Conjure for a moment a mental image of your community and the hamlet where you live and where raise your children.

Chances are that the image you are imagining is not of a cul-de-sac, or a development of modern homes carved out of a former farm on the far horizons, but the center backbone of a main street surrounded on both sides by new businesses that add refreshing redefinition or well-established storefronts that have been there since before you were a child. Indeed, it is these tributaries – in Kennett Square, Avondale, West Grove, Oxford and West Chester – that most impact the social personality of southern Chester County and drive its fortunes, and when they succeed, so do we.

The downtown streets of southern Chester County continue to experience a renaissance, as Baby Boomers and Millennials are choosing to live in walkable communities that provide distinctive character. With these established standards serving as his economic compass, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has made the main streets of the Commonwealth one of his top priorities by creating investment strategies that maintain small towns as thriving hubs of activity, where individuals and families can establish a sense of “place” in their community and where business owners can thrive. 

Creating initiatives that respect hometowns and the people who live there, Gov. Shapiro has launched several bipartisan initiatives that have not only created business opportunities in commercial corridors all over Pennsylvania and provided significant tax cuts that have helped families put more money in their wallets and food on their tables:

• He has supported a $20 million investment in the Main Street Matters Program that supports small businesses and commercial corridors in Pennsylvania, and an additional $500 million to support economic development and $400 million to create the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites (PA SITES) Program to develop competitive, shovel-ready sites for business expansion or relocation in the Commonwealth. 
• Working across the aisle in the development of the state’s 2024-25 budget, he secured funding for the Historically Disadvantaged Business Assistance Program that supports disadvantaged business owners. 
• Now through January 24, 2025, the Shapiro Administration will be accepting applications from educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and economic development organizations to create business assistance service centers throughout the Commonwealth.
• By supporting small businesses and workforce development through establishing tax reforms, Gov. Shapiro has created opportunities for Pennsylvania businesses to grow, create jobs, and invest in their employees through the 529 Savings Account Employer Matching Contribution Tax Credit that incentivizes businesses to match employee contributions to tuition savings, making higher education more affordable for families. 
• He increased the Net Operating Loss Deduction Limit that ensures businesses can reduce taxable income by up to 80 percent by 2029, keeping Pennsylvania competitive with other states.
• The development of the PA Fast Track Program makes Pennsylvania the first state in the nation to implement a streamlined, project-based permitting system for major economic development and infrastructure projects. 
• Pennsylvania has secured over $3 billion in private-sector investments by reducing red tape and making the Commonwealth a top destination for business growth.
• The Commonwealth has expanded the Child and Dependent Care Enhancement Tax Credit, delivering $136 million in savings to over 218,000 families, and introduced an Employer Child Care Contribution Tax Credit, enabling businesses to support employees’ childcare costs. 
• Increased the Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program, benefiting over 550,000 seniors and people with disabilities with more than $311 million in assistance this year, and
• Introduced the Student Loan Interest Deduction, helping graduates by allowing up to $2,500 of student loan interest to be deducted from their taxable income.

Now conjure up another image, one that imagines a thriving downtown area filled with restaurant patrons enjoying sidewalk service, and where small shops remain open on the weekends and welcoming patrons buzz in and out up and down from street to street, where the partnership between neighbors and businesses is as strong as the bricks that hold it all together. If you again see the same image you saw at the start of this editorial, you are the fortunate recipient of what happens when a governor conjures up the same image and sees a great tomorrow.