Pennsylvania in Top 20 of largest privately held companies

Pennsylvania is listed as one of the Top 20 states with the largest privately held companies according to a list recently released by data service SourceScrub.  

California tops the list with 117 companies followed by Texas (75 companies) and Florida (64 companies). Pennsylvania ranks seventh with 25 companies. The list was compiled based on employee count and spans 108 industries.  All of the companies have an employee range of 500 to over 10,000 and were founded during or after 2015.  

Peyton Sweeney, SourceScrub public relations account coordinator at Jaya Jaya Myra productions, said SourceScrub combines advanced data acquisition and technologies with a human approach to data quality.  Founded in 2014 by Tyler Fair and Prescott Nasser, the company is headquartered in San Francisco. Sweeney said SourceScrub is used by investors like investment banks and private equity and venture capital firms to find, research and connect with bootstrapped companies. 

“The lists are compiled to show what SourceScrub can do and to showcase the data they have,” Sweeney said.  

“Legislatively our state has made some good moves for businesses recently with a budget that cuts the corporate net income tax,” said Ryan Unger, president & CEO Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC.  

It will be reduced from 9.99% to 8.99% this fiscal year, with an additional 0.5% reduction each year until the tax rate reaches 4.99% in 2031. Unger said the full reduction moves the state from the highest corporate net income tax in the country to the sixth lowest by 2031, which will help attract business to the state.     

Unger said he’s seen growth in central Pennsylvania over the past several years. 

“When you look at our region — the Capitol Region — you see more companies growing in the 50 to 500 employee range,” he said, “Jobs are often created by small- to medium size companies. It’s slow but steady growth,” he said, “Some companies have fewer people working for them now than they had working for them 20 years ago; some of that change is due to automation and new technology.” 

He described the Capital region as “the keystone of the Keystone State”. “We have access to major interstate highways, rail, and airports to move both goods and people,” Unger said. 

Other factors that attract businesses to the area include the affordable cost of living and high quality of life.  

“Growth is rooted in capital—both financial and human. You won’t attract a company to an area if you don’t have human capital, which means people that are qualified for the jobs the company will bring. We’re also fortunate that our area is known for having people with a good work ethic,” he explained. 

He pointed out that there are a number of educational institutions throughout the region including art schools, community colleges and technical schools as well as colleges and universities.  

“They not only educate and train individuals, but they’ll also work with employers to create programs to meet their needs,” he said. 

Business growth is occurring along the Route 81 and Route 83 corridors as well as near Harrisburg International Airport (HIA). Unger said they’re trending places for logistics companies. He added that Carlisle, Camp Hill, Harrisburg, Liverpool, Lemoyne are also hot spots for business. “There’s access to transportation systems and access to great healthcare for employees,” he said. 

All-in-all, he said the region is a draw for companies of all sizes. 

Rochelle A. Shenk is a freelance writer