural urban and suburban communities
18:53Continue to shout out loudly about the importance of using our Main Streets to knit the fabric of our communities together
19:01to break down the walls and the silos that create so much difference in our society and
19:07Instead allow people to see one another in a different way that allows them to understand one another
19:13Allows them to come together a little bit closer allows them to appreciate our shared history and plan for a shared
19:21Future I think maybe perhaps now more than ever those gathering spaces are
19:26Critically and sorely needed and thanks to you and the incredible work you do in your communities
19:31We're gonna have more of that all across this great country and here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
19:38Just like we led this nation into
19:41Forming this democracy go tell Maura Healey. I said that
19:45We are going to continue to use
19:48Pennsylvania Main Streets as an example of how we can grow how we can develop and how we can open up a next shared
19:56Chapter in this great American story together walking down our Main Streets. Thank you all for what you do
20:02We appreciate you enjoy your time here in the Commonwealth
20:07Spend a whole lot of money while you're here and come back next year. Thank you very very much
20:16Thank you
20:27You